1. How Do Spreads Work
2. How Do Spreads Work In Betting For Football
3. How Do Spreads Work In Betting Sports
4. How Does Point Spread Betting Work
5. How To Spreads Work In Betting Line

Point spread betting is the most popular form of sports betting. The vast majority of sports wagers use a point spread thanks to the popularity of football and basketball. Even though this type of betting is so popular, it may take awhile to understand.

The point spread is sometimes known as an equalizer for sportsbook operators. All teams aren’t created equally, so sportsbooks can create a point spread for a game so that each team playing has an almost even chance of winning the game. In a way, the point spread will even the field for both teams.

In order to do that, handicappers establish a margin of victory (and loss) that both teams must cover in order to win the bet. Represented as a number, the point spread acts in two ways: It adds points/goals to the final score of the underdog. It deducts points/goals from the final score of the favorite. Points spread betting is where the bookmaker gives one team an advantage and the other a disadvantage, in terms of margin of victory. For example, New England Patriots -4.5 means that a backer who has placed a stake on them would need the Patriots to win by at least five points. If you want to calculate your total profit, you have to multiply the bet made by the odds. A successful bet on the home win multiplies the stake by 1.60. With a stake of 100 euros, this results in 160 euros and thus a net profit of 60 euros. How bet odds work and how to read them?

The point spread gives a reason for bettors to risk money on both teams. The better team playing in the game is considered favorite. They have to win by the point spread offered by the sportsbook. The favorite in a game is listed as being minus (-) the point spread.

1. In point spreads, you are betting on the difference between the winning and losing scores. A bookmaker will post a number, and you decide if it will be more or less.
2. With spread betting, how much you win or lose is determined by how accurate you are. There are a great deal more than just two possible outcomes with spread betting and the more right you are, the more you win. By the same token the more a result goes against you, the more you stand to lose.

The worse of the teams playing in the game is called the underdog. The bettor wins if this team wins the game outright or loses by an amount smaller than the point spread. The underdog in a game is listed as being plus (+) the point spread.

Let’s use this past Super Bowl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs as an example.

Using this example, the Chiefs were 3-point favorites over the Buccaneers. The Chiefs needed to win by 4 or more points to cover the spread.

Likewise, the Buccaneers were 3-point underdogs. That means the Buccaneers needed to win the game outright or not lose the contest by 4 points or more. At Chiefs -3, if they won by exactly 3 points, the betting result would have been a “push” and bettors for both sides would have gotten their wagers refunded.

The Buccaneers pulled off the upset, winning by a score of 31-9, and rewarded bettors who backed them at +3.

Point spread betting odds

Point spreads are usually set with -110 odds, but pricing often fluctuates at online sportsbooks. This is the sportsbook operators’ house edge. The odds guarantee the sportsbook operator will see a little money over time. When the odds are set at -110, the bettor must wager $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10).

The odds on a point spread are most commonly known as the vigorish or “vig” for the sportsbook. You might hear this small profit margin for the sportsbook called the “juice” by some sports bettors.

Point spread FAQs

How Do Spreads Work

What does ‘pick em’ or ‘pick’ mean in NFL betting?

A “pick em” (sometimes seen as “pick”) is when the teams have a point spread of zero, meaning neither team is favored. In this instance, you’re essentially picking moneyline and your bet will be determined on the winner alone.

What does -7 and +7 mean in NFL betting?

A spread of minus-seven (-7) means that a is favored to win the game by a touchdown (technically, a touchdown and the extra point). A team favored by -7 must win the game by eight or more points to win the bet. If the team wins by seven, the result is a “push” and the bet is refunded.

A spread of +7 means the team must win the game or lose by fewer than seven points to win the bet. A loss by seven would result in a push.

What does -3 and +3 mean in NFL betting?

A -3 spread means that the favorite must win by more than a field goal to win the wager. A three-point win would result in a push and the sportsbook would refund the wager.

A spread of +3 means the team listed as the underdog must win the game or lose by fewer than three points to cash the bet. A three-point loss would be graded as a push by the sportsbook and the bet would be refunded.

Why are point spreads in the NFL so much lower than in college?

In 2019, the Baltimore Ravens led the NFL in point differential per game at +13.7 points; the Miami Dolphins ranked last in the NFL in point differential per game at -11.7. Even Kansas City– known for their explosive offense– had an average point differential in 2019 of just 9.7 points. The net point differential in the NFL is -14.1, or -0.9 points per game. Basically, the talent differential in the NFL is so minute that even mismatched teams often draw games within a score of each other.

