Spread Betting Explained: Definition, Example, Managing Risks

That means that for every 11 dollars the player wagers, the player will win 10, slightly lower than an even money bet. If team A is playing team B, the casino is not concerned with who wins the game; they are only concerned with taking an equal amount of money of both sides. For example, if one player takes team A and the other takes team B and each wager $110 to win $100, it doesn’t matter what team wins; the casino makes money. They take $100 of the $110 from the losing bet and pay the winner, keeping the extra $10 for themselves. The goal of the casino is to set a line that encourages an equal amount of action on both sides, thereby guaranteeing a profit. This also explains how money can be made by the astute gambler. If casinos set lines to encourage an equal amount of money on both sides, it sets them based on the public perception of the team, not necessarily the real strength of the teams.

It’s also worth mentioning that the home team usually gets an imaginary spread of three points. If a home team is favored by (-2.5), the oddsmakers are telling you that the road team is the superior team. You should keep a close eye on home teams that are favored by few points, as it’s often the sharper play to go with the road team in those situations. Or instead of selling your shares, you could open a short spread bet on Barclays.

Point Spread Definition, Examples

You can make these bets all year round, and the odds will fluctuate based on a team’s perception and a sportsbook’s liability . For much of the 2022 NFL Conference Championship week, the Chiefs were 7-point favorites, before so many bets came in on Kansas City that the Chiefs moved to 7.5.

In such a case, there is effectively no spread or projected margin. Sometimes, a sportsbook will move the juice to a split like -120/+100, depending on how bets are moving and the relative strength of the two teams. In that scenario, you would bet $12 to win $10 on -120 but would be doubling your money at +100 (bet $10 to win $10). Using our Tennessee-Vanderbilt example, assume it’s the third quarter, and the Volunteers are up by 17 points. Your sportsbook app might offer you an immediate payout of $150. That is smaller than the $210 you could collect at the end of the game. If you think the Commodores might be able to trim that lead to less than 3 points over the final quarter, it may be wise to take what the book offers now.

How to Bet the Spread Online

Again, the .5 added to the spread means there won’t be a push. If the New England Patriots are 7-1 and they’re playing the Cleveland Browns, who have a record of 2-6, the average person would bet on the Patriots. You feel like you need a primer on some of the terminology before making any wagers. Because of these factors, it might be wise to wait until right before a game starts to place your wager. The advantage of doing so is you are working with as much information as possible. If you want to find out your exact return on a specific wager, you can head over to ourbet calculator and plug in your numbers. If you think that Cleveland is going to pull off a huge upset, then you are going to be rewarded with $280 back in return for a bet of $100.

They are assigned a point spread with a plus sign (+) in front of the number, such as Carolina Panthers (+5.5). In this case, the Panthers would need to lose by five points or fewer or win outright for you to win your bet. 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 https://www.bigshotrading.info/ to cover the spread in this instance, Pittsburgh would need to win by seven or more points for you to win your bet. When spread betting, it is crucial to maintain appropriate risk management. Typically, this involves identifying the risks that you may face when trading, then creating a risk management plan that sets out how to mitigate them for each position.

What Does -110 Mean Next to the Spread?

The number after the point spread is the “juice” or “vig” that you will pay on a given What is Spread Betting wager. If the juice is -110, it means you will have to bet $110 to make a $100 profit.