Gambling Spread Meaning

Oct 11, 2014 What Does Push Mean? When you hear someone use the term “push” they are referring to the result of game or event that ends right on the listed point spread or finishes in a draw. Points Betting is a unique sports betting option available only at PointsBet Sportsbook (currently in New Jersey and Iowa). This kind of point spread wager is based on the margin of victory or loss and can be very volatile, depending on how much risk a bettor wants to take on a game.

Second only to moneyline bets, point spread bets are the next most popular type of sports bet that you can make. Whether you are an expert sharp who crushes the books or you’re a brand-new bettor, point spread bets are most likely going to be a big part of your winning betting strategy. In fact, some successful professional bettors exclusively utilize point spread bets to make up their winning strategy.

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through all the details you need to know to understand point spreads, make point spread bets, and hopefully start turning a nice profit with them. We’ll start with some basic information for the novice bettors, including what a point spread bet is, how to make one, how they typically pay out, and the benefits of utilizing this type of bet.

Following that, we’ll get into some basic and advanced strategies of betting point spreads for the more seasoned sports bettors. Regardless of where you fall on the skill scale, you’re hopefully going to get some value from this article.

If you’re brand new to sports betting or it’s been a really long time, we recommend reading the guide from top to bottom, as the sections will build on information from prior sections. If you’re a seasoned bettor looking for a specific piece of information, you can go right ahead and skip down to the section you need or to the bottom of the page to see the point spread betting strategies.

Without further ado, let’s jump into the world of point spread bets.

The Nuts and Bolts of a Point Spread Bet

Before we can talk about how to crush point spread bets, we need to make sure that everyone reading this fully understands exactly what a point spread bet is and how they work. A point spread bet is a wager in which you bet which team is going to outperform their expected performance. The sportsbook will set a line based on how well they think each team will do during the game, and then you choose which team will perform better than that set line.

Since they can’t write “5 or 6,” they decide that they think the Dolphins are going to win by 5.5 points. If they think the Dolphins are going to win by 5.5 points, this obviously means that they think the Jaguars are going to lose by 5.5 points. A team can’t win the game by a different number of points than what the other team loses the game by. That should be common sense, but sometimes basic stuff can be confusing when you’re taking in a lot of new information, so we wanted to clarify.

So, the line for this game would look something like this.

• Miami Dolphins -5.5
• Jacksonville Jaguars +5.5

You’ll notice that one of the teams has a plus sign in front of the point spread line, and the other has a minus sign. The plus sign indicates the team that is the underdog (Jaguars), and the minus sign indicates the team that is the favorite (Dolphins). The number after that, as we’ve already pointed out, is by how many points the sportsbook thinks each team is either a favorite or underdog.

If the game were to go exactly as the sportsbook predicts, the Dolphins would win by 5.5 points. Now, there aren’t half points in NFL football, so it’s either going to be 5 or 6 points. We’ll talk about why they use half points in point spreads here in a minute.

As we stated, to win a point spread bet, you have to bet on the team that outperforms their predicted results. Does that mean the team has to win? Nope! All the team has to do is do better than the predicted line, and you win your bet. This means that a team can lose the game, but you can still win your point spread bet on them. On the other side, a team can win their game, but you can still end up losing your point spread bet.

The Dolphins are expected to win by 5.5 points. So, since they can’t win by half points, if they win the game by 6 or more points, you would win your bet. What happens if they win the game by 5 or fewer points? You would lose your bet because they are underperforming how they were supposed to do. If they lose the game, you obviously will also lose your bet because they are way underperforming.

What about with the Jaguars? Well, they are expected to lose the game by 5.5 points. What happens if they lose the game but by only 5 points? You’d win your bet because they are outperforming what the point spread said they would do. If they lose the game by 5 or fewer points, you will win your bet. If they win the game, you will obviously win your bet because they are way outperforming what was predicted of them by the point spread line.

You may already be seeing the point why, but let’s talk about why half points are often used in point spreads by the sportsbook. The sportsbook will do this to ensure that there is a winning side to the bet. If they made the point spread 6 points or 5 points instead of 5 and a half, there becomes the possibility of a tie. If the line is 6 points, and the Dolphins win by two field goals, then the bet is a tie, and all the money is returned to everyone.

This isn’t that bad for each bettor, but the casino will make $0 off the bet, and they don’t like that. You will see whole number lines when they are necessary, but the sportsbook heavily prefers to use half-point lines for obvious reasons.