NFL spreads are most commonly between one point and four, with six being a heavy favorite and extremes coming out around 15-20 point favors. (For those wondering, the 1941 Chicago Bears hold the NFL record of point differential at +15.7 points per game. Conversely, Ohio State had a +33.1 average point differential in 2019.)

Point spread and odds movement

Sportsbook operators often aim to have equal money on both sides of a point spread. When the money is exactly split the sportsbook operator will see the exact vigorish as their profit margin. If all things are equal over time this will maximize how much money the sportsbook operator can make.

In an effort to have equal money on both sides of a wager, the sportsbook operator will move the point spread to attract money on the side that customers aren’t betting on. The odds for a point spread might change before the actual point spread. There are certain point spread numbers, like 3 and 7 in football, the sportsbook operators would like to avoid moving away from since the final score margin falls on these two numbers most often.

For example, if a lot more money is wagered on the New England Patriots -3, the vig may shift from -112 to -115 and -120 before the line moves to -3.5.

Run and puck lines

Football and basketball games are mostly bet using a point spread. The less popular major sports, baseball and hockey, are mostly bet using a moneyline. In an effort to make baseball and hockey more appealing to point spread bettors, the sportsbook operators offer run and puck lines, respectively.

These alternative lines give point spread bettors a chance to wager on other sports using a more familiar method of betting. Since points (runs and goals) aren’t as easy to come by in baseball and hockey, the odds with the lines may have a wider spread than a football or basketball game.

What is Spread Betting?

The basics of spread betting are that you are presented with a range of values. As a punter, you have to bet whether the outcome is going to be above or below a given value. The world of spread betting is a much-varied thing, all of which we will break down in this guide.

Spread betting can be a high-risk mode of betting. That is because you are not just looking at a fixed risk on a simple outcome. The more that you are wrong in a spread bet, then the more costly it is going to be for you.

How does Spread Betting Work?

Spread betting actuallyworks in different ways, because there are different variations of it anddifferent formats. For example, there is a great difference between sportsspread betting in the US and in the UK.

You have points spreadbetting, over/under and financials as variations of spread betting. While wewill cover them all in this guide, the most important thing to mention is howspread betting works in the UK. It is possible that you can lose more than you stakein spread betting.

It becomes about accuracy rather than picking a winner. Spread betting is more fluid, more variable than rigid win markets. Let’s say we are looking at Real Madrid v Barcelona win single in regular sports betting. You have three options, a home win, away win, or a draw in the outright market.

You know what stake youare playing. You know your exact risk. You know your exact potential profit.With spread betting, well, you don’t know the potential win. That’s because youare betting one unit stake for every point, goal or whatever it is, above thevalue of the spread bet you have made.

Let’s explain.

UK Spread Betting

Spread betting has risk,just as all types of wagers do. However, spread betting has a higher risk thanjust regular straight-up bets. If you have placed a wager on Man City -1handicap with a 10 stake then you know that the total amount that you arerisking is 10.

That’s it. If City don’twin by a two goal margin you lose. The risk is fixed. The risk is NOT fixed in spreadbetting. That is a crucial thing to put in your head and let linger there.

In fact, spread bettingcan get pretty hairy. It all involves buying and selling.

Buying and Selling theSpread

You are not dealing with odds as in regular betting. Instead with spread betting, you can Buy or Sell on the spread. Whatever the designated spread is, you would either Buy the high number or Sell the low number.

That, in a nutshell is what buying or sellingon the spread means. But where does the stake come into this? Let’s carry onwith this example, of 6-7 corners. You Buy in with a 10 stake at 7 corners.

Remember you always Buy the high number in aspread. That would mean that for every corner above 7 that happened in thegame, you would earn 10. So if there were 10 corners in total in the match,that’s a 30 profit.

Buying 7 Corners (win):

Your stake is linked to the unit of the degree of correctness if you like. The more right you are, the bigger the payout.

However, if the game ended with less than 7corners in the match, then for every corner less than 7 you would LOSE 10. Soif there were only 2 corners in the match, you would lose 50.

So in this type of spread betting (there are fixed spread bets that don’t work this way as you will see in this guide), you can lose more than you stake.

Buying 7 Corners (loss):

But if from the offset you thought that thegame was going to produce fewer than 6 corners anyway, then you would haveapproached it a different way. You would Sell 6 corners.

For every corner under that spread of 6, youwould claim a 10 win. However, for every corner over 6 that happened in thatgame, that would cost you 10.

Selling 6 Corners:

So that is the big risk with spread bettingand why it’s not to be taken lightly. You will find this type of spread bettingmore commonly in Financials. But just to vary off slightly, let’s look atspread betting and what it means in the USA.

US Spread Betting

It is common practice to see points spread betting happening in US betting. Particularly on NFL football. Points spread betting is where the bookmaker gives one team an advantage and the other a disadvantage, in terms of margin of victory.

