Point Spread Betting Football

Bettors can then either choose for the favored team to win by more than the number of points set, or bet on the underdogs to lose by less than the number of points they are underdogs by or win the game. Football Point Spreads: How They Work The theory with point spreads is that a wager on either team to win a football game is as close to a 505/50 shot as possible. You’re not actually betting on which team. 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. Point Spread Betting in Football One of the best ways to beat football point spread betting is to use teasers. A teaser is a form of a parlay bet using modified point spreads. Each point spread you select is moved 6 points in your favor.

When it comes to football, point spreads are the most familiar and recognizable form of betting. Football point spreads have become common place in both the betting world and everyday football jargon. Vegas’s point spreads are commonly discussed in the media leading up to big games, and football fans have become fluent in the language of the bets.

Because of this, point spread betting is often the first place new football gamblers flock to.

Simple and tantalizing, point spreads are often highly profitable with both inexperienced and veteran bettors, but it’s important to know what the odds are that you’re look at and how to bet on them.

The Basics of Point Spreads

A point spread bet presents a line on a game and offers even money for both sides of the bet. A typical point spread will be presented in the following way.

@ New York Giants -3.5 New England Patriots

The favorite (in this case the Giants) are positioned on the left, with the underdog (Patriots) on the right. The Giants are -3.5, meaning those who take the favorites need New York to win by four or more points to win the wager. New England is +3.5 as the underdog. A bettor who takes New England in this example will win the bet if the Patriots win the game, or lose by a margin of only three or less. A favorite must “cover the spread,” while an underdog is afforded the luxury of being able to lose within the point spread.

In the event that a game’s outcome perfectly matches the point spread, the bet pushes. Spreads with half-points, such as the one above, cannot push and always result in one side winning. If a bet is listed as OFF, the house is not taking bets. This is usually due to a lack of information, such as a major injury.

Home Field

Traditionally, in point spread betting the home team loses three points in the spread. Thus, if the two teams are considered even on a neutral field, the team with home field advantage would typically be a three point favorite (-3). An underdog with home field advantage will push the spread down, and a favorite with home field advantage will extend the line further.

Pick ‘ems

In the event that a game is considered perfectly even after factoring in home field advantage, the game is a “pick ‘em” or “pick”. A pick ‘em is represented in a point spread as PK, and is essentially a line of -0 or +0 for both teams. The winning team in a pick ‘em pays out regardless of the score and will only push in the event of a tie.

Money Line bets are direct bets to the winner, learn all the other types of football bets, like the Over/Under.

What Point Spreads Tell Us

The common misinterpretation of a point spread is that it’s a prediction. Not quite. Rather than a prediction, it’s better to think of a point spread as a proposition.

In creating a point spread, Vegas is creating two sides of a bet that are equally likely (or at least perceived as equally likely by the field of bettors collectively). The odds makers in Vegas typically position the line closer to even when the outcome of the game is more in question, but this does not necessarily indicate that the score will be close.

For example, two high-powered offenses pitted against each other in a shootout are likely to end up with a double-digit score difference by the end of the game.

However, if Vegas were to create a large spread between two close teams, the bets would immediately flood to the side of the underdog. Thus, Vegas will create a small spread to even out the bets. Conversely, a team may greatly outmatch its opponents, but Vegas odds are reluctant to go too far.

A huge spread makes an underdog too tempting, with a strong possibility that they’ll play the opponent tough. Larger spreads are more common in college football, in which teams can have a greater disparity in talent. In both the NFL and college football, spreads tend to be more conservative than a prediction would be, however. In reading a point spread, understand that closer spreads are an indication of a lower level of confidence in the game’s outcome, while larger spread indicate clearer favorite.

Point Spread Betting

Our Daily Picks offers weekly point spreads for both college and pro football. Point spread betting online has become incredibly popular due to both its simplicity and profitability. Follow our Twitter for weekly picks and further strategy and analysis regarding point spreads.

How Do Point Spreads Work

Understanding the different types of betting options is crucial when you’re getting a start as a first-time sports bettor.

The Point Spread: Betting the spread

For those new to sports betting, the point spread is the simplest, most straightforward approach to placing wagers.

Sports books set a predetermined margin of points on a game and a team must win – or not lose – by that set number. That’s why you’ll often hear people say the team won, but they “didn’t cover the spread” so their bet still came up short.

It’s not a matter of a team winning or losing like in a moneyline bet.

For a favorite: The favorite must win by more than the point spread.For an underdog: The underdog must outright win OR lose by fewer than the point spread.

Sports books aren’t in the business of predicting who will win or lose games. Their goal is setting a pre-game point spread with the intention to generate an equal amount of betting action/volume on both sides of the ledger – as much total money being bet on the favorite as on the underdog.

The vast majority of point spread wagers are made on football and basketball because of the proliferation of points that are scored in comparison to sports like baseball and hockey, where 1-0 or 2-1 games aren’t that out of the question or out of the norm. There’s one every night.

For example, the New England Patriots are playing the New York Jets and New England is a 9½-point favorite. Bettors typically have to spend $110 or so to win $100 with sports books, known as “the house edge/advantage.” With a point spread bet, simply having a team win the game isn’t the key. The critical factor to betting a point spread is how much a team wins or loses by. If a wager is placed on New England – “laying” the 9½ points – the Patriots need to win the game by 10 or more points for that bet to pay off. If New England wins 28-20, those betting on the Jets plus 9½ points (points added to their final total) win the bet.

The same general rules apply for basketball and are quite easy to follow because of the inherent simplicity of the bet. When it comes to betting sports like baseball and hockey, the standard bets are made on the “money line” – an established number for both teams to win the game outright.

What makes point spread bets attractive are the fluid nature of each game – it’s a reality show that, when done right, is inexplicable. Games change on one play and momentum is a thing. But, when it comes to point spread betting, you know where you stand at every moment.

Point Spread Betting Football Game

For those just starting out, the simplest form of gambling is betting the spread because it’s the easiest to explain and understand, which explains why it is the most popular form of sports wagering.