Point Spread Online Betting
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Point Spread Online Betting
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What Is A Spread In Sports Betting?
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Every sportsbook offers three common bet types for every game, match or event posted to the betting board: moneylines, totals and point spreads. The latter is popular among all sports bettors: newbies, seasoned wagerers, recreational players and professionals.
When you make a point spread wager, you’re simply betting on a margin of victory. You’ve likely heard the term “cover the spread”—that’s a direct reference to point spread betting.
If you’re a new bettor or at all confused, don’t worry. Everything you could possibly need to know about point spreads—and what it means to bet on them—is covered below.
As we already noted, a point spread is related to the margin of victory in any given game. It’s essentially a tool oddsmakers use to level the playing field when teams are mismatched in terms of skill and performance.
When looking at matchups that have point spreads, you’ll see a positive number attached to one team and a negative number attached to the other. Point spread betting is available for most sports but is most often associated with football and basketball (both college and pro).
Let’s start by explaining the “+” and “-” symbols that precede 6.5. You will see both symbols when looking at any point spread matchup, with the “-” denoting the favorite (team expected to win) and the “+” signifying the underdog (team expected to lose).
In this example, the Rams are the favorite, with -6.5 suggesting that oddsmakers believe Los Angeles is 6.5 points better than Pittsburgh. A point spread bet on the Rams -6.5 means you need them to defeat the Steelers by at least seven points to win your bet.
If LA wins by 6 points or fewer—or loses the game outright—Pittsburgh would “cover the spread,” and Steelers bettors would get paid.
By now, you might be wondering what the “-110” figure that’s attached to both teams means. These are the moneyline odds associated with this point spread bet. These odds tell us that, no matter which team you want to bet—Rams -6.5 or Steelers +6.5—you have to wager $110 for every $100 you want to win. (Another way to look at it: You have to wager $11 for every $10 you want to win.)
Odds vary on point spread bets from sport to sport. However, when dealing with basketball and football point spreads, you most often will see both teams with -110 odds.
Point spreads have a lot of nuances, so learning to read them can give you a leg up in your betting strategy. So let’s cover what goes into reading point spreads.
For consistency, we’ll continue using our Steelers-Rams example. Here’s what we know:
It can help to think of point spreads as “phantom points.” Once the game is over, you apply the phantom points to the final score to see if your wager is a winner or loser.
If you bet on the Steelers, you’d add 6.5 to their final point total. If you bet on the Rams, you’d subtract 6.5 from their point total. Here are a few hypothetical outcomes and how the point spread is factored in:
As the second example above clearly shows, if you wager on an underdog—again, the team with the “+” symbol—that team doesn’t have to win the game on the scoreboard for you to win your bet.
A team covers the spread if it successfully beats the point spread. In the scenario above, that means the Rams beat the Steelers by 7 points or more, or the Steelers beat the Rams by any margin OR lose by fewer than 7 points.
No matter if you’re betting on the favorite or the underdog, your goal is the same: You want your team to cover the spread. When that happens, you win your bet. When it doesn’t happen, you lose.
In the simplest terms, a negative spread indicates the favorite, which is the side that’s expected to win the matchup.
A negative point spread really means that team has some work to do. For a negative spread bet to hit, the team has to beat its opponent by a margin greater than the point spread.
What does a -7 spread mean?
A spread of -7 means that team needs to win by 8 points or more in order to cover. Example:
To cover the spread, Chicago must defeat the Clippers by 8+ points. Here are two final scores and the related point spread results:
If the Bulls lose the game or win by fewer than 7 points, they fail to cover the spread (meaning Clippers bettors cash their wager).
What if Chicago wins by exactly 7 points? It’s called a “push,” and all bets are refunded (no winner, no loser). We’ll go into more detail about pushes (i.e., ties) in a later section.
A -3 spread is one of the most common betting lines you see in football, especially in the NFL. The reason: It’s the most common margin of victory.
When betting a -3 spread—also known as betting a “3-point favorite”—you will subtract 3 phantom points from that team at the end of the game. If the team is still ahead after those points are subtracted, they cover the spread. Example:
Here, the Chiefs would need to beat the Cardinals by 4 or more points to cover. Some possible outcomes:
A point spread of -4 means your team needs to win by 5 points or more. Example:
A bet on Golden State -4 means you can only win if Golden State defeats Brooklyn by 5+ points. Some possible outcomes:
It means dollar signs should appear in your eyes like in old Saturday morning cartoons. Well, not exactly. But there’s a reason bettors might flock to a -2 spread in football: 2-point margins of victory are exceedingly rare in football.
When betting on point spreads in football, consider the most common victory margins: Because of the way football scoring plays are calculated—3 points for a field goal, 6 points for a touchdown, 7 points for a touchdown and extra point, 14 points for two touchdowns and two extra points—many victory margins land on these numbers (which is why they’re called “key numbers” in football betting).
Do some football games end with the favorite winning by exactly one point (covering the spread) or two points (push)? Of course. But it’s rare. So when betting a -2 spread, if your team simply wins, you’ll win your bet more often than not.
