How do you bet on sports?

Before the first bet

Set aside a bankroll. It is money for betting and nothing else, and losing all of it should not change your month.

Then fix a bet size. On a $500 bankroll, 2 percent is $10 a bet, and most professionals don't go over 5 percent on any one bet, which would be $25. I'd start at the $10 end. Decide a loss limit for the day as well, and stop when you reach it, which sounds obvious until the night you are down and the late game is still on.

Where to bet

What is open to you depends on where you live, so check that first. After that the only question I care about is whether the book pays, in full and on time, and I'd read the sportsbook reviews with that question in front of me and nothing else.

Placing the bet

• Pick the game and the bet. The moneyline is who wins. The spread is the margin. The total is the combined score.
• Read the price. At -110 you risk $110 to win $100. At +150 you risk $100 to win $150.
• Enter the stake. The bet slip shows what the bet wins and what it returns.
• Confirm it. Your price is fixed at that moment. Keep the ticket, or a screenshot of it.

At a counter it is the same thing spoken: the game's number on the board, the bet and the amount.

Start with straight bets

A straight bet is one bet on one game, and at -110 the book's cut is about 4.5 percent, whereas tie two of them into a parlay and the cut is about 8.9 percent, nearly double, for the pleasure of needing both. The bet slip will offer to combine your picks before you ask. You don't have to accept, and I wouldn't.

Before you confirm, look at the same game at a second book. A half point or five cents of price costs nothing to find. Keep a record of every bet: the bet, the price, the stake and the result. And never raise the stake to win back a loss. There is more in the sports betting guide when you want it.

The first bet is easy to make. Make the hundredth the same size.