Spread betting is one of the most popular types of sports betting, and is commonly referred to as ‘betting against the spread’. Many people who are new to the world of sports betting have a hard time in understanding exactly how spread betting works, however it is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. For every sports game, oddsmakers will set a certain number of points that show the extent that a favored team is actually favored by sports betters then can choose to bet on the favorite team or the underdog team. This means that if the better choice is the favored team, they must win by more than the number of points that are given to them for him or her to win the bet. They can also choose to bet that the underdogs will lose by a smaller amount than the number of points set for them to be underdogs. For instance, a spread could be set on a favored team by 5 points. This means that if you want to bet on the favored team, you are betting that they’ll win by more than 5 points. This also means that someone who places a bet on the underdog team would win if the underdogs lost by less than 5 points or won the game entirely. Before entering into spread betting you must be aware that your losses can be drastic if a sports game outcome moves in the opposite direction that you bet on, however the risk is often worth the reward, as many people make a substantial amount of money by accurately predicting the outcome of a sports game.
How Spread Betting Works
Gaining a negative number such as -110 will demonstrate exactly how much money you must put down in order to win $100, while a positive number such as 110 will how much money you will win on putting down a $100 wager. In most spread betting the odds are -110 unless it is noted otherwise. For instance, if one team is receiving a substantial amount of action then the odds may be adjusted in order to balance with the action.
Even Numbers in Spread Betting
You may notice when sports spread betting, that the spread is set to even numbers like 6, 10, 12, etc. This means that if the favored team wins by the exact amount that is set on the point spread then the bet will be void, and any money placed on the bet will be returned. For instance, if the Seahawks were 5-point favorites, and won by 5 points than this would result in a voided bet. No matter what side you bet on, you would get your money back in this situation.
Most Common Sports Spreads
The most common sports spreads are typically set somewhere between 2.5 and 10.5 points, however there are many cases where a game will have a spread that is lower than 2.5, as well as higher than 10.5. If the oddsmakers think that the game doesn’t require a spread then the spread will be put at 0, which is called a pick’em. This means that both teams have even chances of winning the game.
Example of Spread Betting
Let’s say that the Patriots have a 2.5 spread, and the Seahawks have a -2.5 spread. The negative sign means that the Seahawks are favored to win the game, while the positive sign means that the Patriots are set to be the underdogs. Due to the fact that the spread set is at 2.5 points, this means that the Seahawks would have to win by more than 2.5 points, which really means more than 3 points for you to win the bet. If you decided to bet on the Patriots then that would mean that they would have to lose by less than 2.5, which really means 2 points or would have to win the game for you to win the bet.