type of bet on the favored team to increase the payout of a parlay. Spread betting are wagers that are made against the spread. The spread, or line, is a number assigned by the bookmakers which handicaps one team and favors another when two teams play each other and one is perceived as being more likely to win. The favorite "gives" points from the final score, and the underdog "takes" points. This number can also be in increments of half-a-point (.5) even though very few sports have .5 point scoring (i.e., The Ryder Cup), to avoid the possibility of a tie. For example, before game 5 of the 2012 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat were expected to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder. The line read: Miami −3.5, Oklahoma City +3.5. To determine who wins against the spread, the line is either added or subtracted from a team's final score. In the above example, if the bettor chose Miami, for him to win his bet, Miami would have to win the game by 4 points or more. If a bettor took Oklahoma City, they would have to win outright or lose by 3 points or fewer. If the final adjusted score is a tie, the bet is considered a push. The half point at the end is sometimes added to eliminate the possibility of a push. This is the most common type of bet in American sports betting. Total (Over/Under) bets are wagers made based on the total score between both teams. In an example, if an MLB game has a total of 10.5, an over bettor will want the combined total to be greater, and the opposite for a bettor taking the under. If the combined total is the same as the proposed total, the bet is a push. Most sports books refund all wagers on pushes, though a minority counts them as losses. Proposition bets are wagers made on a very specific outcome of a match not related to the final score, usually of a statistical nature. Examples include predicting the number of goals a star player scores in an association football match, betting whether a player will run for a certain number of yards in an American football game, or wagering that a baseball player on one team will accumulate more hits than another player on the opposing team. Parlays. A parlay involves multiple bets that rewards successful