Future bets can be profitable types of wagers where you bet on the results of events that are set further down the line. They play a key role in sports betting, covering anything from who will win the Super Bowl to who will take the EPL title. This page will offer a general overview of futures betting odds and provide strategies to help you navigate this market with greater confidence.
What is a Future Bet?
Future bets entail taking a more over-arching and long-term view with wagers. As such, markets will usually be open months in advance of a key event or competition, and bettors may be much bolder especially if they have read around key trends surrounding a team.
For instance, if you’re really into golf, you might be considering which player to support for the Open Championship. You could be leaning toward Masters 2023 champion Jon Rahm to win the 151st edition happening in July, and you might find odds of +800. This may seem a bit high, especially since golf often has larger fields, but it could be worth looking into more.
As the event draws closer, the odds may shorten especially if Rahm were in a rich vein of form and continues to land more PGA Tour titles. This type of bet is available at the best new betting sites we work with.
Future Betting Explained
Futures bets are quite common at leading sportsbooks, and they are applicable to all kinds of sports, including NFL, soccer, tennis, and golf. But how do futures bets work? We have used BetOnline as the prime example.
In the image illustrated above, the Open is the final Major of the golfing season. It always generates plenty of interest, and depending on which side the pond you live on, it is the must decorated prize in the sport. If you fancy Rahm, for example, you will find odds attached of +800.
With golf, you can usually find intriguing prices for futures and odds will be based on a $100 wager. So, at this moment in time, Rahm is the clear favorite but his price suggests there is an 11% chance he will win the tournament. As such, if you bet now, and he were to win you would get a return of $800 ($100 x 8) if he were to prevail. So, whatever the event, there will be a golf future available to fill in on your betting slip.
Futures Betting Odds – How Do the Odds Work?
Fundamentally, futures bets will open before the start of the new season and bookmakers will adjust the prices throughout given by what happens on the field of play, such as results and injuries, as well as what happens off it such as trades.
Whatever odds the bettor initially finds a future bet, they will be locked in for them when they fill in their online slip regardless of whether an operator chooses to adjust the future odds thereafter.
For American odds, there will be a plus and minus denoted next to a team or a player. With these two symbols, the plus will be attached to the team that is trading as the underdog, while the favorite will have a negative symbol next to their name.
Handy Tip: Betting on futures comes in many guises, and at many of the top operators, they will be provided in a variety of ways – American odds, Decimal odds, and Fractional. This should make things easier in determining the chances.
| American Odds | Decimal Odds | Fractional Odds |
| +300 | 4.00 | 3/1 |
How to Read Futures Sports Betting Lines
Most of the best offshore sportsbooks will have a de facto or default setting for lines that are displayed in American format. With American odds, this is based on how much you will win if you place a $100 wager. The negative number will represent how much you will need to stake to win $100.
So, for example, you could bet on the potential matchups for the NBA Finals. You may locate odds of +625 for the Finals to see Boston Celtics vs Phoenix Suns or a longer price of +1000 for Milwaukee Bucks vs Denver Nuggets.
With the +625 price for the Celtics vs Suns, for every $100 you wager, you will make a $625 profit. In terms of probability, a +625 represents a 13.8% chance of that being the matchup for the Finals, whereas if it were the Bucks v Nuggets, then the chances would drop to 9.1%. Or you could locate a special for Trae Young to be traded to Miami Heat for +250 if NOT the Atlanta Hawks. A +250 price means there is a 40% chance that Young could join the Heat, which if you bet $100, you would get $250 in return. This bet falls into the specials category.
You don’t have to bet $100, but at many of the best online sportsbooks in the US, it can be easier to use this sum to reflect how much you would stand to win. Instead, you could bet for as little as $1, so odds of +1000, for example, would give you a $10 win providing your wager was successful.
Handy Tip: Futures betting will often have positive odds attached, so you can win more money.
Which Sports can I use to make Futures bets?
Sports betting futures are part and parcel of the online sportsbook experience, and it has become as ubiqutious as moneyline betting.