That’s all there is to a point spread bet! You bet on which team will outperform their predicted results, and that is it. In the next section, we’re going to talk about how point spread bets are paid out and how to calculate your potential winnings.

Point Spread Movement

Now that you fully understand what it takes to win a point spread bet, let’s talk about how the sportsbook makes money and why that is important. If you recall from our discussion on moneyline bets, the sportsbook will alter the payouts to bring in the desired amount of money they want on each side of the bet. Remember, the sportsbook’s entire goal with any bet is to get the same amount of action on each side of the game, take a small percentage off the top, and make money no matter who wins the game.

If the sportsbook gets $500 bet on the Dolphins and $500 bet on the Jaguars, it doesn’t matter to them who wins. If the Dolphins win, they’ll pay them with the Jaguar bets. If the Jaguars win, they’ll pay them with the best from the Dolphins fans. They then will take a small percentage off the top for their profit for facilitating the bets.

This is the sportsbook’s goal. Obviously, though, bets are not always going to come in evenly on both sides of a game. The sportsbook has to do something to try and encourage and discourage action as they need to in order to try and get the equal action they desire. With moneyline bets, they accomplish this by changing the payouts. If they need more bets on one team, they’ll change the payouts to be higher for that team and lower for the other team. Remember, with moneyline bets, it does not matter by how many points a team wins, just that they win.

With point spread bets, though, they rarely will change the payouts (as you will see in the next section). What they do instead to encourage and discourage action on each side of the bet is to change the point spread. For example, let’s say that all the money is pouring in on the Dolphins, and the sportsbook needs to try and get some more money in on the Jaguars to even things out.

What they will do is shift the point spread. Currently, the Dolphins need to win the game by more than 5.5 points for someone to win that bet. To discourage action, they might change that to 6 or 6.5 points. Now, if the Dolphins win by those two field goals, instead of someone winning this bet, they will now lose.

When they adjust the Dolphins line to -6.5, it at the same time shifts the Jaguars line from +5.5 now to +6.5. This means the Jags can now lose the game by up to 6 points, and you would still win a bet on them. This would hopefully encourage action on that side of the game. If the line shift does not get the desired results, it will shift further until it does. If it gets way too much of a result, then it will shift back the other direction. The sportsbook will continue to do these shifts all the way up until bets close to try and get an even amount of money on each side of the game.

As you may guess, this can create some unique opportunities to get better lines if you can accurately predict the point spread movements. We will talk about that much more in depth in the strategy section of this guide.

Understanding and Calculating Point Spread Payouts

Now that we’ve covered the basics of the point spread bet, let’s talk about the more fun side of things – what you’re going to get paid when you correctly pick a winner. The nice part about spread bets is that most of the time they are going to pay out the exact same regardless of which team you bet on. The reason for this is that the only reason the sportsbook ever moves a line is to get more action on one side of the bet or the other. Since they are already doing this by moving the actual point spread number, there is no need to do it with the payout.

Another Word For Spread

The one exception is when they really don’t want to move a point line, but they still need to try and switch action. We will look at an example of this shortly that will show you what this will look like and when you might expect to see it. Here’s what the point spread bet from earlier might look like in an actual sportsbook.

• 0034 Miami Dolphins -5.5
• 0035 Jacksonville Jaguars +5.5

Sometimes, they will look like this:

• 0034 Miami Dolphins -5.5 (-110)
• 0035 Jacksonville Jaguars +5.5 (-110)

The first way that we presented it is like the “shorthand” version of the second way. It’s how you’re going to end up seeing it most of the time. In the second way, you see that both bets are going to pay out at a rate of -110. This is the standard payout for almost all point spread bets. Regardless of which side of the bet you are on, you can expect to be paid out at -110. We will cover the one exception shortly.

So, when you don’t see any payout odds listed, you can safely assume they are going to be -110. If you make a $100 bet at -110, you will get back a profit of $90.91. Notice that you are not getting paid back at even money. What’s going on here? Well, that $9.09 is the sportsbook taking their percentage for their profit.

Remember earlier when we talked about the sportsbook taking $500 in bets on both sides? Let’s imagine that happens, and each side is five separate $100 bets. So, the bets they take in look like this.

• $100 bet on the Jaguars point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Jaguars point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Jaguars point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Jaguars point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Jaguars point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Dolphins point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Dolphins point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Dolphins point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Dolphins point spread at -110
• $100 bet on the Dolphins point spread at -110

The sportsbook successfully achieved their goal of getting the same amount of action on both sides of the bet. Let’s see what happens for the sportsbook if the Dolphins win and if the Jaguars win.

