If you bet on a horse to finish in a place, you are backing it to finish in the top two, three or four, depending on the number of runners in the race. Furthermore, you can place a multiple bet with horses from the same race.
The most basic way to bet on football is a straight bet on the pointspread. When making a straight bet, the team the player bets must cover the pointspread. This means that the favored team must win by a stipulated number of points or the underdog will receive that number of points.