Point spread NFL point spreads are set by oddsmakers. This is the final outcome they expect one team to have over the other. For example, if the New England Patriots are squaring off against the. 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. Even though this type of betting is so popular, it may take awhile to understand. The point spread is sometimes known as an equalizer for sportsbook operators. May 22, 2020 The most popular way to bet for the two most popular sports, basketball and football, is with the point spread, also known as the “side.” The point spread was created to attract more action on a. A point spread is a number that can be bet on and is given by sportsbooks, displaying the number a favored team is expected to beat the underdog team. When it comes to the spread, there are two ways you might see it: Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (+4.5) Green Bay Packers (-4.5) at Minnesota Vikings.

Have you ever seen this number attached to a football game?

• Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (+4.5)

When it comes to football betting, if you’ve ever watched a game, looked up a schedule, or simply read the news, then you’ve probably seen a positive or negative number attached to one of the two teams.

But what does this mean in relation to football?

Well, in the example, the (+4.5) is what’s is known as a “point spread.”

What is a point spread?

A point spread is a number that can be bet on and is given by sportsbooks, displaying the number a favored team is expected to beat the underdog team.

When it comes to the spread, there are two ways you might see it:

• Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (+4.5)
• Green Bay Packers (-4.5) at Minnesota Vikings

The two examples mean the same thing because in both examples the point spread indicates the Green Bay Packers are favored by 4.5 points over the Minnesota Vikings.

The negative number always indicates the favorite and the positive number always indicates the underdog.

There are no half points in football, so in the example, betting on the Packers means they must win by 5 or more points for the bet to be won. Betting on the Vikings means they can win outright or lose by 4 or fewer points to have a winning wager.

What is a push?

A tie or “push” in a point spread refers to neither team covering due to the margin of victory landing on the exact number of the point spread.

• Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (+6)
• Dallas Cowboys (-6) at New York Giants

Again, both examples mean the same thing. However, this margin of victory is possible since it includes a whole number.

To win a bet on the Cowboys in this point spread, they must win by 7 or more points, and to win a bet on the Giants, they must win outright or lose by no more than 5 points.

If the outcome of the game ends with the Cowboys winning by exactly 6 points, the sportsbook refunds all bets, since neither side won.

What is a pick’em game?

A “pick’em” or “PK” game occurs when the game between to two football teams is predicted to be so close that neither side is given points in a point spread. To win a bet when this happens, you only must pick which team will win the game without factoring in a margin of victory.

What is the payout on a point spread?

Once you’ve decided to place a bet at a sportsbook, you’ll see the second number next to the point spread.

• Auburn Tigers (+7) (-110)
• Alabama Crimson Tide (-7) (-110)

The bottom team is always the home team, and as stated above, the negative number indicates the favorite.

However, what does the (-110) next to the point spread mean?

This number is known as the odds and more specifically to NFL betting or college football betting, it’s known as “American Odds.” The odds will be either a positive or negative number.

• (-110) means betting $110 to win $100 for a total of $210.
• (+110) means betting $100 to win $110 for a total of $210.

In terms of odds in the point spread, positive numbers are rare, since the sportsbook is already giving you points in the margin of victory for picking the underdog.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to bet exactly $110 when you see (-110). The odds are determined as a percentage. Here are some other examples:

• A $1.10 bet wins $1.00
• A $11 bet wins $10
• A $1,100 bet wins $1,000

How do sportsbooks determine a point spread?

Both land-based and online sportsbooks hire oddsmakers and have algorithms to determine the initial point spread.

The goal of a sportsbook is to set the line perfectly and encourage the same amount of money to be placed on both football teams, which will guarantee a profit regardless of the winner. The reason for this is because the sportsbook adds a small amount of “juice” or “vigorish” to the odds, which is like a small tax or fee for letting you place a bet on the spread.

