How To Read Sports Betting Spreads
- In terms of the spread, the ' - ' always refers to the favorite and the ' + ' always refers to the underdog. For example, you can bet the Dallas Cowboys as a -7 point favorite to beat the Green Bay Packers or the Packers as a +7 point underdog. If you bet the Cowboys -7 and they win by more than seven points, you win your bet.
- Point Spread Point spreads focus on a margin of victory between the two teams and again, what you’re looking for is the positive and negative signs. If there is a minus sign next to a team’s.
- Feb 08, 2021 Betting Against The Odds When you bet for the underdog, it is called betting “against the odds.” For example, if odds are +300 for the Bears this Sunday, then it is three times more likely that they will lose than win. Odds of +300 indicate that if you bet $100, you will win $400, the original amount of your bet plus the profit.
“Wait, why does this NFL team have a -235 next to its name? What’s with New England Patriots (-15) vs. Miami Dolphins (+15)? Help! HEEEELPPPP!”
The – and + on a sports betting line indicates both your prospective payout and whether you’re betting on the favorite or the underdog. Negative numbers signify the favorite on the betting line. The negative number indicates how much you’d need to bet to win $100.
If that sounds like you, we’re here to assist you. If you’ve stared at a board at a sportsbook or just seen spreads and moneylines on the Internet and been utterly confused, don’t worry. It’s not just you. Those numbers can be confounding.
But hopefully, once you’re done reading this, you’ll completely understand how they work. As you prepare to dive into the world of sports betting, here’s a breakdown of how the lines work, starting with …
Spreads
It would be really easy to bet on a game if you could put money on a heavy favorite to win.
That’s where point spreads come in. Let’s look at an example:
Philadelphia Eagles (-4.5)
New York Giants (+4.5)
In this case, you can bet on either two outcomes: you can put money on the Eagles to win the game by 4.5 points OR MORE, which makes them the favorites. Or you can bet that the Giants will either win or lose by LESS THAN 4.5 points. They’re the underdogs.
Now, sometimes the spread “moves” during the days leading up to the game. Perhaps the Eagles’ spread ends up being -3.5 (in which they must win by 3.5 points or more to give you a victory in your bet). Your bet all depends on whichever spread you bet on, whether it was when the Eagles were favored by 4.5 or 3.5 points.
If you ever see “PK” or “pick” next to a team, it means there’s no spread and you can bet on who will win, no matter what the score is.
Moneylines
Let’s take that same example above but use moneylines:
Philadelphia Eagles (-200)
New York Giants (+150)
The team with a minus symbol is the favorite, and the number is how much money you would need to bet to win $100. In this case, you would have to bet $200 on the Eagles in order to win an additional $100.
The Giants are the underdogs. If they’re +150, that means you could bet $100 to win $150.
Note that you can bet any amount you want, but those numbers are always calculated and posted the same way, either in how much money you would need to wager to win $100 or how much money you could win by wagering $100.
Odds
If you’re betting on something like the team who will win the Super Bowl in the future, you might see it look like this:
New England Patriots — 3/1
Baltimore Ravens — 5/1
Kansas City Chiefs — 8/1
If you were betting on the Patriots and their 3/1 odds, you would win $3 for every $1 you spend. So if you bet $50 on the Pats and they ended up winning the Super Bowl, you’d win $150 (plus your original wager) back.
Good luck!
Reading odds may be the first part to figure out before you begin sports betting, as they specify the implied probability of an outcome and how much money can be won.
Odds can refer to moneyline, spread and total bets, and they can be displayed as American, British (fractional) or European (decimal). While odds look different, they mean the same thing.
American Odds
Most sportsbooks in the United States use American Odds. The main signifiers of American odds are that they either have a plus (+) or minus (-) in front of them and are in terms of 100.
Understanding plus (+) and minus (-) odds is the most important thing before learning about American odds.
Plus and Minus Odds
The plus (+) and minus (-) in sports betting can refer to either the point spread or betting odds. In terms of the spread, the ' - ' always refers to the favorite and the ' + ' always refers to the underdog. For example, you can bet the Dallas Cowboys as a -7 point favorite to beat the Green Bay Packers or the Packers as a +7 point underdog. If you bet the Cowboys -7 and they win by more than seven points, you win your bet. Similarly, if you bet the Packers +7 and they lose by less than seven points or win outright, you win your bet.
It's a similar case for the betting odds, though favorites don't always have a ' - ,' especially in sports like baseball, hockey or soccer where final results are often decided by one run or one goal. It's especially the case in soccer since matches can end in draws, whereas a winner is declared in almost every other sport because of overtime rules. However, in most cases, the favorite will have a ' - ' in front of its moneyline odds while the underdog will always have a ' + .'
For an example of moneyline betting odds, you can bet the Eagles as a -150 favorite to win or the Giants as a +180 underdog to win. If you bet $100 on the Eagles to win at -150, you would net a payout of $166.70. If you bet on the Giants to win at +180, the payout would be $280 because they are an underdog.
For something like soccer, Arsenal could be a +150 favorite against Everton as a +190 underdog, while the draw would be set at +220. In this case, the payout would be decent for every situation mainly because the teams are even and there are three possible results compared to just two for something like football (unless they go scoreless in overtime). In this case where both teams have a ' + ' in front of their odds, the team with the lower number is the favorite. The lower number also means a lower payout, which is always the case for betting the favorite on the moneyline. A $100 bet on Arsenal +150 would net $250, while a $100 bet on Everton +190 would net $290. Going further, a $100 bet on the draw at +220 would payout $320.
Moneyline Bets
A moneyline bet is on the straight-up winner of a game.
Moneyline bets are as straightforward as it gets in sports betting. You're betting on which side will win an event and if that side wins, you win.
Spread Bets
Cached
A spread bet is on the forecasted point differential between two teams. A minus (-) indicates the favorite and a plus (+) is the underdog.
In each bet, a push is also possible if the Lakers win by exactly seven points. That would mean each side gets their money back.
As for the odds, the most common number for spread bets is -110, but that number varies depending on the location, sportsbook and how popular each side is. The typical number is -110, which means you have to bet $110 to win $100. However, there are states where odds are worse in order to get the state more money such as -115 or -120. This is also called the vig, which is the amount the sportsbook charges per bet.
If two teams are equal, PK will be given alongside a team name which means the matchup is considered a 'pick 'em.' In this case, point spread doesn't matter as this boils down to a moneyline bet and a tie would get your money back.
Over/under (total) Bets
An over/under bet applies to the score or points in a given contest.
How To Read Sports Betting Spreads Against
The below over/under table is for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants game.
Similar to a spread bet, if the Cowboys and Giants combine for exactly 49 points, it's a push and each side get their money back. Also similar to spread bets is that the odds can vary.
Decimal Odds (British)
Decimal odds are most popular in Australia, Canada, Europe and New Zealand. These odds may be the easiest of the three to understand just by looking at the numbers.
The team with the higher of the two numbers is the underdog and the team with the lower of the numbers is the favorite. The return can be calculated by multiplying the bet with the the decimal odds.
Fractional Odds (European)
Fractional odds are most popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and are often the choice for horse racing. Also, a lot of sportsbooks in the United States will use fractional odds for futures odds.
Example odds to win the Super Bowl:
How To Read Sports Betting Spreads Spread
Similar to decimal odds, the return can be determined by multiplying the odds and the bet. Above, 100 times 2.5 (5/2) equals 250. In horse racing, odds will dip to something like 3/5 or 5/7 which usually means that horse is a big favorite. A 3/5 favorite is equal to -167 in American odds and 1.6 in decimal odds.