A positive point spread number indicates that team is the underdog. Though the underdog may be expected to lose, that of course doesn’t always happen. And even if the underdog does lose, the point spread gives it the opportunity to cover.
Once again, as long as an underdog loses by a margin that’s less than the point spread, it covers the spread.
A spread of +3.5 means a team must win outright or lose by fewer than four points to cover the spread. A +3.5 spread is particularly enticing in football because, as noted earlier, 3-point victory margins are extremely common.
Betting on the Patriots means you think they can pull out a victory (called an “upset”) or lose by a margin of 1, 2 or 3 points. Let’s say the final score is Miami 30, New England 27. The Patriots would narrowly cover the +3.5 spread, and you’d win your bet.
If you see a +7 spread in football, you could be looking at a great betting opportunity. Think of it as getting an extra full touchdown—in other words, a 7-point underdog starts with a 7-0 lead before the game even starts.
Always consider other options, too. Backing a team that’s +7 could make for a great straight bet, and you also could consider putting it in a teaser parlay. Teasers allow you to boost the point spread, so in this case, +7 could become +13 (6-point teaser) or +14 (7-point teaser).
In football and basketball, it usually means you should consider ditching the point spread and instead bet the underdog on the money line at better odds. After all, a +1.5 point spread only comes into play if an underdog loses by exactly one point. This occasionally happens in basketball (usually the NBA), but rarely in football (especially college football).
A spread of +1.5 or -1.5 basically indicates both teams are pretty much evenly matched—essentially, a +1.5 underdog has just about as good of a chance to win as a -1.5 favorite (at least in the eyes of oddsmakers).
Again, though, this only applies to football and basketball spread betting. Baseball and hockey are completely different. Why? Because a whole lot of baseball and hockey games end with one team winning by precisely one run/goal.
In baseball, the point spread is called the “runline,” while in hockey it’s called the “puckline”. An NHL or MLB team covers a +1.5 puckline or runline by either winning the game outright or losing by a margin of one. (Which of course means a team that’s -1.5 on the puckline or runline must win by one or more goals/runs.)
Back to football and basketball: If you’re thinking about betting a +1.5 underdog at -110 odds, it might make more sense to just bet that underdog on the moneyline. You would get odds of about +110 or +115.
This gives you a little more “bang for the buck.” Because the only way you would win a +1.5 point spread bet but lose by betting that same team on the moneyline is if that squad lost by exactly one point.
A +2.5 spread means the underdog will need to win outright or lose by 1 or 2 points to cover. Similar to what we explained in the previous section, a spread of +2.5 in football and basketball indicates a matchup of two fairly evenly matched squads.
Betting the Bucks at +2.5 might make sense if you believe Milwaukee and Golden State will play a tight, back-and-forth game that comes down to the wire. After all, basketball games can be nail-biting affairs, especially when two of the league’s best teams are involved.
So it’s not out of the question that the Warriors would win by 1 or 2 points. If that happened, Milwaukee would cover the point 2.5-point spread.
As with other small spreads, it’s important to consider the match-up and do your research. Ask yourself questions like:
A +5 spread means the underdog team needs to lose by fewer than 5 points.
+5 is a good number for football betting because it makes up for a field goal and a few stray points. It can still be applied to other sports to great effect. You might find it frequently in basketball betting, too.
But in football betting, +5 is the range we start to favor point spreads and stop considering the moneyline in many cases. A 5-point spread shows a fair deal of confidence in the team it’s attached to, so betting on the underdog at +5 gives you a solid edge and some scoring wiggle room.
As we already noted a few times, point spread bets can (and often do) end in ties. Called a “push,” this can only happen when a point spread is a whole number (i.e., +3, -7, +10, -14). If a spread includes a half-point—what’s known as a “hook” in betting lingo—there will always be a winning side and a losing side for betting purposes.
If Indianapolis won the game or 45-37 or 31-23 or 22-14—any result where the result is a Colts victory by exactly 8 points—neither team would cover the spread. In this scenario, everyone who bet on the Colts and everyone who bet on the Titans would get a refund equal to their wager. Nobody wins any money, and nobody loses any money.
Now, if you add a half-point to the above example—Colts -8.5/Texans +8.5—there cannot be a push. If the Colts win by exactly 9 points, they cover the spread by that half point; if Indianapolis wins by exactly 8 points, the Titans cover the spread by a half point.
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Cole Rush has been writing about the gambling industry for nearly 10 years. Following a six-year stint at a major gambling supplier, he began freelance writing in 2020. Now, Cole writes for various gambling-focused magazines and online publications.
Brian Pempus has covered the U.S. gambling indusry since 2009, starting with Card Player Magazine in Las Vegas. He was later deputy editor of sports betting at Better Collective and managing editor at The Game Day, before joining Forbes Advisor in 2022.
