Experts explain ways to place a sports bet in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Now that Kentuckians can conduct sports wagering online and in person, we wanted to inform you about some of the basic sports betting terminology.

Todd Schrupp with FanDuel TV says one of the most common ways to play a game in sports betting is to bet one side over the other, basing it on the line or the money line, for example.

“If the Cincinnati Bengals were favored by the Pittsburg Steelers by seven points and you want to play the Cincinnati Bengals, you would have to play that game giving up seven points and the Bengals would have to win by more than seven points in order for you to cash your wager,” said Schrupp.

On the money line side...

“So if you had the Bengals as a heavy seven-point favorite, they might be minus two hundred eighty dollars on the money line, which means in order to make a hundred dollars on the Bengals, you’d have to bet 280 to win,” said Schrupp.

Another term is “over/under,” which is the total points in a particular game.

“If the over/under in that game is 52 and a half you are simply betting, are they going to score more than 52 and a half in a game or are they going to score less than 52 and a half in the game,” said Schrupp.

“It is the biggest day in the history of everything here in the State of Kentucky because, you guessed, we have sports gambling. We have it on our app. We have it everywhere,” said Brad Taylor, host of “The Bottom Line with Brad Taylor” on ESPN Radio 1300 in Lexington.

Taylor’s show is sports talk from a handicapping perspective.

“A lot of times people who are new to sports gambling like to go with favorites, while the sharps...the wise guys out in the desert they look to go, underdog, before they go favorites.”

As of Thursday, UK football is the favorite by one point against Florida this weekend. If you put up ten bucks for Kentucky to win, here’s your return.

“It’s an 11 to 10 ratio, so if you want to win $10, you gotta bet 11 most times,” said Taylor. “You look at the spread. It’ll say minus one ten when you make your bet. It’s usually an 11 to 10 ratio. If you want to win $10, I’ve got to put up 11.”

The experts agree that sports bettors should bet responsibly.

“We’re one day in. You don’t throw the Hail Mary in the first quarter. This is a long-term thing,” said Taylor.

“If it hurts for more than 30 seconds, you bet too much,” said Schrupp.

Schrupp with says the company made national headlines last week on a prop bet. The bet was every NFL team in the Sunday afternoon games would kick at least one field goal. The odds were 200 to 1. Afterward, bettors collected a total of $20 million on that prop bet.