Sports betting is an exciting way to wager on your favorite teams. However, before you start making your bets, it is important to understand the odds and how they are calculated. Understanding betting odds will help you determine how much money to bet and what types of bets are best suited for you.

The most common type of bet in the sports world is the moneyline. A moneyline bet is a straight-up bet that pays out only if you pick the winning team. It is a great way to win big and has a high payout.

Another popular bet is the totals or over/under. This is a bet on whether the combined score of two teams will go over or under a set number.

To calculate totals, a sportsbook takes the score of each team, divides it by two and adds or subtracts the other team’s scores to get its total. The oddsmakers predict this total, which they then offer to bettors.

When you place a bet on totals, the goal of the sportsbook is to receive equal money from both sides of the bet. This is called vigorish or juice, and it is how sportsbooks survive.

Totals betting is a popular way to place bets in baseball, basketball and hockey. This is because the totals are typically low, and they also give a bettor the chance to place multiple bets for a single game. Often, totals can change drastically in the middle of a game, and it’s important to be aware of these changes.