How does a point spread work?

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 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.

What is a +7.5 point spread?

A 7.5 spread means the favorite needs to win by at least 8 points. That's because you can't score half points, half goals, or half runs in sports.

How do you read a point spread?

The point spread is the expected final score difference between two teams. It is represented as both a negative and positive number; if the spread is 3 points, you'll see that as both -3 and +3. The team that is the favorite to win gets the minus-number (-3); the underdog gets the plus-number (+3).

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.

Point Spread Betting Explained: Sports Betting 101

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.

How does the +12.5 spread work?

Oddsmakers have assigned a “point spread” to the matchup, which basically gives the underdog team an artificial “head start”. The Point Spread is +12.5 for Charlotte, which means that when they start the matchup and the real score is 0-0, Charlotte will actually be leading 12.5-0 for the purposes of picking a winner.

What does a negative number mean on point spread?

In the simplest terms, a negative spread indicates the favorite, which is the side that's expected to win the matchup. A negative point spread really means that team has some work to do. For a negative spread bet to hit, the team has to beat its opponent by a margin greater than the point spread.

How do you read a plus minus spread?

A "minus" (-) preceding the number indicates the team is a favorite. A "plus" (+) preceding the number indicates the team is an underdog. Bet No. The Dolphins' odds are -180, meaning an $18 bet would win $10 for a return of $28.

How do you explain point spread in football?

Point spread meaning

Unlike the money line, where you're just betting on a team to win or lose, the point spread sets one team as the favorite and one team as the underdog and sets a line that is subtracting from the favorite's points total to level the playing field.

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.

What's +10 spread mean?

The +10 means that Team A will have to win by at least 10 points for you to win our bet, while the -10 means Team B has to lose by fewer than 10 points for you to win your bet.

What does Steelers +7.5 mean?

Taking the points simply means betting an underdog against the spread. Pointspread betting is most common in football and basketball. An underdog could be expressed, for example, as +7.5. That means that if the team wins the game, or loses by seven or fewer points, then those who bet on that team won.

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 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 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.

Why would you bet on negative odds?

The minus sign shows you which team is favored. When you bet on the favorite you get worse payout odds on your bet since they're more likely to win. The team with a negative number (like -110) is the favorite.

What do negative odds mean?

What Does It Mean When Odds Are Negative? Negative numbers (in American money line odds) are reserved for the favorite on the betting line and indicate how much you need to stake to win $100—you generally need to put down more to win $100 on the favorite.

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 minus 4 mean spread?

The minus sign denotes that that team has to win by more than that margin while the plus sign indicates that the other team can lose by that margin, or win the game, and they cover the spread in either case. Following this example, the Chiefs are at -4.5.

Does negative mean favored to win?

Odds with a negative (-) symbol indicate the betting favorite. The number that follows the negative symbol (the odds) reveals how much to bet for every $100 you want to win. For example, as explained above, if the team you're betting has -110 odds, you need to wager $110 to win $100.

What is a minus 4.5 on point spread?

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. If you bet on the underdog, they simply need to win the game or lose the game by less than four points. If they lose by five, your bet won't cash.

What does +12.5 odds mean?

What does 12 to 5 odds mean? 12-5 Betting Odds means that out of 17 possible outcomes, the 12/5 odds are that there will be 12 of one kind of outcome and 5 of another kind of outcome.

What does a +12 spread mean in football?

The 49ers have to win by 12 or more points to cover the spread. If the Cardinals win or lose by 10 or less, that side wins the bet. If the game lands on 11, like a 21-10 49ers win, it's a push and all bets are refunded. If you see a -11 that means that team is favored, and +11 means you're taking the underdog.

What do +6.5 odds mean?

Giants +6.5

In this case, if you bet on the Dolphins to win, and they win by 7, you win. If they win by 6, you lose. If the Giants lose by 7 points, you lose your bet. If they lose by 6 points, you'll win.