Spread Betting

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1. What’s Spread Betting?
2. The Goal of Spread Betting
3. How Can You Bet on Spreads?
4. Point Spread Payouts

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In sports betting also known as spread point betting, this particular type of wagering has grown a lot in recent years. It is especially popular in the USA and the UK, where it’s commonly used for betting on basketball, cricket, and football matches as well as horse racing.

What’s Spread Betting?

Spread betting is a type of betting where you get the chance to bet on a number of possible outcomes. In comparison, fixed odds betting only gives you the chance to bet on a “win or lose” outcome. Moneyline bets don’t go past this line, which is why spread betting became so popular. With spread betting, for example, you can predict the total number of goals in a match or the number of points scored, which gives punters a unique opportunity to bet on the accuracy of the wager rather than the final outcome.

Point spreads are especially popular these days. During the NBA season, punters can predict whether a match will go over a certain limit of points which is relatively easily to tell if you take a look at the statistics. Individual markets for players are also available, and the odds are pretty attractive as well. Point spreads can be easily predicted especially in the NBA league where a high number of points is scored every night.

The Goal of Spread Betting

The goal of spread betting is to give punters more chances of winning and creates an active market when one team’s chances are drastically higher against the opposition. For example, if one team has a historically spotless record against another, it will be the favorite, but with rather low odds. You surely won’t place a bet on a team with low odds. This is where spread betting comes in.

By announcing a spread for the match, bookies are trying to get punters to bet on the favorite. The spread is not unlike a handicap towards the underdog. In this case, the favorite is still given big chances to win, but it’s not a question if they will win. Will the favorite win by a smaller or bigger margin than the announced spread? This is the question punters are looking the answer for, and getting it right is sometimes easier than predicting the winner.

The bookmaker accepts wagers on both sides of the spread. In this way, it acts as a market maker and takes a small commission (vigorish) which is also its profit. The bookmaker doesn’t really care about the outcome of the match as the profit comes from its vig. The more punters join, the bigger the profit.

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How Can You Bet on Spreads?

Point spreads allow the bookie to level out the field between two teams that are not close in quality. Your goal is to predict if the final outcome will go over or under the announced spread. The bookmaker will pay you the same for both sides while spotting points to the underdog.

Let’s use an NBA example to see how point spreads work. For example, let’s say that the Lakers are playing the Warriors this evening. The points spread will be displayed with a + and – (Lakers +7 Warriors–7 – just an example). By betting on each option, you’re betting on how many points the team is going to lose or win by.

To cover the spread, the Lakers need to win the game by 8 points or lose by less than 7. At the same time, the Warriors need to win by more than 8 points. Now, things might get complicated a bit when the spread covers a decimal number (+7.5 and –7.5). Decimals are often used in points spreads – they eliminate the need for a push or tie. Ties always go to the house unless stated otherwise.

Point Spread Payouts

Point spreads are quite popular in the USA, where they’re offered on NBA and NFL matches. When it comes to the odds, they usually come at –110. This means that you need to bet $100 to get $110 in profit, which is subject to the bookie’s vigorish. The vig comes at 10% and is unavoidable – it’s how the bookie makes money. Some bookmakers will go even further than that which is why you should pay attention to the odds and choose the best one.

Point spreads always come with equal odds for both sides. You may see different odds from time to time, but it’s not a standard. Sometimes, you won’t see odds at all – this means that the payout is a standard –110. Whenever you’re planning on betting on spreads, check the odds and payout in order to avoid any confusion.

Why Choose Point Spreads Over Moneyline?

Once you master them, point spreads are great because their odds are constant. They usually come at –110 so it’s easier to keep your bankroll in check. They give you the chance to place a bet on a favorite at solid odds, which doesn’t happen with moneyline bets. Instead of picking a winner, you’re betting on the favorite to win by a margin of points at great odds which is much better than placing a bet on odds that won’t bring you anything in return.

Although they might look confusing in the beginning, point spreads are easy to understand. You just need to place your first bet and you’ll be up to speed. Once you master the ability to cover the spread, you’ll probably never go back to moneyline bets. Pay close attention to the statistics and you’ll soon become even better at point spreads, which means you’ll eventually win more than a few bets.

What’s the Line?

When betting on point spreads, you will almost surely come across the term “line”. It’s just cool lingo that refers to the point spread. You might hear someone asking what the line is for the aforementioned Lakers-Warriors game and they would get a response “Warriors minus seven”.