Future Bets for Soccer
Soccer and future betting odds go hand in hand. Here, you may choose to decide which team will be relegated from the EPL in the 2023/24 campaign or promoted to England’s top flight depending on the quality of the sides in the division. Odds will be available in American, decimal, and fractional formats.
Future Bets for NBA
Sometimes, the best future bets won’t just be restricted to team performances. Indeed, at many of the best NBA sportsbooks, it is common to come across the players that come to the fore and be crowned the NBA Finals MVP. This is a fiercely competitive market, but one that always drums up plenty of interest.
Futures Bets for NFL
The Super Bowl is the centerpiece of the NFL, and naturally, the best football betting sites will gravitate around this. Odds will drastically shift throughout the season depending on how the Conference race is shaping up, and who has delivered during the playoffs.
Futures Bets for Golf
While largely an individualistic discipline, golf betting can often provide the best future bets. Rather than just wagering on a future tournament, you can find odds on say Collin Morikawa to win more than one Major during a season, and you can find good value for money in this market.
Futures Bets for F1
F1 is growing in presence, especially with more Grand Prix events taking place in the US, including the more recent addition of Miami. As such, bettors can find a wealth of future bets available for Grand Prix races at the best F1 sportsbooks as well as who is most likely to clinch the Drivers Championship or Constructors Championship, and that can invariably go right down to the wire.
More Examples of Futures Bets
Not all futures bets will be dedicated to sports. Most high-profile sportsbooks will also be well versed in covering entertainment and political markets.
For example, at some operators, you will be able to wager on who will win the Leading Actor award at the 2024 Oscars or who will be elected as the next US president, and these markets will be open for years before wagers are settled.
Futures Bets FAQs
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How to Make a Future Bet Online
Placing a future bet can be done in a matter of a few minutes, and with minimal fuss.
With that said, we have created a simple step-by-step guide of how to use a future bet at our top-rated sportsbook BetOnline. If you wish to make your betting experience as enriching as possible, then don’t forget to collect a few BetOnline promo codes along the way.
Step One – Register with BetOnline
Search for and then open the BetOnline website. Look for the green “Join Now” button which will bring up the registration form for you to fill in your personal details. You will be required to add your name, phone number, and home address as well as create a unique and memorable password.
Step Two – Verify Your Account
After registering your account, you will receive a verification link by BetOnline, and this will be emailed to you by a member of the team. After you’ve done this, use your new username and password to sign back into BetOnline and access your account.
Step Three – Make your First Deposit
You will now be free to make your first deposit. Pick from the list of options in the dropdown menu, and add the amount you wish to deposit. You will also be able to collect a welcome bonus which will consist of a 50% matched deposit up to $1,000 when you enter BOL1000 into the promo code box. Then, click “Deposit Now” to finalize payments.
Step Four – Pick your Sport
You can head over to the “Sports” tab and pick your preferred sports. On the left-hand side, there will be a section for futures betting, and you can select the market you wish to wager on.
Step Five – Place your Wager
You will now be able to place your future bet. Use BetOnline’s intuitive slip and select the amount you wish to wager, and this will show the potential returns you stand to make. Happy betting!
Futures Betting Tips
While you may not used to betting on futures, here are a few handy tips that could stand you in good stead.
Tip One: Shop Around
Sportsbook will determine the odds for futures based on their own research. While some will be largely similar, a slightly differential in odds can have a huge impact on your overall winnings. Make sure you hunt around and compare odds at operators before committing to one.
Tip Two: Seek Value in the Underdogs
While you may naturally be drawn to the favorite, sometimes, the underdog can defy the odds and yield bigger profits. It can therefore pay off to go with your hunch.
Tip Three: Don’t follow the Public
It can be all too easy to follow the general consensus when it comes to futures bets. Rather than be swayed by what the public is saying, listen to what your head is saying. If your research has come up with some different, then go with that as opposed to being a sheep.
