Official betting is a new type of online gambling that allows sports fans to make wagers on games and leagues. Its popularity is growing as more states legalize the practice. However, there are some key rules to keep in mind when making official bets. For instance, NFL players and staff are banned from entering or divulging nonpublic information to a sportsbook during the season. Also, they are not allowed to place correlated bets where the outcome of one bet influences the outcome of another.

The Black Sox scandal of 1919 is a classic example of a match-fixing incident. In that case, professional gambler Joseph Sullivan paid eight White Sox players (Oscar Felsch, Arnold Gandil, Charles Risberg, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, George Weaver, and Claude Williams) 10,000 dollars each to fix the World Series. The men were permanently banned from MLB and never played professional baseball again.

In addition to preventing match-fixing, official bets help protect the integrity of the game and its players. Some states even have laws in place that require all sportsbooks to accept bets only from residents of the state.

In addition to standard wagering options, some of these states offer unique sports betting products, such as the NFL playoff betting bracket that allows bettors to pick all winners of the first-round Wild Card games and determine who advances to the Divisional Round. Also, Colorado and Delaware recently launched legal sports betting. In both states, bets on in-state collegiate teams are prohibited.