As you can see, they will make a profit no matter what. You may also start seeing that winning 50% of your bets will not break you even. You’re going to have to do a little better than that to break even or turn a profit.

The majority of the time you make a point spread bet, you will be paid at this rate of -110. But on rare occasions, the sportsbook will change the payout odds and leave the point spread the same. This happens a lot when they don’t want to put out the possibility of a tie or if they think that the half-point move is going to cause an avalanche of action that would leave them heavily unbalanced the other direction.

For example, in football games, the sportsbook rarely likes to move off a +-2.5 line to +-3. This usually causes that avalanche of action and also puts out the big possibility of a tie and no profit for them. Instead, this is what you might see. Let’s say the Jags and Dolphins game is actually a lot closer, and the current spread is this.

• 0034 Miami Dolphins -2.5 (-110)
• 0035 Jacksonville Jaguars +2.5 (-110)

Let’s say that the sportsbook has an unbalanced number of bets with too much action on the Dolphins. Normally, they’d shift the line to -3, and the problem would fix itself. However, in football, a shift to +-3 usually causes a huge shift in action. So, here’s what you might see instead to encourage action on the Jaguars.

• 0034 Miami Dolphins -2.5 (-120)
• 0035 Jacksonville Jaguars +2.5 (EV)

You can now get the Jaguars at +2.5 at even money. This means that instead of being paid out at -110, you will receive even money for your bet. If you make a $100 bet, you’ll now get $100 in profit back instead of just $90.91. This will sometimes fix the problem. A lot of sharp bettors do see this as a sign that the line will probably move to +3 right before the game. It doesn’t always happen, but sometimes waiting could be smart if you would rather have the +3 instead of the even money at +2.5.

If you don’t like math and just want a pretty close way of determining your payout on a point spread bet, you’re in luck. Just assume you’ll be getting about 90% of what you bet back in profit. So, if you bet $10, you should get about $9 in profit. If you bet $30, you should get about $27 in profit.

The Benefits of Using Point Spread Bets

You may already see the benefits of betting point spreads, but we wanted to take a minute and hammer home some of the reasons that these bets are a great addition to a winning sports betting strategy.

Bet on Teams You Think Are Going to Lose

Without spread bets, if you think a team is going to lose, you aren’t able to intelligently bet on them. If you think that a team is greatly underestimated but is still going to lose, you’re out of luck. But thanks to spread bets, you can bet on teams that you’re confident are still going to lose the game.

First, this is great for entertainment value. Got a favorite team that loses most of their games? Well, now you can bet on them and not be setting money on fire. Second, this is great for profitability. Often, you may have predictions and see trends with teams that aren’t always winning. You might be the master of spotting a team’s problems and analyzing when they’re going to be getting better.

With spread bets, you now have the betting flexibility to jump on these predictions and turn them into money. If you’ve ever been in a bar where someone was cheering for a team that was down by too many points to come back by, you either saw one of the most die-hard fans ever, or you saw someone who was betting the spread.

Easier to Understand Value

When you’re picking winners with moneyline bets, it can be a bit challenging for you to see with the naked eye whether or not the bet has value. If a team is +200 to win, is that enough value for you? If you’re a seasoned sports bettor or you have some complex formulas you use, you can probably tell definitively if that has value or not. But what about for the rest of the people that like to use their gut and feel a bit more?

Point spread bets make this possible. While you may not be able to tell if +200 is a good line, you might be able to tell if +4.5 points is a good line or not. Points are a metric that we all regularly use and understand. This makes quickly seeing value and using our gut to make picks much easier and much more accurate.

Point Spread Betting Strategies

We’ve gotten through all of the basics and more, and now it’s time to talk strategy. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to being able to spot value and pick winners, but there are some tips and tricks that you should keep at the forefront of your mind when making your selections.

Predict and Exploit Line Movement

If you’ve been betting for a long time, you know how much value there is in getting an extra half point or even a full point on a bet. It can literally be the difference between winning and losing. If you haven’t been betting for long, just ask a seasoned sports bettor or anyone in the sportsbook if a half point makes a difference. We guarantee they will have hundreds of stories of bets they lost by only a half point.

What this means for you is that you need to look for any opportunity to get your hands on an extra half point or more. The way you do this is by predicting how the lines are going to move and then deciding if you should bet now, not bet at all, or wait for the line to move more in your favor. Remember, once you make a point spread bet, you are locked into that line.

