Spread betting in sports is one of the most popular forms of betting, and it’s available in both legal sportsbooks and sweepstakes sportsbooks. If you consider yourself anything from a gambling man to a high roller, then it is important that you understand this term.
Spread betting in sports is different to your everyday even moneyline bets, but far more rewarding. If you are a fan of either basketball or football, then you’ve probably seen a term like “point spread football” at some point in your life. Read on to see spread betting explained.
What is a Spread Betting Bet? Spread Betting Explained!
What is spread betting? Also occasionally known as point spread betting. Point spread betting in sports is by far the most popular form of sports betting, with a large percentage of sports wagers making use of a sports point spread. You can make spread bets both in legal sportsbooks and sweepstakes sportsbooks, depending on the gambling regulations in your jurisdiction. Despite its popularity, point spreading can take a while to understand.
One can explain spread betting in general as a way to wager on the outcome of an event, where the payoff is dependent on the accuracy of your wager rather than a simple binary win or lose. As they say, all teams were not created equal, and point spread betting in sports takes this into consideration in order to incentivize the betting on both teams.
When you bet on the point spread it is said that you are “betting against the spread”. Make sure to head to our
how to place bets
page to get started.
Point spread betting does this by getting bettors to bet on the final margin of victory, rather than choosing an outright winner. In every match up there is a favorite – the team or person most likely to win based on their previous competition record, personal records and stats – and there is an underdog – the worse of the two teams.
In a point spread the underdog is listed as being a plus (+) and the favorite as being a minus (-). In order to be deemed the winner, the favorite needs to win by a certain number of points, and in the opposite direction, for the underdog to win, they need to stay within a certain number of points.
Even if the underdog loses the game, if the favorite doesn’t win by a large enough margin then those that chose spread betting in favor of the underdog would still win their bet.
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How do I calculate my odds of winning with spread betting when given the point spread?
Let’s start simple, with an example spread bet. Let’s say that Dallas is playing Washington in an NFL game. Dallas is listed as -9.5. This football point spread explained is that Dallas is the favorite and needs to win by at least 10 points. Washington would then be listed as +9.5. Washington therefore is the underdog and will need to lose by 9 points or fewer in order to win the bet. It’s important to note that if Washington were to pull an all out upset and win the game completely then you will still win I you bet on them.
The reason for the underdog being listed as plus (+) and the favorite as minus (-), is because when a gambler bets on the underdog they are said to “take the points” and they will win if the underdogs score plus the spread is greater than the favorites score. Someone who bets on the favorite team is said to give the points, hence the minus.
You will find that most of the time spreads will be specified in half-point fractions. This is done to eliminate the possibility of a tie. A tie can sometimes also be known as a push. If a push occurs, the game is considered no action, and this is bad for sportsbooks because no money is won or lost. Thus, the sports books are forced to refund every sport spread bet. Take a look at our
Moneyline betting
page.
“Why is that bad?” you might wonder, “doesn’t it just mean that everyone breaks even?”
The answer to that is no, everyone does not break even. While it may seem to the untrained eye that if a sportsbook is forced to refund every bet, everyone goes home having broken even, the bookie has actually lost money once the cost of overhead is taken into account.
Alternatively, a sportsbook may state that “ties win” or “ties lose” to avoid the issue of refunding every bet in the event of a tie.
If you are more familiar with moneyline bets and struggle to drive spread bet odds home in your head, you can make use of a
spread-to-moneyline converter. This tool performs complicated mathematical equations to convert the spread to its moneyline equivalent of the bet.
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Whilst most bets the casino offers to gamblers are created with the intention of increasing the operators chances of winning, called the built in house edge, betting on spreads offers a unique opportunity for the well versed gambler. When a casino accepts a spread bet, the casino is offering the better odds of 10 to 11. Meaning that for every 11 dollars the player puts down on a wager. The player could win 10 dollars, which is admittedly slightly less than they would have won in an even money bet.
With spread betting for football, the sportsbook is not concerned which team wins if team A is playing team B. The only thing the operator is concerned with is taking an equal amount of money from both sides. This is done by offering odds of winning that make it equally likely that either side could win. They can afford to do this because if one player takes team A and the other team B and each wager $ 11 to win $ 10. The casino then has $ 22 in their bank account before the end of the game.
