How do bets against the spread work?

Sports Betting against the Spread FAQs

If you want to bet on the favorite to win and the spread is 6.5 points, the team needs to win by seven more points. If the team you wager on is favored by 6.5 points and ends up winning by three points, you lose the wager due to the team not covering.

What happens if you bet against the spread?

When you bet “against the spread,” it's not enough for the favorite to win the game; now, they have to win by more than a specified amount (the point spread) in order for them to “cover the spread.” Let's go over some of the basics of betting the spread. BET $5 ON NFL & GET $150 IN BONUS BETS!

How do you win a bet against the spread?

Betting against the spread means you are taking the Underdog and the points in a game. To win you want the “underdog” to either win the game outright OR lose by less than the “Point Spread” you are given.

What does a +7 spread mean?

The underdog odds will be +7, meaning the team can win outright or lose by less than seven points to win the bet. A loss by exactly seven points would cause a push bet.

How do you read against the spread?

Point Spread Betting Explained: Sports Betting 101

What does a minus 7 spread mean?

A favorite will always be surrendering points, i.e. a -7 spread for the Buffalo Bills against the Miami Dolphins means that oddsmakers have labeled the Bills as the favorite by seven points.

What does +2.5 against the spread mean?

A +2.5 spread means the underdog will need to win outright or lose by 1 or 2 points to cover. Similar to what we explained in the previous section, a spread of +2.5 in football and basketball indicates a matchup of two fairly evenly matched squads.

What does a minus 5 spread mean?

In simple terms, a point spread is a bet on how much the favorite team will win by. If the team has a minus sign, that means they're the favorite and they'll have to win by the specified number or more for you to win your bet.

How does a +7.5 spread work?

If you bet on them to win, they must beat the opposing team by at least 7.5 points. On the opposite side of the wager, the New England Patriots are the underdog to win. To beat the spread, they must close the point gap to within 7.5 points or win outright.

What does +8.5 mean in spread bet?

Let's say that a team is favored as 8.5 point favorites or written as -8.5. For the favored team to “cover the spread,” they must win by at least nine points. If they win by eight points or less, it doesn't matter that they won because they didn't cover the spread.

Do you win if you hit the spread exactly?

Points spread betting: outcomes

That means a bet for $110 would win $100, or $11 would win $10, and so on. (More on this later.) Alternatively, a “push,” when the game result falls exactly on the point spread margin — results in a “voided” or “canceled” bet and means that bettors get their original wagers returned.

Is spread a win or lose?

The point spread: Betting the spread

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.

What's better spread or moneyline?

While a point spread requires the team you bet on to win by a specified margin, moneyline does not. However, point spread bets typically have odds somewhat close to even money, meaning you would win about as much as you bet if you won. Moneyline bets have a wide range of odds.

Can you lose money on a spread?

If you lack sufficient funds in your spread betting account to enable you to hold your bet position when the market makes a large move, your spread betting firm will automatically close out your trade at a loss even if you wished to hold onto it.

How does +10.5 spread work?

Looking at the underdogs, the Redskins are +10.5 on the spread (10.5-point underdogs), meaning they would have to lose by 10 or less in order for your bet to cash. The Titans are 4.5-point underdogs, meaning they would have to lose by four points or less in order to win.

What does +7.5 spread mean on Fanduel?

When you bet the spread, you're betting on a team's margin of victory or defeat. So, if you bet on the favorite (indicated by the “-”), they have to win by more than the number shown. If you bet on the underdog (“+”), they have to win outright or lose by less than the number shown.

What does +6.5 mean in football odds?

For example: Green Bay –6.5 means that Green Bay is the favorite and must win by at least 7 points. Chicago +6.5 means that Chicago is the underdog and has been “spotted” or “given” 6.5 points; if Chicago loses by 6 or fewer points, it is a winning bet (if Chicago pulls an outright upset, it is also a winning bet).

What does negative 7.5 spread mean?

For example, if a spread is (-7.5) points, your team needs to win by eight or more. If you bet on an underdog, they can lose by fewer than the assigned spread or win outright for you to win. For example, if a spread is (+5.5) points, your team can lose by 5 or fewer or win outright.

What does +/- mean in spread?

A point spread is a bet on the margin of victory in a game. The stronger team or player will be favored by a certain number of points, depending on the perceived gap in ability between the two teams. A minus sign (-) means that team is the favorite. A plus sign (+) means that team is the underdog.

What does +4.5 mean in football spread?

Usually, you will see point spreads in a half-point format because if you use whole numbers, you could induce a push by hitting that number exactly. In basketball, you might see a point spread of -4.5/+4.5, which means the favored team will need to win the game by five points or more for your bet to cover the spread.

What does a negative 4.5 spread mean?

Betting Line

Following this example, the Chiefs are at -4.5. This means that in order to win on the point spread or cover, Kansas City would need to win the game by five points or more.

What does a minus 3 spread mean?

A minus 3 spread means that the team that is favored is expected to win by 3 points. This means that if you bet on a team's spread at -3, then the team must win by at least 3 points for you to win your bet.

What does a negative 1.5 spread mean?

The team with -1.5 is the favorite, while the team that is +1.5 is the underdog. In this particular spread, the two teams are pretty close. Point spreads can vary, but this is one of the most common point spreads. It essentially means that the underdog pays out as the winner, but also if they only lose by one.

What does minus 9 spread mean?

The negative value -9 indicates the Giants are favored by 9 points. The positive value (+9) indicates the Jets are underdogs of 9 points. To place a bet on the favored Giants means they must win by at least 10 points to cover the spread. The underdog Jets can lose by eight points and still cover the spread.

What does +1.5 spread mean?

When you see a +1.5 in front of a team's name, that means that they are 1.5-point underdogs in that matchup.