For example, New England Patriots -4.5 means that a backer who has placed a stake on them would need the Patriots to win by at least five points. This is a scenario where a stronger team, starts the game (virtually) with a -4.5 handicap on them.

So in order for the bet on them to win, they would have to cover the spread by winning by a five-point margin. If they were to win the match but only by two points, then the bet on them loses, even though the Pats won the match.

Dallas Cowboys +4.5 means that the backerwould need Dallas to not lose by a margin of more than four points. It isbasically a scenario where the bookmaker has given Dallas the advantage ofstarting the game with a 4.5 point lead.

So even if they were to lose the match 20-17 your bet on them would still win when you add on those 4.5 points to their score. That’s straight forward points spread betting in the US. It’s a fixed stake though, not the type of UK spread betting which will fluctuate..

Over/Under

Over/Under does fall into the category of spread betting only inasmuch as you are betting on a spread value. It’s more of a Totals option than a spread bet really. This is just where instead of backing a team to cover a spread in a match, as in the above example, you are just targeting the total of points in a game.

This can be the total points in a game betweenthe two teams. Or the total points of one team only in the game. While you arein a sense trying to determine that an outcome reaches above (or under) a setspread value, it’s not technically a spread bet.

The difference really is that risk goes backto being a set risk. A Totals bet like an Over/Under just takes a straightstake for set odds. The profit or loss isn’t going to increase the further awayfrom the prediction that the total amount of points ends up at.

Financial Spreads

Spread betting in the UK is far less common in sports than it is on Financials. What exactly are Financials? This is where you do spread betting against things like the value of currency or the value of stocks.

As you may know, these are generally volatile things. Stocks go up, stocks go down, sometimes all depending on which way the wind is blowing. The same with currency, a piece of breaking news somewhere in the world can affect a currency’s value halfway on the other side of the globe.

So what makes Financials betting so appealing? It is a big shift in value. Imagine that you have speculated on the share price of Company X. That company releases a new product that day, everybody loves them and their share value soars.

It will likely be a big gain as well, sothat’s where a spread bet could pay off. But that is a best-case-scenarioexample and the real world isn’t often like that. In fact, Financials bettingis very complex and very high risk.

It’s estimated that almost 70% of investorslose money when trading spread bets. A 2009 report by the Times newspaperstated that it was around 1 in 10 spread betting traders that were profitablein the UK. That’s how risky it can be.

Financials spreads, very basically is youdeciding which way a market is going to move.

Example of a Financials Spread:

In this example the spread is the margin between the Up and Down value. It’s not called Up and Down though, it’s called BUY and SELL:

Then what happens? Well you wait and see whathappens to the market. You can open and close bets within a 24 hour periodgenerally.

If you Buy and the market goes up, you getyour unit of stake multiplied by however many points the market went up abovethe price at which you bought the spread.

If you buy and the market goes down, you willlose a unit of stake multiplied by however many points the market finishesbelow the price at which you bought at. It’s simply a case of vice-versa if youhad done a Sell option to start with.

Note in that very simpleformula, the glaring variable. Profit or loss. You do not know the complete total of what you are risking until themarket is done. A major crash in a market after you have done a Buy optionexpecting it to go up could cost a fortune.

Financials betting is awhole different beast, a world away from regular sports betting. It’s complexand it has a whole range of specialist tools to use, as well as specialistbrokers.

What are Brokers?

How Do Spreads Work In Betting For Football

Brokers in Financialspread betting are a version of bookmakers. They are the middleman throughwhich you strike your bets. Only instead of being called a bookmaker, whichtechnically they are not, they are called Brokers. They are the ones whichallow you to go and speculate on all of the market fluctuations.

Spread BettingCollateral

We have already and willcontinue to do so, speak of the risks of spread betting. There is no fixed loss(although there are limits). It’s all just random on how the markets willreact, and you are never certain of that. Now let’s put collateral intoperspective.

You bet on the value ofthe Bank of NeverNeverland which is currently at 400p. The spread, therefore,is to Buy at 401p or Sell at 399p. We go with a 10 stake, which means that ishow much we will win for every penny that the market goes up above the 401p atwhich we bought in.

But what is theworst-case scenario here? That would be if the value of the Bank ofNeverNeverland went down to a big fat zero. So that would mean a drop of 400p,its full value. 400 x 10 per unit = 4000 maximum loss that could happen fromour bet.

That’s substantial. Notlikely to happen, but that’s called the Collateral. An extreme example of it.But it’s to illustrate a point that you are going to need to have collateral inyour account to place the initial bet.

