What is point spread betting? How to bet the spread

A point spread bet is the most common form of betting. Unlike the money line, where you’re just betting on a team to win or lose, the point spread sets one team as the favorite and one team as the underdog and sets a line that is subtracting from the favorite’s points total to level the playing field.

Once the point spread is set, you can bet on either side of it. Take the NFL for example. If the Titans are a 7-point favorite over the Jaguars, it’ll be presented as “-7″ at your sportsbook. That means the Titans need to win by more than seven points for you to cash your: Titans -7. The “minus” 7 is because you take their score at the end of the game and subtract seven points from it.

If they win by exactly seven, that’s a “push” and you get your initial wager amount back.

Conversely, the Jaguars would be +7 in that situation and would need to lose by fewer than seven or win outright for you to win your bet. The Jaguars wouldn’t need to actually win the game, as taking them +7 just means you think they’ll keep it closer than a touchdown. If they lose by three on a last-minute field goal, you’d win the bet. The point spread function is a handicap that puts two uneven teams on equal footing. Without the spread, it would be difficult to bet a college football game between an SEC powerhouse and a small FCS school because in that type of mismatch, the SEC school would be a massive money line favorite.

Since a point spread is used to make two uneven teams equal, occasionally it’s not needed if two teams are pretty evenly matched. When that happens, the point spread will be set at zero and noted simply as a “pick” or “pick ‘em.” In that case, a “pick ‘em” essentially becomes a money line bet, where you’re just betting on the straight-up winner. It doesn’t matter how much the winner wins by anymore. Since home-field or home-court advantage is usually worth at least a couple of points, if a game is a “pick em” it usually means the road team would be a small favorite on a neutral court or field.

The odds on point spreads will usually be -110 on both sides: That’s how the sportsbooks make their money, taking what’s known as the “vig” or “juice” on each side. If the odds are -110, that means you have to bet $110 dollars for every $100 you want to win. Even when the line changes from -4 to -6 for example, it’ll usually remain -110 (or close to it) odds on both sides. There are plenty of exceptions however, like when oddsmakers want to shade the line in one direction.

If the Bucks are -6 against the Heat and oddsmakers want to attract a little more money on Miami without quite moving it to 6.5, you might see Bucks -6 at -115 and Heat +6 at -105. Point spread odds vary most in the NFL though, since each point can be quite important and valuable. You see it especially often around key numbers like three and seven in football. The difference between -2.5 and -3 in the NFL is massive, so there has to be a middle ground. A team might be -2.5 at -120 or -125, while the team that’s +2.5 would usually be +100 or +105 in those scenarios. That’s because getting +2.5 is a lot less valuable than getting +3, so the payout on a +2.5 bet would be larger.

At any sportsbook, simply click on whatever sport you’re looking for, whether it’s baseball, basketball, football, etc. The point spread will usually be the first market listed. It’s important to have accounts with multiple sportsbooks if you can, so that you can shop around for the best lines and odds. Point spreads won’t always be the same at every book. One oddsmaker might have the Lakers as -3 while another has them at -2, and that small difference can make a huge long-term difference.

Betting the point spread is always about finding value. Think of the sports betting space like the stock market or any market, where it’s about identifying spots where one side is being undervalued. That means not always betting the teams with the best records. There might be an NFL team that is 5-11, but goes 11-5 at covering the spread. That’s known as an ‘ATS’ or ‘against the spread’ record, which is a term commonly used in betting. You’ll see a team’s ‘home ATS record,’ which means how often they cover the spread at home. In addition to finding value in numbers, when a point spread is inflated or too low it’s also important to handicap the matchup. When betting a point spread, think about how one team’s defense matches up with the other’s offense, etc.

A point spread can shift in the run-up to a game for a variety of reasons. A key player getting hurt or scratched from a game can shift the line dramatically. In some sports like the NFL, the betting volume can be so overwhelming from the public that sportsbooks might adjust the odds to attract more action on one side or put themselves in a more favorable position to turn a profit. Oddsmakers will also often shift the line in reaction to respected or ‘sharp’ money. ‘Sharp’ money refers to bets coming in from long-term winning bettors that the books respect enough to listen to. There’s a lot of line movement, particularly in weekly sports like the NFL or college football, since there’s a long period of time between when the lines open and when the game actually starts.

The NFL is one of the sports where point spreads are most important. Individual points matter great deal in pro football, so knowing “key numbers” is crucial. The difference between -8.5 and -9 is somewhat negligible, since a team winning by nine in the NFL isn’t particularly common. But the difference between -2.5 and -3 is massive, as around 15 percent of all NFL games are won by exactly three points.

As such, getting the best number possible in NFL betting is very important. In terms of betting strategies, matchup analysis is also most important in the NFL. The Broncos might be better than the Raiders overall, but if their offensive line is a weakness while the Raiders’ defensive line is a strength, it might not matter. Injuries are also important to factor in, especially when there are cluster injuries in a position group. If the Texans have multiple cornerbacks listed on the injury report and they’re playing a team with an explosive passing game, that could be a matchup you look to exploit.

In baseball betting, point spread betting is a little different and is often referred to as the “run line.” Unless one team is an absolutely gigantic favorite, in which case it’ll be set at -2.5, the run line for baseball is almost always -1.5. There are some nuances to understand with run line betting. You may notice that home teams often have better odds on the -1.5 than road teams. That’s because a road team is always going to be scoring as many runs as possible in the top of the ninth inning. The home team is more likely to win by a single run because if the game is tied going into the ninth then the home team will win as soon as they plate one run. In baseball, some bettors prefer to bet a favorite -1.5 on the run line, or an underdog on the money line instead of taking the +1.5 runs.

Basketball betting also has many distinctions. One good strategy can be to back scrappy bad teams against far superior teams. If there’s a team that is losing a bunch of games but consistently keeps them close, a double-digit point spread against a better team can be time to strike. NBA and college hoops point spread betting can be frustrating, since spread bets can often be decided by free throws at the end of the game. What looked like a sure winner can go down in flames in a hurry if one team excessively fouls in garbage time. It can be important to know which coaches always foul until the very end and which ones will just let a game expire if they’re down by eight or more with under 30 seconds left.

Like with baseball, hockey point spread betting is a bit different. Instead of the run line, it’s usually called the “puck line” in NHL betting. As is the case with basketball, there can be some brutal beats at the end of hockey games. Hockey teams will usually pull their goalie in the final minute or so if they’re down by a single goal, which can lead to empty-net goals that swing the -1.5 and +1.5 puck lines at the last second. So keep in mind you’re due for some heartbreak if betting hockey puck lines. And like with baseball, most bettors prefer to back favorites on the puck line and underdogs on the money line. Puck lines also correlate with totals, in that if a team is going to win by multiple goals, that game may also be more likely to see a lot of goals. So it makes more sense on the surface to take a team -1.5 if the total is set at 6.5 than if it is listed at over/under 5.0 goals.

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