A sports bet is a wager on the outcome of a sporting event. The bets can take many forms, including moneyline bets, spread bets, and parlays. But the most common type of bet is an Over/Under bet. This type of bet tries to predict whether the two teams involved will combine for more (Over) or less (Under) than the total amount posted by the sportsbook.

The best way to make money at sports betting is by identifying value bets and making them. This requires understanding odds and implied probabilities, and it also involves knowing how to spot a bet with a high return-to-risk ratio. Ideally, you want to be able to find a sportsbook that offers the best possible odds for each bet you place.

In a perfect world, the sportsbooks would have the same number of bettors on each side of a contest and then charge a small percentage off the top as their profit. However, this doesn’t always happen, and as a result the oddsmakers will often set their lines too high to attract action on both sides of a bet.

The sportsbooks’ goal is to get as much action as possible, and they will try to lure bettors in with large point spreads or high Over/Under totals. This is how they make money, but it can lead to a lot of frustration for the bettors. Fortunately, the steady growth of legal online sports betting options has allowed bettors to shop around for the best odds and compare prices on different sites – a practice known as line shopping.