Tip Four: Bet when the Odds are Longer
Markets will generally open months in advance, but as the season wears on, then the prices can shorten. It is better sometimes to bet when the price is longer as your winnings will be bigger rather than leave it too late when the odds are too short or if a bookmaker suspends the market, as you won’t get value with your wager.
Tip Five: Don’t Rely on Statistics
Statistics are always handy, but you shouldn’t always read too much into them. In any given sport, there is usually a surprise package that can come out of nowhere to defy the odds. A great example of this was when Leicester City shocked everyone when they won the EPL title in the 2015/16 season. They confounded logic and it was one of the biggest fairytales in sport.
What is the difference between future bets and prop bets?
Sometimes, future bets and prop bets can be used interchangeably, although there is a distinct difference between the two. With a future bet, you will be wagering on something to happen in the future, whereas prop bets are more time restricted in terms of wagering on specific outcomes within a game taking place sooner.
A prop bet, for example, might be whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will have a triple-double in his next game. Will Mohamed Salah miss a penalty for Liverpool against Tottenham?
Handy Tip: Don’t mix up futures and prop bets. If you wish to place a futures wager, then try and bet far in advance, so you can get decent odds.
Payouts for Futures Bets
Every futures bet will come with an implied probability of success, and as mentioned with American odds, this will represent what you will win based on a $100 wager.
As you can see from the table, the higher the odds, the more you will scoop in cash, which will help your bankroll tick over.
| Stake | Odds (American) | Implied Probability | Potential Payout |
| $100 | +150 | 40% | $250 |
| $100 | +400 | 20% | $500 |
| $100 | +600 | 14.29% | $700 |
| $100 | +1000 | 9.09% | $1000 |
| $100 | +2000 | 4.76% | $2100 |
| $100 | +5000 | 1.96% | $5100 |
Hedging Your Sports Betting Futures
Hedge betting is a key strategy underpinning future betting. In essence, you will place a series of bets on multiple outcomes to lock in a profit or limit a loss.
So, for example, if you were looking to place a future on the NBA Championship winner, to be successful, you would have to ensure your wager covers the team that wins both their Division and Conference.
A hedge bet is designed to offer some form of insurance that in the event they were to lose, then you would still have a winning along the way. Let’s run through an example below:
So, you might fancy the Boston Celtics to win the Championship, and they are priced at +275 to do so, and therefore you place a $100 wager.
To win the Eastern Conference, they are trading at +125 and you place a $25 bet on this.
• Brooklyn Nets to win the Championship = $100 x +270 = $375
• Brooklyn Nets to win the Eastern Conference = $25 x +125 = $225
If both parts of the bet came off, then you would stand to win $600. One of the advantages of hedge betting, is that you can move your stake around to boost or reduce exposure on results. You could therefore make this bet more top heavy for the Celtics to win the Championship, as they are widely fancied to do so.
Or instead you can hedge your bets with futures by backing a team before the start of the season, and then hedge during individual games. You therefore could guarantee a profit on both results if you were to pull it off.
Futures Betting Pros and Cons
You may be wondering at this point whether futures are worth it. The overall consensus, is that they are, however, like with any other betting type, there are some pros and cons associated which we have assessed.
Pros:
- The timing of these bets are helpful as you can wager whenever suits you and you aren’t restricted.
- You can land big wins if you bet on a team with a longer price when the market opens.
- The odds can be quite competitive which means you can get more value with your bets.
- They are good for hedging bets and locking in a profit.
Cons:
- There are more factors involved with futures bets, and many of these will be external and out of your control, such as injuries or trades.
- Your money can often be tied up until the market closes, so this won’t suit bettors who don’t like sitting around.
- Futures usually have a high juice, so the betting cut is much higher for sportsbooks compared to other betting markets.
Which is the Best Site for Betting on Futures?
Futures can be lucrative bets, nevertheless, it is always handy to be aware of the different strategies available such as hedging to get the most out of them. We have attempted to break things down for you in terms of how to read these types of bets, and in reality, they can be simple if a bettor understands the odds.
