Bet Per Point Spread
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The point spread is a margin of victory and you as a bettor determine which side will beat the margin. Learn more about what it means to cover the spread.
There are many ways to bet on sports but one of the most popular ways for football and basketball is called the point spread. The point spread is a margin of victory and as a bettor, you determine which side will beat the margin.
If this all sounds a bit foreign to you, this will be point spreads explained. We’re going to elaborate on exactly what the point spread means, go over the lingo and give you concrete examples of spread betting, so that you have a full understanding of point spreads after reading this article.
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A spread is merely the margin of victory or a handicap in a given game. When you bet on the moneyline, you simply predict the outright winner of the game. When you bet the point spread, you’re betting on a margin set by the oddsmaker and you have to decide which side will “cover” or beat the spread.
The easiest way to explain this is with an example. We’ll use one of common NFL point spreads to take a closer look:
For point spread betting purposes, the first thing you’ll want to do here is notice either the ‘+’ or ‘-‘ sign as that will give you an important indication.
The plus sign indicates that this team will be receiving points. In this case, the Patriots will receive 2.5 points. The minus sign indicates that points will be losing points. In this case, the Cowboys will be losing 2.5 points.
What this means is that if you bet the Patriots, they are able to lose the game by two, one, tie or win the game, and you’d win your bet. As for the Cowboys, they’d have to win the game by three or more for you to cover.
A very basic way to do the math is to take the final score and add and subtract the points. For example, if the final score is. If you bet Dallas -2.5, then their final score of 30 – 2.5 = 27.5, which still beats out New England’s tally of 27 points. If the final score was Dallas 12, New England 10, you can see that New England +2.5 would put them at 12.5 points, which beats Dallas’ 12. That’s how does point spread work.
Now that you know how the spread works for each side, to play the point spread, all you have to do is determine which side you want to bet on. If you bet on Dallas -2.5, that’s one way to play the spread on that game. The other way would be to bet on New England +2.5.
If you’re calling in a bet over the phone or speaking to a cashier at a casino (in Vegas, etc.) then you’d merely say “I would like to bet on Dallas on the spread” or “I’d like to bet Dallas -2.5”. That’s how you play the point spread.
If you’re wondering how to read a point spread with the numbers after the spread itself, we’ll explain. Keep in mind that there are betting odds associated with each point spread. We’re going to show you what those mean and how to calculate them. Going back to our previous example, at a sportsbook like Bovada or BetOnline almost all point spreads will look like this:
As you can see, what’s been added here is the odds at the end of it. With -110 odds, that means for every $110 you bet on New England or Dallas, you’d win back $100 if they covered the spread.
The ‘-‘ sign denotes how much you have to bet to win $100. If there was a ‘+’ sign, that would denote how much you’d win if you bet $100. In other words, +150 means that if you bet $100, you’d win $150.
Keep an eye on how much sportsbooks charge for point spreads. Some books like Heritage Sports have low juice, so you can bet -105 on the spreads, which means you’ll save yourself a lot of money in the long run. The standard is -110, though.
The oddsmakers take a number of factors into account when it comes to setting a point spread. Those factors would include:
From a sportsbook’s perspective, the goal of a point spread is to split the action on both sides. The oddsmakers want to come up with a number where they can get equal bettors thinking the two sides can win, so that they can just get their “juice” (commission). Here’s what that looks like:
$1,100,000 of bets on the New England Patriots at +2.5 -110
$1,100,000 of bets on the Dallas Cowboys at -2.5 -110
What this means is that whoever ends up covering the spread, the betting sites pay out $1,000,000 in losses but collect $1,100,000. That $100,000 difference is what they’re going for every time.
The most popular way to bet on football and basketball is with the point spread and betting on the moneyline (the outright winner without worrying about points) is typically secondary. They’re known as spread betting sports. However, in the NHL and MLB, betting the moneyline is the primary way to bet on the games but there is still a point spread.
With hockey, you’ll see what’s called a puckline, which is a -1.5 and +1.5 line. Baseball will see something similar as they have a run line, which is -1.5 and +1.5.
Tennis is another sports where the main way to bet on the matches is the moneyline. However, if you bet on the point spread, it can be a spread on sets (I.E. a player has to win by 1.5 more sets than the other) or more commonly, a spread on games. So if a player is -7.5 games, they would have to win something like 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to cover the spread.
If you’re wondering how the point spread works in boxing, we’ll explain. While most people tend to bet on the moneyline in boxing, you will occasionally see a spread on rounds won – especially for big championship bouts. This will be based on the official judges’ scorecards.
That means to beat the spread. The team that wins on the spread is the team that “covered”.
A forecasted number projected by the oddsmakers for which a stronger team (favorite) is supposed to defeat the weaker team (underdog).
The team that’s expected to cover the spread.
