What is a futures bet?
A bet on an outcome decided later in a season, like a championship winner.
At a glance
- Category
- Bet types
Run the numbers
How futures work
A futures bet settles at the end of a competition rather than after a single game. Championship winner, division winner, and season win totals are the common ones. Prices move all season as teams win, lose and pick up injuries.
The cost of tying money up
The two drawbacks are margin and liquidity. Futures markets usually carry a much wider margin than a single-game line, because pricing twenty or thirty outcomes at once gives the book more room. And your stake is locked up for months, which has a cost of its own even when the bet is good.
Frequently asked questions
What is a futures bet?+
A futures bet is a wager on something decided later in the season, such as which team wins the championship or how many games a team wins. It settles at the end of the competition rather than after one game.
Should you hedge a futures bet?+
It is worth considering when the ticket has grown into more money than you would normally have on a single game. Hedging trades some upside for certainty, and whether that is worth it depends on the price available.
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