Sports Betting Using Point Spreads
Most people who follow the NFL, MLB, and the NBA have a significant understanding of the game as well as the strengths and weaknesses of many of the teams. They can take advantage of this knowledge and make some money by betting on the outcomes of individual games. Both online gambling sites and offline bookmakers offer a variety of bet types.
In a fixed odds or money line bet, the book maker or online gambling site offers two options for the better. You can either bet that the favorite will win or that the underdog will win. However, when a strong team plays against a relatively weaker team the book maker might find that most bettors favor the strong team, making it difficult for the gambling site to make a profit from the bet if the favorite wins.
Fundamentals of the Point Spread
Since book makers do not prefer to take such risks and would also like to make the betting a 50 percent proposition, they offer odds on not just which team wins, but by how many points. This type of bet is called a point spread. Here the book maker or gambling site ensures that there is a fifty percent chance of either side winning, and the number of bets they receive are almost equal to each other. The gambling site then acts as a broker and obtains a commission on the bets rather than profiting from any specific outcome.
For instance, a point spread bet in a football match can say that team A will win it by over 9 points against team B. This will be stated as A -9 / B+9. This means that you can bet that team A will win the match by over 9 points. You lose even if team A wins, but with less than 9 points more than team B.
Amount
Unless otherwise specified, the amount you need to bet is $1.10 to win $1.00. In all point spread bets, you will collect not only your win of $1 but also your bet amount of $1.10 if you win, that is, the gambling site will pay you a total of $2.10 if you win.
No Action
The bet is considered a push or a tie when the team wins by the point spread. For instance, in the example above, it is a push if team A wins by 9 points. In such a case the book maker will have to refund all the bettors as it is a no action event. While technically no one loses, the gambling site will lose some money because of overheads.
Fractions
In order to avoid ties or push, most gambling sites and book makers offer point spreads in fractions. As such point spreads will typically be stated as A - 4.5/B + 4.5.
Point Spread Betting Tips
There are many ways in which football and basketball fans can use their knowledge to make some money by betting on point spreads. However, there are a few ways in which they can increase their chances of winning.
Sports bettors should not only understand the inherent strengths of the teams playing but also consider the fact that teams perform better in their home ground. This is only logical because normally the home team receives the call if the call can go either way. This is important when considering point spread as even a weak team will score better its home ground, reducing the margin of victory for the stronger team.
Many online gambling sites offer bonuses for placing point spread bets if you also use the coupon code. As all betting odds favor the house, using the codes, and obtaining the bonus makes the odds more even and in your favor.
There are many gambling sites that offer various odds for the same sporting event. You need to register with all the gambling sites and examine the odds they offer and pick the one that benefits you the most. As the amount you bet is the same, if you think team A will win, you need to pick a site that offers A-7/B+7 over A-9/B+9, as you can win the bet even if team A wins by only 7 points instead of by 9 points. This increases your chance of winning significantly.
Point spread betting is a salient and outstanding way to ensure interest in games that have a clear favorite. By betting on individual team performances, bettors can make money on their specific knowledge of the individual abilities of the two teams. We also recommend you check out our articles other popular sports bets, including moneylines, parlays and totals. By studying the odds and understanding the nature of the bets being offered, bettors can choose the best odds for themselves.