Start tracking lines and watching them throughout the week leading up to a particular game. Try and see if you can start to see trends or reasons the line moves. Often, the lines will move based on news stories or public opinion. Injuries, suspensions, and weather will also play a big role in the movement of lines. If you happen to see a line move for a reason that you think is not legitimate, you may find yourself a great betting opportunity.

Calculate Your Spread Predictions Before Looking at Lines

One of the best tips we’ve ever heard when it comes to point spread bets is making your own spreads before you look at any of the lines. Take the games that you might be interested in betting and calculate out what you think the spread is supposed to be. Then, take those spreads and compare them against the sportsbook. If you see lines that are equal to or more in your favor, then you’ve found value and should bet.

The problem that a lot of bettors run into is that they let what the sportsbooks have as lines affect their opinions. This can force you to miss value and talk yourself out of something that you see. You can prevent this by hiding the book lines before making your own. Additionally, if a line doesn’t look favorable right away, you’ll know how far you need it to move in your favor to make it a wise bet.

The Public and the Sharps

Regarding line movement, there are a few trends that seem to play out quite often on higher-profile games. The public has a strong tendency to hammer the favorite late in the week right before the game. Keep in mind that “late in the week” refers to the days right before a game. If the game is earlier in the week, this refers to the few days right before.

This means that if you’re looking to bet against the favorite, you might want to wait until late in the week to place your bet. As the bets pour in late on the favorite, the odds will move to try and entice more action on the underdog (the team you want to bet on). Even if it does not move, you should still be able to get the same bet at the same spread. And if for some strange reason it goes the other way, you can just wait and bet on the next game. There are no shortages of betting opportunities, so there’s no need to force bets unless you’re just an action junkie betting for entertainment purposes.

If you happen to see a big line movement early in the week, these are most likely from the sharp bettors who are betting large sums of money. Strategically speaking, this will at least let you know which side of the bet the smart money is on. Sometimes you can still jump on board with them and still get some value, but sometimes the value may be gone by the time they move the line. This will have to be something you decide on a case-by-case basis based on where you think the value starts and stops on a bet.

Double Down on Good Moves

If you recall, we said that you were locked in on a particular point spread once you’ve made your bet. But this doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to place a second bet if the line moves even more in your favor and you are confident in it.

The line opens, and it’s the Dolphins -4. This is a great line for you, and you decide to make the bet. Following this, the public jumps onto a feel-good story about the Jaguars and bets them heavily. The line shifts to -3.5. Now, your original bet is still at -4, but now you potentially have an opportunity to double down on your bet. If you’re confident in the Dolphins and your prediction, you might be smart to make a second bet at the Dolphins -3.5.

If you’re not very confident in the prediction to begin with or prefer a lower-risk approach, you don’t have to double down. You can keep your original bet and call it a day. But if you like your spot, you’re going to like the extra half point even better. The takeaway here is that you don’t have to make the second bet, but the option is there if you want it.

The Wrap-Up

Hopefully, you can now consider yourself an expert on point spread bets. While they’re simple bets in nature, they harness a lot of power when it comes to turning a profit. Professionals all over the world utilize these on a daily basis to crush the books. Now it’s your turn to take what you’ve learned here, blend it with your predictions and research, and start crushing the sportsbooks for yourself. Don’t let the simplicity of these bets fool you. Your earning potential is huge, and point spread bets are definitely a medium to the top of the sports betting industry.

Point spread and handicap betting are one of the most popular forms of sports
bets that you can place. The reason we say “one” of the most popular forms
instead of “two” is that these bets are effectively the same thing. These bets
are a lot of fun because they allow you to root for teams that you still think
are going to lose. With point spread and handicap bets, the team you’re betting
on can lose the game, and you can still win your bet. In contrast, the team you
are betting on can win the game, and you can still lose your bet. Now that we’ve
thoroughly confused you let’s build up your knowledge, so you’re an expert on
the bet type. This is like sports betting boot camp; we confuse you and break
you down and then build you back up as a betting machine!

What Is a Point Spread?

Point spreads are more common in the United States, but you can see them
throughout the world. A point spread, in theory, is the sportsbooks attempt to
create a “level playing field.” Let’s look at an exaggerated example that will
make this clearer. Let’s say the New England Patriots are playing a game against
a junior varsity high school football team. They’re also using deflated
footballs, and the Patriots get to see the high school team’s playbook before
the game. If a sportsbook were to allow you to bet on which team would win,
everyone would bet on the Patriots as they would probably annihilate this other
team.

