Betting for your favorite team is an enjoyable thing to do. But what if the opponent is significantly stronger in the game? We definitely don’t recommend betting with emotion. Here we will introduce a betting type that can help you solve this dilemma, it is the Point Spread.
With Point Spread, even if the team you bet on loses, you can still win the bet. So you can cheer for your team as you want.However, there is also the possibility that the team you bet on wins the game, but you lose the bet.
Doesn’t it sound a bit unbelievable?In the next section we will solve your confusion and help you build up your sports betting knowledge.
Point Spread – “Creating a level playing field”
Point Spread , the most common in the United States. Another name for it is Handicap Betting, and they denote the same type of betting.
Thinking back to your childhood experience, did you play football with your parents? To make your experience better, your mom or dad may have chosen to “spot” you some points. if they “spot” you 5 points, it means that your parents must score 5 more goals than you in the game in order to win the game. This makes the game seem more fair and gives you the possibility of winning.
That’s what the point spread is all about – making the game fair. In sports betting, if there is a gap between two teams in a game, the bookmaker will also choose to “spot” some points to the underdog to make the game look fairer.
Let’s look at what elements are involved in point spread betting：
As we can see from the chart, the two competing teams are team A and team B. Team A is followed by a “-“, meaning it is the favorite, while team B is followed by a “+”, meaning it is the loser. The point spread between the two teams is exactly the opposite, which means the bookie thinks the game will be won by team A by 3 points, and team B will lose by 3 points.
All you have to do as a bettor is to choose the team you think will win after the bookmakers have calculated the spread.
Suppose in this case we now bet on team A.The following are the three possible scores for the game.
- In Score One, we win because team A won by EXACTLY 2 points.
- In Score Three, we lose because the Chargers only won by 1 points.
- In Score Two, we tie because the Chargers won by MORE than 2 points.
This means that team A must win by at least 2 points or more for you to win the bet. If both teams are tied or if team A wins by only one point, you lose the bet.
Spread Betting Payouts
Suppose the final score of the game is team A 4 points and team B 1 point and we win. How much will we get paid out then?
The corresponding odds can be found in the chart. team A’s odds are -110, which means that for every $100 we bet, we will get a payout of $91.
-110 is also the standard odds for spread betting. When a bookmaker pays out a bet at the standard odds of -110, there are also cases where the standard odds are simply omitted.
If we initially bet on team B, in the event of a draw, team B losing by only 1 point, or team B winning, we will be paid -105. That means for every $100 bet on team B, we would have made a profit of $95.
If you want to learn more about how to calculate payouts based on odds, you can click on the introduction we shared about odds：
Odds: What you need to know about professional betting
Summary
Point spread betting can make the game and your bets more exciting when the strength of two teams are not evenly matched. The variety of betting types makes sports betting more fun and popular. We will keep sharing the basics of sports betting with you to help you resolve the difficulties you encounter when betting.
If you are interested in what we share, please click on the links below or leave us a comment with suggestions.
1.Sports betting: some basics you need to know
2.Odds: What you need to know about professional betting
3.Explanation of the concepts of value and probability in sports betting
4.Important tips on Sports Betting
5.Mistakes to avoid in sports betting
6.Explanation of common sports betting types
6-1.Explanation of Moneyline/Win Bet
7.Sports Betting Strategies — How Bookies Ensure Their Profits
8.Explanation of Parlays/Accumulators –Sports Betting Type III