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Point spread betting is the most popular way both American football and basketball are wagered online. It is also used as an alternative wagering option in other sports. To explain quickly: if the point spread lines in an NBA game are Lakers -3.5 / Celtics +3.5 here the minus sign (-) indicates the Lakers are a 3.5 point favorite. Those betting Lakers -3.5 would need them to win by 4 points or more, otherwise their wager is a loss. On the other side, the plus sign (+) indicates the Celtics are a 3.5 point underdog. Those betting the Celtics +3.5 win their bet if the Celtics win the game outright or lose by 3 points or less.
In this article I’ll discuss point spread betting in great depth including the ins and outs. I’ll also cover and link to intermediate betting strategy. First, if you’re already familiar with pointspreads, the following are my top 4 recommended online sportsbooks.
Because the point spread lines used often varies between online bookmakers it makes sense to shop the lines at all four bookmakers listed above. For example, if three sites have an NFL team -3, and you find another having -2.5 obviously you should make the bet at the site that is offering -2.5, so long as the odds are the same. There’s an old saying in sports betting “I know far more winning line shoppers than I do handicappers” .
Note : If you are experienced with sports betting you may wish to skim past or skip this section where I cover the very basics for the benefit of readers who are brand new.
The first thing to understand is point spread betting is only one of many ways to bet on a game from any sport. It is possible to bet just on which team will win with no point spread involved. To give an example let’s say in the NBA the Atlanta Hawks are one of the best teams and are playing at home against the Orlando Magic who are not a very good team and have injuries. The bookmaker might set odds on this game as Hawks -700 (risk $7 to win $1) / Magic +500 (risk $1 to win $5). This type of wagering is called moneyline betting . If you click that link you can learn more about betting on teams to win straight up.
The problem with moneyline betting is most gamblers prefer closer to an even money wagering proposition. With this in mind, for the same game the bookmakers will likely set the point spread odds as Atlanta Hawks -10.5 -110 / Orlando Magic +10.5 -110. The -110 is the price and means for every $1.10 you stake you’ll profit $1.00 if your bet wins. As you can see the odds are much closer to even, and I already explained how the point spreads work in the opening paragraph of this article.
Let me now explain some terminology and details you should be familiar with:
Betting Line – understand when someone asks “what is the line” they are referring to the point spread. In the used example the Atlanta Hawks have a line of -10.5 (spoken, “minus ten point five” or “minus ten and a half” ) and the Orlando Magic have a line of +10.5 (spoken: “plus ten point five” or “plus ten and a half” ). Another term sometimes used is: hook. What’s the line? “ten and a hook; Atlanta is the favorite” .
All Lines Have a Price – unless otherwise specified all point spread bets are -110 (risk $1.10 to win $1.00). In some cases the lines will be specified. You might see Hawks -10.5 -115 / Magic +10.5 -105. In this case the bookmaker feels the Hawks are slightly more likely to cover. The -115 means risk $1.15 to win $1 and the -105 means risk $1.05 to win $1.
Reduced Juice – popular US betting site www.5dimes.eu on game day offers point spread bets at -105 base. This does not always mean sides are -105, you might find Hawks -10.5 -104 / +10.5 Magic -106, or you might find -101 / -109, the point is that their reduced odds use a -105 base instead of a -110 base. You can find their reduced juice odds by looking under the column of the sport you’d like to wager and then clicking the box next to the word “reduced”.
Half-Points and Pushes – as already mentioned the half-point in a betting line is referred to as a hook. A line of -10.5 has a hook where a line of -10 does not. With -10.5 it is not possible to tie. With -10 it is possible to tie. In the event you do tie, for example betting -10 and having your team win by exactly 10, this is called a push. In this case your stake is returned and the outcome is as if you never placed the bet.
The importance of line shopping cannot possibly be understated. If for NBA basketball you were to beat the consensus point spread by an average 1-point (for example: bet +7 when most sites have +6), as long as you managed your bankroll well, it would be near impossible to lose over the long-haul. Also the difference between betting -3 -105 and -3 -110 is massive. At -105 you only need to win 51.22% of your wagers to break even. At -110 you need to win 52.38%. Understand line shopping is not always easy.
An example where a decision comes into play: let’s say for an NFL football game the New York Jets are +6.5 -110 at all websites but Bovada has +7.0 -120. This is a difference of risk $1.10 for each $1.00 you want to win or risk $1.20 for each dollar you want to win. Is the extra half-point worth it? How do we decide? This is where this article gets slightly more advanced than the basics.
In order to decide if +6.5 -110 or +7 -120 is a better bet we need some sort of a base to work with. If you’re a handicapper you can probably handicap the probability that a +6.5 wager wins. Considering you’re reading this article you’re likely not a handicapper. My advice is to gain this base by calculating the no-vig market price using odds from www.pinnaclesports.com . They don’t accept US players but that’s okay, we’re not betting here – we’re simply using them to gain information. For the reason on why to use Pinnacle refer to my article: the evolution of the betting market.
Let’s say the odds at Pinnacle are Patriots -6.5 -105 / Jets +6.5 -103. The first thing we need to do is convert -103 and -105 to required break even percentage (also referred to as implied probability). We
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