Making a living from sports betting takes time and work. It’s not easy and less than 5% of long-running betting accounts are profitable. However, with proper discipline (never bet more than you can afford to lose), research and studying other successful bettor’s strategies, you can make money on sports bets over the long haul.

The first thing to remember when betting on sports is that hindsight is 20/20. It’s almost impossible to predict a team’s performance before it actually happens, but there are some things you can do to help improve your chances of success.

One is to bet on the team with the best overall record and odds of winning. These are called “favorites.” They typically have better players, more experience, a proven track record of success and match up well against their opponents. The underdog, on the other hand, is expected to lose. They may have inferior players, lack the experience or a good coaching record and not match up well against the favorite.

There are also bets that focus on individual player performances and other random occurrences that can’t be predicted. These are called “prop bets.” They can involve a single team, two teams or even an entire league. They might also include bets like how many total touchdown passes a player will throw or what color Gatorade douses the coach of a Super Bowl-winning team.

The most common bets are on straight-up win/loss and spread bets. The latter involves the sportsbook setting a number of points by which the favored team must win to cover the bet. Other bet types include a round robin and a teaser, which are similar to parlays but have lower payouts. Sportsbooks often set different lines throughout the game, including halftime and quarter-by-quarter odds.