A sportsbook is a place, either online or in a brick-and-mortar building, where people can make wagers on various sporting events. It’s also sometimes known as a bookmaker or a casino. Sportsbooks are usually legal and accept bets from people all over the world, but there are still states that consider sports betting illegal. In this article, we’ll take a look at what a sportsbook is and how it operates, as well as whether or not it’s legal.

A straight bet is a wager that predicts the winning team or individual in a specific game. For example, if you believe the Toronto Raptors will defeat the Boston Celtics in an NBA game, you would place a straight bet on Toronto. Sportsbooks offer other types of bets, too, including spread bets that involve a minimum margin of victory for the underdog or a certain number of points or goals. Spreads are set by the handicapper at a sportsbook and can be adjusted throughout the day.

Sportsbooks also allow bettors to place total (over/under) bets on the combined score of two teams in a game. These bets are based on the total number of points, goals or runs scored in a game, and they can be affected by injuries and weather. Injuries are particularly important for baseball and football bettors, as a blown save or a bad play could cause the over/under to move.

The odds at a sportsbook indicate how much a bettor can win with a successful $100 bet, and they are usually displayed using positive (+) or negative (-) numbers. Most United States-based sportsbooks use American odds, which show how many dollars a bet wins if it is $100 and how much a bettor must bet to win $110. Pushes are considered losses but are often refunded by sportsbooks, while losing bets are generally counted as losses.