Some games can be mismatches, where everybody knows who’s going to win a particular event. This is not very interesting to bet on, because the return on betting the favorite is not very high, and the underdog is highly unlikely to win in the first place.
The spread is what a sportsbook uses to make an event interesting for bettors. Consider the example below:
| New York Giants | +3.0 | -110 |
| Green Bay Packers | -3.0 | -110 |
In the example, the spread is set at three points. The +3.0 after the New York Giants means that the Giants are the underdog in this game; the Giants must either win, or not lose by more than three points, for a bet on the Giants to win.
The 3.0 after the Green Bay Packers means that the Packers are the favorite; the Packers must win by more than three points for a bet on the Packers to win.
If Packers win by exactly three points, then the bet is said to have fallen on the spread and is deemed a push. All bets are voided and the stakes returned in this instance.
The second number, -110, after each team is the price of a winning bet. A winning bettor will win $100 for every $110 bet.
More About Point Spread Betting
The point spread is the #1 most important word in the world of sports betting. Point spreads are most commenly set and monitored by the oddsmakers in Las Vegas for use in both sportsbooks & online gambling sites on the web. The point spread requires considerable oversight and monitoring on the part of the sports betting investor.
A change in the point spread can make all the difference in the world when it comes to winning a bet.
Movement of a point spread in the slightest way can take a sports betting investor, who has studied the lines, from Rags to Riches. This is why we shop for the best lines and point spreads.
The pointspread – also called “the line” – is used as a margin to handicap the favorite team. The oddsmaker – also called the handicapper – “gives” points (or goals) to the underdog for betting purposes only. The bettor must take either the favorite or the underdog.
The favorite is always indicated by a minus sign (e.g. -5.5) and the underdog by a plus sign (e.g.+5.5). For betting purposes, the outcome of the game is determined by taking the actual game score and finding the difference between the scores of the two teams playing (called the pointspread or just the “spread”).
If the “line” is put in at a half point (e.g. -5.5 for the favorite Orlando) by the oddsmaker then there can be no “push.” In this case, there is “action” at any final game score pointspread. In a pointspread, you must wager $110 to win $100 ($210 is returned to the winner). 10/11 is the standard for pointspread bets on most sports.