• Michigan Wolverines (+7) (-110)
• Ohio State Buckeyes (-7) (-110)

The amount of money that is bet on a game is known as “action,” and let’s say $2 million is bet on Ohio State and $1 million is bet on Michigan on the first day the point spread is displayed. Here is what the sportsbook would see:

If Ohio State (-7) (-110) wins by 8 or more, then the sportsbook:

• Takes in $3,000,000 total ($2,000,000 from bets on Ohio State)
• Loses $1,818,000 to winning Ohio State bets
• Gains $1,000,000 from losing Michigan bets
• Results in losing $818,000 total from Ohio State winning

If Michigan (+7) (-110) wins outright or loses by 6 or fewer points, then the sportsbook:

• Takes in $3,000,000 total ($1,000,000 from bets on Michigan)
• Loses $909,000 to winning Michigan bets
• Gains $2,000,000 from losing Ohio State bets
• Results in profiting 1,091,000 total from Michigan winning

If Michigan, the underdog, wins then the sportsbook makes a huge profit, but if Ohio State, the favorite, wins then the sportsbook will suffer a major loss. The sportsbook can’t risk losing this heavily or else they’d go out of business.

Why does the point spread change?

To encourage an even amount of money on both sides, sportsbooks will adjust the point as the game gets closer to encourage more money to be bet on the side receiving less “action.”

Again, let’s say $2 million is bet on Ohio State and $1 million is bet on Michigan on the first day. The next day, the spread might change to look like this:

• Michigan Wolverines (+12) (-110)
• Ohio State Buckeyes (-12) (-110)

As a result, more money will likely be bet on Michigan, since the value of the underdog has increased (going from +7 to +12) because they are given more points in the spread, making it more likely for them to cover.

Now, let’s assume this new spread replaced the original spread and an even amount of money before the line closed at kickoff. And let’s say an even $5 million was bet on each team, giving the sportsbook this outlook:

If Ohio State (-12) (-110) wins by 13 or more, then the sportsbook:

• Takes in $10,000,000 total ($5,000,000 from bets on Ohio State)
• Loses $4,545,000 to winning Ohio State bets
• Gains $5,000,000 from losing Michigan bets
• Results in profiting $465,000 total from Ohio State winning

If Michigan (+12) (-110) wins outright or loses by 11 or fewer points, then the sportsbook:

• Takes in $10,000,000 total ($5,000,000 from bets on Michigan)
• Loses $4,545,00 to winning Michigan bets
• Gains $5,000,000 from losing Ohio State bets
• Results in profiting $465,000 total from Michigan winning

In both scenarios, the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit of $465,000 because the exact amount of money was bet on both sides.

If money still isn’t coming in on the underdog, the sportsbook will either increase the spread further or change the odds, giving more value to the underdog.

• Michigan Wolverines (+14) (-105)
• Ohio State Buckeyes (-14) (-115)

Now, not only is Michigan given a larger point spread, but they are given better odds and payout. Before at (-110) a $110 bet wins $100, but now only a $105 bet is needed to win $100. On the flipside, Ohio State must win by even more and you must risk more money to win the same amount with a $115 bet now needed to win $100.

This goes both ways too. If the public believes the favorite is being overvalued, and more money is placed on the underdog, the margin of victory will close and possibly even flip to the underdog being favored.

Point Spread Summary

The key thing to realize is the point spread is not the predicted margin of victory between two teams like media and news outlets often portray.

In reality, the point spread is the margin of victory given to the favorite that will encourage both the favorite and the underdog to have an even amount of money bet on them, guaranteeing the sportsbook a profit as a result. If a sportsbook loses any money on a point spread, then the line or odds were not set correctly by the oddsmaker.

If you’re knowledgeable about football, then you could take advantage of a good or bad point spread. Just remember you aren’t actually betting against the sportsbook but rather against the money coming in on one of the two sides of the matchup determining the spread. You likely have a predicted outcome in mind for the matchup you want to bet on, but to be successful, you must find value when the odds and the point spread, betting only once both are in your favor.

The point spread is one of many wagering options available to bettors. Check out our page covering NFL betting options for more insight into how to bet on football.

What Does Point Spread Mean In Football Scores

There are three primary reasons why so many people bet on football in the US. The first is simply that they love the sport and enjoy testing their knowledge by taking on the bookmakers.

The second is the fact that betting offers the chance to win some money from that knowledge.

The third is that it doesn’t have to be at all complicated. There are some really simple ways to bet on football without having to learn too much.

Out of all the different wagers that can be placed on football games, there are two in particular that are incredibly simple. These are point spreads and totals, and they are by far the most popular football bets.

In fact, the majority of people who bet on football exclusively use these two wagers.

If you’re new to betting on football, then these should be the first two wagers you learn about. With that in mind, this page will teach you everything you need to know concerning how they work.

What Does Point Spread Mean In Football

We’ve also explained two specific techniques you can use to improve your chances of winning money from these bets: buying points and line shopping.

