Point Spread Betting Explained: Rules and Guidelines

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Sports betting has been around since 1000 B.C in China, where gambling on animal battles was commonplace. In early Rome, an individual could bet about the Gladiatorial games. The thought of gambling on sports is as old as organized game itself. But up until the 1940s, bettors were fairly limited in what kind of stakes they could make. The standard system of odds would allow bets on, by way of instance, that the 3-1 odds that the Steelers would beat the Browns.
That was all before Charles McNeil, a math teacher from Chicago, invented the concept of the point spread. An avid gambler, McNeil established what he called”wholesaling odds” and began his own bookmaking operation from the 1940s. He started out supplying this new fashion of betting on soccer, but his organization model grew to add basketball. McNeil altered the way sports betting was done, and his legacy lives on now in what we currently call the point spread.
What is a Point Spread and How Does It Function?
If you’re new to sports betting, you might find it daunting to bet on anything besides whether your group will win or lose the game. That kind of bet is referred to as a moneyline wager or a fixed-odds wager, and it is the very base of this bet, but is only the beginning concerning how much you can take your sports gambling game.
The point spread, which is sometimes known as the”handicap”, is the number of points obtained in the chosen, or contributed to the underdog, in order to open up the chances of either team winning the bet evenly. In most games, there is usually a team that is more likely to win, based on a number of statistical elements. If the only kind of wager available was on who’d win between a really powerful team and a bad team, it would not be that exciting. The point spread was developed to make betting much more interesting, because it helps a wager on the losing team to win you cash. How? Let us break down an illustration:
Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks
Packers -6
Seahawks +6
In this example, we have a favorite to win, and an underdog. The Packers will be the favorites, and that’s shown by the (–) worth in the front of the 6. Underdogs are represented by the (+) value. The 6 point value is how many points either team can win, or lose . If you believe that the Packers will win by MORE than just 6 points, then you’d bet on the favorite in this situation, meaning that the Packers must win by 7 or more points so for you to win your bet.
Perhaps you’re more convinced that the Seahawks can win the game or lose by less than 6 points. In that case you will want to set your wager on the underdog. If the final score is Packers 21, Seahawks 17 — the bet about the +6 point spread is a winning bet if you bet on the Seahawks.
Point Spread Tie Rules (Push)
If the Packers won the game by exactly 6 points, then it’s called a”push” and you’d get your money back.
Oftentimes you will see a point spread that has a half-point added to this number. Of course, there is no such thing as half a point in a soccer match, so why is it that we so often see point spreads using a (.5) attached into the score? Sportsbooks do so to make sure that there is not a chance of a drive. Let us take a peek at our game from above with the half point added.
Packers -6.5
Seahawks +6.5
In this case, if you gamble on the Packers to win, and they win by 7, you win. Should they win by 6, then you lose. Same goes for a bet on the underdog. When the Seahawks lose by 7 points, you lose your bet, and if they shed by 6 points, then you are going to win. The chance of a tie or”push” was removed.
What exactly does”Cover the Spread” and”Against the Spread” (ATS) Mean?
You may have heard the expression”covering the spread” or the phrase”betting against the spread” This implies that if the favourite team wins an occasion with the purpose spread taken into account or that the underdog team wins additional points, they’ve covered the spread. If the Packers win that game by more than 7 points, they have covered the spread.
Betting”against the spread” (ATS) only means you are betting on the point spread in a specific matchup as opposed to the moneyline, or some other type of wager. Bettors frequently use a group’s ATS record to judge its own performance against the spread. For instance, the New England Patriots were 11-5 ATS in the 2017 regular season, meaning that they covered the posted point disperse 11 occasions, and neglected to pay five times.
Point Spread Payout Described Now we understand how the point spread functions, let’s figure out how much money you’ll win (or lose.) When you bet on the spread of a match, you’ll see another number below the numbers representing the point spread.
Packers -6.5 (-110)
Seahawks +6.5 (-110)
This (110) number lets you know how much you need to wager so as to win $100. The vigorish — also known as vig or juice — is the price sportsbooks charge for creating a wager. The most frequently encountered vig utilized for each side of a wager is -110.
Let’s say you decide to wager $100 on the Packers to win by greater 7 points and the final score is Packers 30, Seahawks 21. The Packers have won by 9 points, which means they have covered the spread, and you have won the bet. The -110 means that your $100 bet will win you a total of $190. That total includes your initial bet amount, so your total benefit is $90.
Point Spread Cases Here’s a closer look at just how sportsbooks display the chances they offer. From the NFL and the NBA, the point spread is readily found, as well as the moneyline and the Over/Under betting choices.
NFL Point Spread Explained


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