Is a positive or negative spread good?

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.

Is a negative point spread good?

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.

What does a +1.5 spread mean in football?

This means that the underdog must win outright or lose by exactly one point to cover the spread. Alternatively, a +1.5 spread means that the favorite must win by two points, runs, etc. or more.

Is negative or positive spread better?

When reading a game line, negative points are for favorites, while a positive spread is for the underdog. To visualize, consider the following odds from Super Bowl 57. Due to the question of which side will ultimately cover the listed spread, the game becomes that much more engaging from a betting perspective.

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 the "Spread" in Sports Betting

What does +3 and mean in spreads?

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).

What does a minus 4 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.

How do you win a positive spread?

To cover the spread, a bettor must either bet on the favorite or the underdog, and to win their wager, the team must cover the point spread—or, win by more than the point spread. For example, let's say Seattle is a 13-point favorite over Denver.

How do you pick against the spread?

As we explained with moneyline betting, a negative (-) number of points indicates the favorite and a positive (+) number of points indicates the underdog. To “cover the spread,” favorites must win by more points than the spread, while underdogs must not lose by more points than indicated.

How do you read a bet spread?

What does +7.5 mean in football odds?

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. If they lose by eight or more points then the favorite has covered the spread, and those who bet on the underdog lose their money.

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 +2.5 spread mean in football?

A 2.5 point spread means that the two teams match up pretty favorably, with one as the slight favorite. For the team getting -2.5 to successfully win the bet against the spread, they will need to win by three or more points. The team with +2.5 odds would have to either win, or lose by two points or less.

How do you read a negative 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.

Is it good to bet on negative odds?

Odds with Minus Sign (Favorite)

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 does a +4.5 point spread mean?

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.

Who wins a bet when the spread?

For example, with a 4-point spread, the favorite team must win by more than 4 points for bettors to get paid. Conversely, the underdogs can lose by 1, 2, or 3 points (or win the game outright) and still win the bet. However, if the underdogs lose by more than 4 points, the bet is a loss.

How often do favorites beat the spread?

This is the breakdown from last season: 133 times the favorite won the game and covered the spread. 97 times the underdog won the game outright. 39 times the favorite won the game but the underdog covered the spread.

What does a +6.5 spread mean?

Now, let's use an example of a team that is a 6.5 point underdog, or +6.5. For the underdog to win the point spread bet, they can either win or lose by less than 6.5 points. If the underdog team wins by 30 points or loses by less than 6.5, then the outcome is the same.

Whats better moneyline or spread?

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.

Why would you bet on positive odds?

Whereas negative (-) odds tell you what you have to bet on the favorite to win $100, positive (+) odds tell you how much you'll win for every $100 you wager on the underdog. So, a team with odds of +120 would payout $120 for every $100 wager.

Is it smart to bet the spread?

Without spread bets, if you think a team is going to lose, you aren't able to intelligently bet on them. If you think that a team is greatly underestimated but is still going to lose, you're out of luck. But thanks to spread bets, you can bet on teams that you're confident are still going to lose the game.

What does a minus 6 spread mean?

The favorite is the team projected to win the game. They are assigned a point spread with a minus symbol (-) in front of the number, such as Pittsburgh Steelers (-6.5). If you were to bet on the Steelers to cover the spread in this instance, Pittsburgh would need to win by seven or more points for you to win your bet.

What does a minus 11 spread mean?

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. If the team has a plus, that means they're the underdog and they'll have to either win the game or lose by less than the specified number for you to win.

What does +4 spread mean NFL?

Cincinnati was a 4 point underdog. This appeared as Bengals +4. That means the Bengals would have needed to win the game outright or not lose the contest by 5 points or more. The final score was Rams 23, Bengals 20, so bettors who bet Bengals +4 would have won their bets considering Cincinnati only lost by 3 points.