Football Point Spreads

Point spreads are popular wagers on a number of US sports: football and basketball in particular. The basic idea with these is that they are as close as possible to being even money propositions.

This means that, regardless of how strong each team is, a wager on either team has roughly the same chance of winning.

How is this possible? Well, the purpose of a point spread is to essentially level the playing field by making theoretical point adjustments to each team’s final score. For the purposes of betting, stronger teams are deducted points and weaker teams are awarded additional points. This might sound a little confusing at first, but the concept is actually a rather simple one.

Here’s an example of how a point spread betting market might look for a football game.

The -110 next to each team are the odds. Although they’re not always -110, these are the standard odds for a point spread. They can be a little higher or a little lower, but they’re always pretty close to -110. They’re also usually very similar for each team.

As they do for any wager, the odds here determine how much a winning wager returns relative to the stake. In this case, a wager of $110 would return a total of $210. This is made up of $100 profit plus the original stake.

You may know all this already, but it’s important for us to explain odds and how they work for anyone that’s completely new to betting.

The other numbers you’ll have noticed are the -3 for the Steelers and the +3 for the Bengals. These numbers are what represent the spread. We can tell from this that the Steelers are the favorites for this game, as the minus symbol represents the fact that they’re effectively being deducted points.

The Bengals are the underdogs, as they’re effectively being awarded points. Please note, these point adjustments were designed for betting purposes only, and they in no way influence the outcome of the game.

In this case, the bookmaker has predicted that the Steelers should win the game by around three points. To place a wager, you have to decide whether they will win by more than that total. If you think they will, you’d back them on this spread. If you think that they’ll lose the game, or win by less than three points, you’d back the Bengals on this spread.

Let’s now look at a couple of hypothetical results for this game.

The Steelers have won the game here, but only by two points. Anyone who bet the Steelers on the spread would have lost. This is because they failed to win by more than the three point spread. If you’d have bet on the Bengals on the spread, you’d have won.

Despite losing the game, they were within the three points allowed. This is known as “covering the spread”. Please note that if the Steelers had won by exactly three points, a wager on either team would be a push. This is basically a tie between you and the bookmaker that results in the return of your initial stake.

With this result, the Steelers have again won. This time, though, they’ve won by more than the required three points. Since the Steelers have covered the spread here, a point spread wager on them at -3 would win. A point spread wager on the Bengals at +3 would lose.

Here are two more examples of point spread betting markets for football games. These highlight how spreads are different for different games, and also how the odds can differ as we mentioned earlier.

Now, you might be thinking that it’s easy to back the right teams on the point spread. However, you would be wrong. Quite the opposite is true in fact, as it’s actually quite hard.

This is because the people setting these spreads (i.e. the bookmakers and their staff) are very skilled at predicting the likely outcome of games. They consistently set spreads which reflect the actual winning margins of games.

Sure they get it wrong sometimes, but they’re very close most of the time. For anyone who thinks they can make better predictions, all we can say is good luck.

The great thing about betting point spreads is that you don’t necessarily need to be better than the bookmakers. This is because you don’t have to make accurate predictions for every game. You only have to be able to identify the situations where you think a team is more likely to cover the spread than not.

It’s not quite that simple of course, but that’s the basic idea of betting point spreads successfully.

Totals are arguably the simplest wager of all. With these, you’re trying to predict whether the total number of points scored in a football game will be higher or lower than a specified number. This specified number is set by a bookmaker or betting site for each game, in the same way they set the point spread.

Here’s an example of a totals betting market, for the same game we looked at earlier.

As you can see, the odds are again -110. The same principles we discussed concerning how the odds relate to point spreads apply to totals too.

The other relevant number here is 40. This is what the bookmaker offering this market has predicted the combined total of the two team’s scores will be. You have to predict whether you think the actual score will be higher or lower than 40. If you think higher, bet the over. If you think lower, bet the under.

Let’s now look at the same two hypothetical results as earlier.

The total here is 34 (18 + 16). So it’s gone under the bookmaker’s prediction. Those who bet the under would have won. Those who bet the over would have lost. Please note that had the total been exactly 40, it would have been a push. This means that your initial stake would be returned, no matter which bet you placed.

This results gives us a total of 50 (27+23), which is over the bookmaker’s prediction. A bet on the under would have lost while a bet on the over would have won.

