What is a 4 point 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.

What does a minus 5 point spread mean?

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 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 is a minus 4 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.

What does +4 spread mean in basketball?

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.

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 +3.5 spread mean in basketball?

Los Angeles Lakers +3.5. @ Toronto Raptors -3.5. With a point-spread line of 3.5, the Lakers must win the game outright or lose by three points or less to cover the spread and be graded as a win. Conversely, the Toronto Raptors must win by at least four points to cover and be graded as a win.

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.

How do you read a negative spread?

What does it mean to bet +4 on a team?

In this new example, Redskins (+4) over GIANTS, you pick the Redskins. As the underdog, they are “getting four points.” For your pick to be correct, the Redskins must beat the Giants or lose by three points or less.

What does a +7.5 spread mean in basketball?

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.

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 is a minus 6 spread?

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 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 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.

What does a minus 2.5 spread mean?

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.

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 +1.5 spread?

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.

What does a minus 12 spread mean?

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 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 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 do you win 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.

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 +7.5 mean in sports?

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.

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.