How it works
Betting in plain English.
If you have never placed a sports bet, start here. Signal is a research tool — it will not place a bet for you, and it will not tell you a game is free money. Week 1 share kit.
What to do in this app
- 1. Open Tonight. Find a matchup. Signal’s take is a summary of the experts, not a command.
- 2. Tap a game. You’ll see three ways to bet, written out in English under the numbers.
- 3. Check the crowd. If most people are on one side, the price may already include that. Copying the crowd is not a strategy.
- 4. If you bet, tap Track this bet. Write it down as Covered/Missed so you can see what actually worked.
- 5. Player bets live on each game. That’s yards, hits, shots, or a fighter to win — one person, not the whole team.
- 6. Combined bets (parlays) are on Parlays. Every piece has to win. Start with two bets from different games.
One game, four bets
After the game: Seattle 13, New England 10 (Wed Sep 9, 2026). Seattle won by 3.
- If the spread was Seattle −3.5 — they had to win by 4 or more. They won by 3. That spread loses.
- New England +3.5 — they can lose by 3 and you still win. They lost by 3. That spread wins.
- Seattle to win — no extra points. They won the game. The moneyline wins.
- Over 44.5 — 13 + 10 = 23, which is less than 44.5. The over loses. Under would win.
That is the whole trick of the spread: the favorite can win the game and you can still lose the bet.
The three common bets
Spread (the extra points)
The favorite has to win by more than the number. The underdog can lose by fewer than that — or win the game. Minus means favorite. Plus means underdog. The extra .5 (like 3.5) means there is no tie.
Total (over / under)
Add both teams’ scores. If the total is 44.5, over wins at 45 or more. Under wins at 44 or fewer. You are not picking a winner — only how many points (or runs, or goals) get scored.
Who wins (moneyline)
No extra points. You are betting which team wins the game. Underdogs have plus odds (like +150): risk $100 to win $150. Favorites have minus odds (like −170): risk $170 to win $100.
Player bet
A bet on one person inside the game: passing yards, catches, hits, strikeouts, a touchdown. You are not picking the winner. Example: Jaxon Smith-Njigba over 74.5 receiving yards wins if he has 75 or more.
Combined bet (parlay)
Several bets glued together. Every piece has to win or the whole thing loses. Two careful bets from different games is usually cleaner than eight favorites from one Sunday night video.
What −110 means
−110 is the usual price on a spread: you risk $110 to win $100. Plus numbers pay you more because that outcome is less likely. Combining bets multiplies those prices — and multiplies the chance you lose.
Words you’ll see on the board
- Signal’s take
- A summary of the experts we track — not a command to bet, and not a lock.
- Most people
- What most casual bettors are putting money on. A high % on a favorite is a warning that the price may already be worse.
- Agreement
- How strongly those experts agree. 70 or higher is a clearer take. 40–70 is a maybe. Watch means skip a forced side. Not a lock.
- Opposite the crowd
- Our sources like the other side from most people. Interesting — still not a sure thing.
- Won % of picks
- How often that expert’s bets actually won. Around 52–54% is the long-run bar; 50% is a coin flip after the sportsbook’s cut.
How Signal forms a take
We do not follow one guru. Each person on the Experts page has a record: how often their picks won, how many bets that is based on, and whether they tend to get a better price than the last one before kickoff.
Independent voices (film, weather, a computer model, betting against the crowd) count more than a viral video. When those voices agree and most casual bettors are on the other side, agreement goes up. When they agree with the crowd, we still show the take — but we say the price may already include that.
What “agreement” means
- 70 or higher — several careful sources agree, often against the crowd. You can still lose tonight.
- 40–70 — a mild preference. Bet smaller, or skip.
- No clear pick — sources are split, the game is delayed, or the price already moved. Watching is a decision.
Why a $10 parlay is usually a worse bet
Two even bets, each about a coin flip, together win about 1 in 4 times. Three win about 1 in 8. Eight win almost never — even if each piece “looks good.” The huge number on the slip is the sportsbook paying you for taking a long shot, after they have already taken a cut on every piece.
Same-game stacks (a receiver’s yards plus the over, or a running back plus his team to cover) move together. You do not get two independent chances. Signal flags those on the Parlays page and will suggest dropping the weakest piece.
Player bets
We read this week’s rosters and injuries across football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, and UFC, then write a small number for the people who actually touch the ball. The sentence under the pick is the whole rule: “You win if he throws for 233 yards or more.” If someone is questionable, we say so and usually prefer the under.
Quick bets from the big apps
DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM put same-game parlays on the home screen: a star, the favorite, the over, a juiced plus-number. Signal rebuilds that shape from tonight’s games and scores it. We are not those apps, and we do not place the bet. If you have a real slip, paste it.
Pick videos
Paste a TikTok, X, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook Reels video — or upload a short mp4, webm, or mov. Official captions come first. If the clip has none, Signal transcribes the audio, writes down what they said, then scores how careful the pick is: did they name a number and a reason, or yell “lock” and stack eight teams? A high score is not a prediction. A low score is a warning. Free includes two video checks. Example clips and failed reads do not count. Pasted sportsbook slips have their own one-read free limit.
Worth a look — real reasoning. Bet the other side — the clip is so one-sided that the opposite bet may be the smarter look. Skip — ignore it. Wait — not enough to act on.
Track your own bets
“Track this bet” saves a pick to My bets. Signal never sends money to a sportsbook. Your bankroll is the amount you have decided you can afford to lose. A unit is a typical bet size — many people use 1% of bankroll, so $1,000 bankroll means $10 bets.
Method modules
For the daily researcher on Pro: Everything Free · High daily How careful is this? cap (or unlimited on 1–2 core leagues) · Honest SGP / Slips (Check this slip · Build a slip) · Players props in plain English + Lean / Watch / Trim / Skip · Rolling ~2wk Covered / Missed with miss-whys · Share card exports · Method modules + standard alerts. Free still gets tonight skim, limited How careful is this? views, and Most people. Covered/Missed receipts and on-card scores are never paywalled.
- How careful is this? How we grade a clip’s homework, not whether it hits. Free: two views, then Pro.
- Honest SGP. Advertised plus-number vs independent combined, then Trim/Skip. Get Pro for unlimited scores + alertsUnlock Desk for every live league + the full terminal
- Monday W–L. Covered/Missed and sample size only — never units. Always free.
What Signal will not do
Place a wager. Guarantee a winner. Hide a losing source. Talk like someone selling locks. If betting is hurting you, stop and call 1-800-GAMBLER. 21+ where the law requires it.