You have to be able tocover potential losses. This won’t always be at 100% depending on the type offinancials bet you are playing. It’s more realistically going to be 5% of 10%on your total exposure (the max you can lose). Why? Because of Leverage. Readon.

Spread Betting Leverage

This is another of those common terms. A slightly more complex one and it follows on from collateral. Teacup Trains is at 500p. You want to buy-in with a 1 stake. But what about the big 500 collateral if the value goes down to zero (full exposure)?

Well, the Spread Bettingfirm is only asking for a 10% margin to make this bet (so 50). The rest (450)is loaned to you by the firm. A good outcome is that the value goes up 200points and you trade out with 200 profit, all from that 50 deposit risk of yourown money.

If things go badly, and the value goes down, you are out of your 50 stakes and if it all tanks to zero, you would owe your operator the 450 they loaned you.

The thing with leverage is that if the market does move in your favour it means that you never had to physically come up with the full 500 value of the exposure. If you wanted to go to a Broker and buy 100 shares at the same value, you would need that full 500.

So basically summed up, spread betting leverage allows you to put up a small margin of a big spread bet exposure value. For example, if the full exposure was 20,000 a 10% margin means you put up 2,000 deposit on your bet.

What’s the differencebetween a spread and a money line?

A spread and a moneyline are different things. The spread is as mentioned above, where a bookmakersets out a spread, a value that needs to be covered, like the New EnglandPatriots -4.5.

The important thing tonote is that the result on the pitch is not definitive for the bet. It’s allabout the points spread. A Moneyline in contrast, is a fixed-odds bet, just astraight-up bet on the winner of the match.

You will see somethinglike New York Giants -150 and Miami Dolphins +125. On the Moneyline, these arenot point spreads, these are odds. The minus sign represents the favourite, theplus sign represents the underdogs.

The -150 on the Giants means that you would have to bet 100 to win 150.

The +125 on the Dolphins means that you would win 125 for every 100 bet.

FAQ’s

Is Spread Betting profitable?

You can lose more than you stake with spread betting. There are of course ways to be profitable in spread betting. Chasing big returns though comes with high risk.

A good trader may target 1% profit in a month. It is possible but not easy. Strategies promising to earn you between 100 and 2000 a month are not that realistic.

Big sums like than means that you are facing some big exposures, especially if you are only taking 1% profit on speculations.

The US version of spread betting is a lot more approachable. Things like points spreads are just regular sports betting wrapped up differently.

What happens if you tie the spread?

You get your money back. This scenario is called a Push. A push is a very common term and a very common occurrence in spread betting.

Note that a push can never happen where you have half points. If you have Over 3.5 goals in a soccer match, no team is going to score half of a goal.

So the inclusion of the half goal means that a result (win or loss) will happen on the bet. However, you will see straight whole-number spread options too. Maybe it is a simple -4 on the Atlanta Falcons to win.

If they were to win the match 20-16, a margin of exactly four points, then that the spread wasn’t covered. It wasn’t lost either.

A push results in the stake being refunded, because, on the other side, their opponents didn’t cover the +4 spread.

Note that some bookmakers may have “ties win” or “ties lose” on markets to avoid a push and have the bet settled.

What is covering the spread?

Covering the spread is a term used to describe a team doing enough to cover whatever the spread is on them.

This simply means that if you have a team at a -3.5 point spread, they would cover that spread if they were to win by at least four points.

If a team was at +3.5 points then they would cover the spread if they didn’t get beaten by anything more than three points. It’s just a betting phrase determining if your bet won or not.

How Do Spreads Work In Betting Sports

Does overtime count in a point spread?

If you bet on England to beat Germany in the World Cup Final (90 minutes) and the game is tied, what happens to your stake? It’s lost.

Even if England won in extra time, your initial bet only covered the regulation 90 minutes. It’s different with spread betting. The major points spread sports in the world, hands down, are American Football, Ice Hockey and Basketball and if any went to overtime then your spread bet would still be active.

Is Forex Spread Betting?

No. Forex is its own thing. It is buying and selling currency at the same time. You make a currency pair when you do that.

Forex is subject to taxation, spread betting is not. But you can do spread betting on Forex markets.

The advantage of going to a spread betting broker means that you can bet on the Forex without doing Forex directly. You could simply spread bet on the spread of the value of a currency pair to go up or down.

Is Spread Betting taxed?

One of the appeals of Spread Betting in the UK is that profits don’t have to be declared to HMRC. So whatever you get to make on spread betting you are going to get to keep.

How Does Point Spread Betting Work

That is of course unless you put a big sum somewhere where it earns interest and then you would have to pay tax on that.

How To Spreads Work In Betting Line

Want to learn more about betting? Check out some of our other beginner guides.