What does a +3.5 spread mean?

A spread of +3.5 means a team must win outright or lose by fewer than four points to cover the spread. A +3.5 spread is particularly enticing in football because, as noted earlier, 3-point victory margins are extremely common. An example of a +3.5 spread: New England Patriots +3.5. Miami Dolphins -3.5.

What is a minus 3.5 spread?

Therefore, -2 means that a team must win by more than two points in order to cover the spread. If they win by exactly two points, the bet would push and the stake would be returned with no winnings. Similarly, -3.5 means the team must win by more than four.

What does a negative 2.5 spread mean?

The team must lose by 2 points or less or win the game in order for the bet to win. For example, let's say the Buffalo Bills (-2.5) and the New England Patriots (+2.5) are playing each other. Patriots +2.5 would win if the Patriots win or lose by 2 or less. The Bills -2.5 would win if the Bills win by 3 or more.

What is a +3 spread?

ADVERTISEMENT. 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 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 is the "Spread" in Sports Betting

What is a minus 3 spread?

A -3 spread is one of the most common betting lines you see in football, especially in the NFL. The reason: It's the most common margin of victory. When betting a -3 spread—also known as betting a “3-point favorite”—you will subtract 3 phantom points from that team at the end of the game.

How does a minus spread work?

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 covering a +3 spread mean?

In sports betting, to cover the spread means that a team has beaten the point spread devised by a sportsbook. Each team has a favorite and an underdog, and if a bettor wagers that the favorite will win by more than the point spread, thereby covering the spread, then they'll win their bet.

What is the +1.5 spread?

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. The +1.5 is the standard “run line” in MLB betting. Many baseball games are decided by fewer than two runs.

What does point spread +1.5 mean?

The Eagles were favored by 1.5 points, which means if you bet them and they won by 2 points or more, you would have won your bet. The Chiefs were +1.5 point underdogs, so if you bet on them they would have needed to either win the game outright or at least not lose by 2 points or more.

What does +3.5 mean?

A positive spread (ex: Bengals +3.5) means one can win the bet if that team loses by less than that amount. Betting the Bengals +3.5 means the bet wins if they lose by 3 points or less, or if they win outright. Over/Under: This is also referred to as the total.

What does plus minus 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 minus 8.5 spread mean?

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.

How does a +3 spread work?

What Does a 3 Point Spread Mean? A 3 point spread means the favorite must win by at least 4 points (winning by exactly 3 would result in a push) in order for a bettor picking the favorite to win the wager.

What does +2.5 set spread mean?

A game spread bet refers to how someone will win by a number of games. Going back to the Nadal and Djokovic example, Nadal may have a spread of -1.5, while Djokovic has a spread of +2.5. You can pick the spread bet stating that Nadal will have at least two more game wins than Djokovic.

What does a +3 spread mean in basketball?

If the underdog wins the game outright then the wager cashes also. For example, let's say the Los Angeles Lakers are a -3 favorite vs the Celtics. This means the Celtics are a +3 underdog. Spread.

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.

How does a 4.5 spread work?

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 is a 4.5 spread?

As you can see, Dallas is the 4.5-point favorite, which means the Cowboys would need to win the game by five points or more to win the bet.

How do you read game spreads?

How do spreads work?

Bookmakers set a spread with the hopes of getting equal action on both sides of a game. For example, the Colts are a -3 point favorite against the Texans. The -3 points is the spread. If you want to bet the Colts on the spread, it would mean the Colts need to win by at least three points for you to win the bet.

How do you play point spread?

For point spread betting purposes, the value of the point spread is added to the team's total as part of the wager. Bettors who choose the underdog win their wager when that team either wins the event outright OR loses by an amount less than the point spread.

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.

Is a negative spread good or bad?

It's not possible to have two of each sign for a spread. The team with the negative (-) number is the favorite, or team predicted to win the game. The team with the positive (+) number is the underdog and is expected to lose the game.

Is plus or minus spread better?

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.