Whichever team wins, the casino then has to pay out $ 21 to the player that bet on them. The casino comes out of the exchange 1 dollar richer. To take a look at another betting option, head to our
teaser bet
page right here with Wetten US.
Our Favorite Operators
If you’re in a state where sports betting is completely legal, you may want to check out our following recommendations. These platforms allow you to place spread bets while being supported by the Gambling Commission in each state where they are available.
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Our Top 3 Sweepstakes Sportsbooks for Spreads
If sportsbooks are regulated in your state to the extent that you can use real money to place bets, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Next, there are sweepstakes platforms where you can place spread bets without any money transactions, making it safe and legal for you.
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How does that benefit the bettor though?
Well you see, the casino’s goal is to set lines that encourage the public to vote equally on both sides. They do while keeping public perception of the teams or players in mind, rather than using statistics or real strength of the teams. The line that they casinos use is known as the Vegas line, while the line that the astute gambler, who knows his sport can identify is known as the real line.
Thus, the value of spread betting in sports is that with knowledge, you can remove some of the pure luck and chance that most forms of betting rely on and work the system in your favour. Football and basketball are the main contributors to the number of spread bettors. They are the reasons that spread betting is the most common type of sports betting.
There are ways to alter the spread in the gambler’s favour. These are called teasers. With a teaser you can alter the spread in a gambler’s favour by a predetermined margin. For instance, in American football the teaser margin is usually six points – or one touchdown. If the line is 3.5 points and bettors want to place a teaser bet on the underdog, they can take 9.5 points instead.
This makes the gambler more likely to win, because suddenly the underdog can lose 9 points behind the winner and it would still be a winning bet for the gambler. In return for the additional points and subsequent increase in the likelihood of winning, the gambler will get a diminished pay out if they win.
The gambler can choose to wager on more than one event and both events must win if he would like the potential payout that would have occurred if he had won and not gotten a teaser. This is similar to a parlay. You can also occasionally get what is known as a “reverse teaser” which would alter the odds against the gambler and would have more of a payout than an even bet if it were to win.
Spread betting is more rewarding for a gambler because it rewards you for being knowledgeable and for making smart, informed choices.
You can bet against a favourite
Sometimes you just don’t like something or someone. Who knows why? All you know is that when that team or athlete loses, you feel an unparalleled joy. Now you can showcase your displeasure with your bets by betting against a solid favourite, and finally you won’t feel unsportsmanlike when you cheer out loud at their defeats.
You can bet in-play
Not only can you spread bet live, spread betting was the reason that in-play betting became the massive thing that it is today. The method of buying and selling on the spread (meaning you change the number of points you give to/ take from a team) makes for a fluid, natural in-play betting experience.
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Conclusion – Final thoughts on spread betting
Spread betting is a great way for someone who loves a sport to showcase their love by making knowledgeable bets and taking their betting to a new level. Spread bets are great because there are so many markets to choose from, including live markets. We at Wetten hope that you have learnt something about this common, yet misunderstood form of betting and that if anyone asks you could give them a spread betting meaning.
Spread Betting Explained FAQ
❓ What is spread betting?
Spread betting is another wager option that is made available by a number of bookmakers on the market. Spread betting is a way to wager on the outcome of an event, where the payoff is dependent on the accuracy of your wager rather than a simple binary win or lose. Wagering offers tend to differ in order to keep the industry exciting and ever changing. To keep up to date with all the options on the market, make sure to browse through this guide as well as a couple of our other guides here at Wetten. We have comprehensive articles that bring you the latest information surrounding the industry as a whole. Head to our page now to find out more.
💵 How can I place some spread bets?
Once you have figured out all the specifics related to spread betting, you will most likely be itching to place a spread wager, we discuss exactly how you can go about doing this within our guides and you will find our entire service provided to any interested customers, free of charge. Head to our page now to find all the relevant information and be sure to browse through the full extent of our information resource service offer.
🏅 Is it good to bet against the spread?
You might have come across the term of betting against the spread a couple of times. This can be risky but it may also line you up for some serious winnings if you make the right call. We take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of betting against the spread here at Wetten. You will be able to find all the relevant information right here.
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