That’s all there is to football totals, so you can see why they’re considered such a straightforward wager. Making money from them is less straightforward though, as it’s not at all easy to predict how many points will be scored in a game of football.

Indeed, there are some people that say betting totals is basically just guesswork.

This isn’t true at all though. There are several strategies and techniques you can use to make informed judgments regarding totals. None of them are foolproof, but they can certainly assist you at finding good opportunities to make these bets.

The aim when betting on football is to find the best possible value when placing wagers. That is, in fact, the aim when betting on any sport.

Finding this value typically involves analyzing a wide range of factors that can affect the outcome of sports events, assessing the potential effects of those factors, and then trying to make accurate predictions about how likely any given outcome is.

This is certainly something you need to do when betting on football if you’re going to have a chance of long-term success. It’s also beneficial to know some other techniques that can help with finding value. One of these is buying points, which is a technique that can be used for both point spreads and totals.

The basic idea with these is that you can adjust the size of a point spread, or the relevant total, to give yourself a better chance of placing a correct wager. In exchange for such an adjustment, the relevant odds are also adjusted.

For example, let’s say you’re looking at a game where the underdog is +4.5 with odds of -105. You’re fairly sure they’re going to cover, but the margin is a little too tight for you. You decide that you’d be more comfortable with a slightly bigger spread, so you buy a point. Buying this point has the following effect.

• Spread moves up to +5.5
• Odds move down to -125

Now in order to win, the team you’ve selected can now lose by five points, whereas before they could only lose by four points. You’ve given yourself an improved chance of winning, and taken lower odds in return.

Typically, the effect of each half point you buy is a 10 point move in the odds. For some spreads, however, the move is greater. This is generally the case when moving spreads off of +/- 7 or +/- 3, as these are very common winning margins. As an example, let’s say you bought half a point on a team at -3 and -115.

This only gives you a very slight advantage. You previously needed your selection to win by more than three points, while exactly a three-point winning margin would result in a push. Now, winning by three points would be enough for your wager to win.

You’ve made a big sacrifice on the odds though, as they’ve moved from -115 to -135. It’s therefore questionable whether this would be the right thing to do.

Many experts suggest that buying points favors the bookmakers far more than the bettors. There’s an argument for this for sure. However, we believe that it can be the right thing to do in some circumstances. We explain why in our article on buying points when football betting.

The Importance of Line Shopping

While the benefits of buying points may be debatable, the benefits of line shopping are most certainly not. This is something that every football bettor should do for every wager that they place, even for those who bet exclusively for recreational purposes.

Why? Because it can make a major difference to how much a bettor wins or loses over time.

Line shopping is super easy to do. It involves simply looking at the odds and lines offered by different bookmakers and betting sites and then placing your wager where the best value is available.

Take a look at the following table for an example of why this is a good idea. It shows the markets at three different betting sites for the same game.

• Cincinnati (+3)-120
• Cincinnati (+3)-118
• Cincinnati (+3)-115

Let’s say you want to back the Bengals to cover. If you used “Betting Site A”, you’d have to risk $120 for the chance of winning $100. At “Site B”, you’d only need to risk $118 for the same potential win. At “Site C”, the required stake is just $115.

Not a big difference you might be thinking, but these kinds of differences over a lot of wagers can have a substantial impact on your overall profits (or losses).

Here’s another table showing different lines for another match.

• Minnesota (+5)-115
• Minnesota (+4)-110
• Minnesota (+6)-110

In this case, it’s not so much the different odds that you’re looking at but the different spreads. If you expected Seattle to cover, would you prefer to take them at -4 or -6? Obviously, you’ve got a much better chance at -4, so shopping around in this instance would give you a more favorable wager.

It’s not just point spread lines that vary either. The same thing applies to totals lines.

• Under 45.5-110
• Under 45-105
• Under 45-103

By shopping around for the best wagers, you gain a slight advantage in terms of either the total you’re betting against or the odds you’re receiving.

Point Spread Olg

With the ease that online betting offers these days, there’s simply no excuse not to shop for the best odds and lines. All you need are accounts at a few different football betting sites, and then the willingness to spend time comparing their markets each time you bet.

Point Spread Betting

Just make sure that you only use reputable sites, such as the ones that we recommend.

What Does Point Spread Mean In Football Player

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What Does The Point Spread Mean In Football