When it comes to sports betting, the best way to maximize your profits is to shop around. Different online sportsbooks offer different odds on the same events, and a little research can help you find the best ones. You’ll also want to check out the available selection of markets and competitions, as well as the type of bets you can place.

If you’re looking to make a bet on an upcoming event, futures wagers are a great option. These types of wagers allow you to predict the winner of an upcoming contest before it takes place, and you can get excellent odds on them by shopping around at different sportsbooks.

As a general rule, most sportsbooks will move lines for popular games and highly publicized events in order to attract bettors. However, this can sometimes backfire as educated punters look for teams and athletes that have a history of success over those with a less impressive track record.

Handicaps are a great way to stretch your bets since they level the playing field between two teams or players. They do this by subtracting the expected win for one team from the actual win for the other. As a result, the underdog must win more than the handicap for you to win your bet.

Another fun way to bet is by making Over/Under bets on a game. This is a simple bet that is based on the total number of goals scored in the game. It’s important to remember the old saying when placing these bets – it’s never Over until it’s Over!