Sports betting has become a billion-dollar industry in the United States. While there is a lot of money to be made, it takes time and dedication to become a successful bettor. If you’re interested in making some extra income, here are a few things that you need to know before you start placing bets.

Sportsbooks’ odds are based on a variety of factors. They take into account the team’s overall record, home-field advantage and injuries. They also consider how well the teams match up against each other. These factors help determine the odds for each game, and bettors can use them to decide which teams to place their bets on.

The goal of sports betting is to find bets that pay out better than they should, which is called finding value. A good way to do this is by looking for bets with lower risk than they should. For example, a $100 bet that should only have a 10% chance of winning is a great bet to make.

You can also find value by looking for bets that have a high payoff, which is often called getting the most bang for your buck. This is done by taking into account the number of points a team has scored in a game, the amount of time remaining and the total score. By doing this, you can figure out the best bet to make and when to make it.

Another thing that is important to keep in mind when placing a bet is the team’s history and current form. If a team has been performing well lately, its odds will increase. This is because the public will be more inclined to place wagers on it. As a result, its bettors will win more often and its sportsbook will make more money.

A final thing to remember when betting on sports is that you should avoid betting with emotion. This is because it can lead to poor decisions and a bad outcome. It’s a good idea to open a separate bank account that is exclusively for sports betting. From there, you can decide how much of your bankroll to risk per play. A good rule of thumb is to risk 1% to 5% of your total bankroll on each bet.

While moneylines, point spreads and totals focus on the short term and specific matches, futures are long-term betting odds that are set far in advance. They can be on a specific event or even an entire season. Because of this, they can change dramatically over the course of weeks or months. Depending on the betting traffic at each sportsbook, these odds can shift significantly. This is known as shopping the line.