While signing up for a sportsbook in a legal state to place wagers is easy enough, learning the rules of official betting can be confusing. This article provides a quick guide to the basics of betting on sports.

The NBA has strict guidelines on players and employees placing bets. Athletes who bet on the NFL or other professional leagues face suspensions if they do so. This applies to those playing or working for the NBA, including its WNBA, G-League and Basketball Africa League teams. Athletes who bet on college sports or MLB player props also can face punishment if they do so while in uniform at team facilities.

In an effort to better track the activity, the NFL has beefed up its in-house technology and partnered with integrity firms to monitor betting on its games. Those companies then share information with the NFL, which can help identify violators. The league is also enhancing its relationship with regulators and sportsbooks to ensure compliance.

Besides in-game bets, some states also offer correlated plays. In a correlated play, the sportsbook will pay out if the event is won by any player on the bet. It’s a way to increase the payouts for players who correctly pick more than one winner, such as a daily double or trifecta.

In horse racing, the odds for a particular race are constantly changing based on how much money is placed on each outcome. This is why hitting a “perfecta” (picking the first two finishers in exact order) or a “quinella” (picking the first three finishers in any order) is so lucrative.