The team that’s not expected to cover the spread.
Betting on a team on the point spread on either side.
This allows you to move the point spread around a little bit by a 0.5 point, one point and sometimes more.
A push is when you tie on the point spread. You’ll get your money back. While some point spreads are on a half-number, many are on a whole number. So if the spread is -3 and a team wins by exactly 3 points, that’s considered a push.
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What Is A Point Spread?
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Point spread betting is the most popular form of sports betting. The vast majority of sports wagers use a point spread thanks to the popularity of football and basketball. Even though this type of betting is so popular, it may take awhile to understand.
The point spread is sometimes known as an equalizer for sportsbook operators. All teams aren’t created equally, so sportsbooks can create a point spread for a game so that each team playing has an almost even chance of winning the game. In a way, the point spread will even the field for both teams.
The point spread gives a reason for bettors to risk money on both teams. The better team playing in the game is considered favorite. They have to win by the point spread offered by the sportsbook. The favorite in a game is listed as being minus (-) the point spread.
The worse of the teams playing in the game is called the underdog. The bettor wins if this team wins the game outright or loses by an amount smaller than the point spread. The underdog in a game is listed as being plus (+) the point spread.
Let’s use this past Super Bowl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs as an example.
Using this example, the Chiefs were 3-point favorites over the Buccaneers. The Chiefs needed to win by 4 or more points to cover the spread.
Likewise, the Buccaneers were 3-point underdogs. That means the Buccaneers needed to win the game outright or not lose the contest by 4 points or more. At Chiefs -3, if they won by exactly 3 points, the betting result would have been a “push” and bettors for both sides would have gotten their wagers refunded.
The Buccaneers pulled off the upset, winning by a score of 31-9, and rewarded bettors who backed them at +3.
Point spreads are usually set with -110 odds, but pricing often fluctuates at online sportsbooks. This is the sportsbook operators’ house edge. The odds guarantee the sportsbook operator will see a little money over time. When the odds are set at -110, the bettor must wager $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10).
The odds on a point spread are most commonly known as the vigorish or “vig” for the sportsbook. You might hear this small profit margin for the sportsbook called the “juice” by some sports bettors.
A “pick em” (sometimes seen as “pick”) is when the teams have a point spread of zero, meaning neither team is favored. In this instance, you’re essentially picking moneyline and your bet will be determined on the winner alone.
A spread of minus-seven (-7) means that a is favored to win the game by a touchdown (technically, a touchdown and the extra point). A team favored by -7 must win the game by eight or more points to win the bet. If the team wins by seven, the result is a “push” and the bet is refunded.
A spread of +7 means the team must win the game or lose by fewer than seven points to win the bet. A loss by seven would result in a push.
A -3 spread means that the favorite must win by more than a field goal to win the wager. A three-point win would result in a push and the sportsbook would refund the wager.
A spread of +3 means the team listed as the underdog must win the game or lose by fewer than three points to cash the bet. A three-point loss would be graded as a push by the sportsbook and the bet would be refunded.
In 2019, the Baltimore Ravens led the NFL in point differential per game at +13.7 points; the Miami Dolphins ranked last in the NFL in point differential per game at -11.7. Even Kansas City– known for their explosive offense– had an average point differential in 2019 of just 9.7 points. The net point differential in the NFL is -14.1, or -0.9 points per game. Basically, the talent differential in the NFL is so minute that even mismatched teams often draw games within a score of each other.
NFL spreads are most commonly between one point and four, with six being a heavy favorite and extremes coming out around 15-20 point favors. (For those wondering, the 1941 Chicago Bears hold the NFL record of point differential at +15.7 points per game. Conversely, Ohio State had a +33.1 average point differential in 2019.)
Sportsbook operators often aim to have equal money on both sides of a point spread. When the money is exactly split the sportsbook operator will see the exact vigorish as their profit margin. If all things are equal over time this will maximize how much money the sportsbook operator can make.
In an effort to have equal money on both sides of a wager, the sportsbook operator will move the point spread to attract money on the side that customers aren’t betting on. The odds for a point spread might change before the actual point spread. There are certain point spread numbers, like 3 and 7 in football, the sportsbook operators would like to avoid moving away from since the final score margin falls on these two numbers most often.
For example, if a lot more money is wagered on the New England Patriots -3, the vig may shift from -112 to -115 and -120 before the line moves to -3.5.
Football and basketball games are mostly bet using a point spread. The less popular major sports, baseball and hockey, are mostly bet using a moneyline. In an effort to make baseball and hockey more appealing to point spread bettors, the sportsbook operators offer run and puck lines, respectively.
These alternative lines give point spread bettors a chance to wager on other sports using a more familiar method of betting. Since points (runs and goals) aren’t as easy to come by in baseball and hockey, the odds with the lines may have a wider spread than a football or basketball game.
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