What the sportsbook does to fix this is they “spot” the underdog team some
points to make it fair. Obviously, these points aren’t included in the actual
score to determine who wins or loses the game, but they are calculated in to
determine who “wins” the game in the sportsbook’s eyes. If you ever played
basketball as a kid against an older sibling or your dad, they would sometimes
“spot” you some points to make it fairer. Let’s say you were playing to 20
points, they might “spot” you 10 points to make it fairer. They would then have
to score 20 points to win, but you would only have to score 10. This gives you a
chance actually to win the game.

The concept of a point spread is very similar to this practice from your
childhood. Let’s look at a few actual point spreads from a sportsbook and
everything will make sense.

These are the point spread bets available for three preseason NFL football
games. Let’s start by identifying all of the elements of these bets so that you
know what you’re looking at. The first column is the two teams that are
competing. This should be pretty straightforward. The next thing you will see is
a plus or minus sign on each team’s line. Teams with a minus sign in front of
the number are the favorites and teams with the plus signs are the underdogs. In
the above examples, the Chiefs, Seahawks, and Chargers are all the favorites.
The Bengals, Broncos, and Cowboys are all underdogs.

The number that comes after the plus or minus sign is how significant of a
favorite or underdog the teams are, regarding points. In the first game, the
Bengals are a 1.5 point underdog. This means that the sportsbook thinks the
Bengals are going to lose the game by 1.5 points. This means, by default, that
the Chiefs are a 1.5 point favorite. This means the sportsbook thinks the Chiefs
are going to win the game by 1.5 points.

As you’ll see, the point spread for each team is the exact opposite. This is
logical because if you think Team A is going to win by 10 points that means you
think Team B is going to lose by 10 points.

What does this mean for how you win a point spread bet? Glad you asked. To
win a point spread bet, you pick the team that you think is going to “win” after
the point spread differences are calculated in. Let’s look at an example that
will make this clearer. In the above chart, we see that you can bet the San
Diego Chargers at -3. This means, as we already stated, that the sportsbook
thinks the Chargers are the favorites and that they are going to win by three
points. Here are three potential scores of the game:

• Score One
• Chargers – 21
• Cowboys – 14

• Score Two
• Chargers – 21
• Cowboys – 18

Gambling Spread Meaning Vs

• Score Three
• Chargers – 21
• Cowboys – 19

• In Score One, we win because the Chargers won by MORE than 3 points.
• In Score Two, we tie because the Chargers won by EXACTLY 3 points.
• In Score Three, we lose because the Chargers only won by 2 points.

Score three is usually the one that confuses people. Remember, when betting
on point spreads, the favorite has to win by more than the number of points they
are projected to win by. The underdog can lose the game, and you can still win
your bet as long as they don’t lose by more points than they are spotted. In the
above example, if you were to bet on the Chargers at +3, you can imagine that
like you have three bonus points to play with. You can lose by one point or by
two points and still win the bet. If you bet the Chargers at +3 and lose by
three points, it is a tie.

The last number in the chart above is how the point spread bet is paid out.
We will cover that in the next section below.

How Are Point Spread Bets Paid Out?

Point Spread bets are paid out according to the odds that are posted. Let’s
look at the earlier example we were using to see some examples. We will post it
again for you here, so you don’t need to scroll up.

In the brackets after the last two games, you will see the odds associated
with each of the bets. Let’s say we made our earlier example bet of the Chargers
-3 and the final score of the game was Chargers 21, Cowboys 14. Looking at this,
we already know that we won our bet, but just how much money are we going to get
paid? For this bet, we will get paid even money because that is what is posted
in the parenthesis. This means that if we bet $100, we will profit $100 for
winning our bet.

Let’s look at a different option. We bet the Cowboys +3, and the final score
is Chargers 21, Cowboys 19. Even though the Cowboys lost the game, we
still win our bet because they lost by less than three points. How much are we
going to get paid on this bet? Well, we look in the parenthesis and see we will
get paid at -120. This means that for every $100 we bet, we will get paid $83.33
in profit.

If you’d like to learn more about how to calculate what you will get paid
from odds in this fashion, we have a
fantastic article on moneyline bets that
breaks all of this down.

The point spread bets for the game in the middle between the Seahawks and the
Broncos will payout in the exact same fashion.

If you bet the Seahawks and they win by more than two points, you will be
paid at -115. This means for every $100 you wager, you will profit $86.96.

If you bet the Broncos to win and they either win, tie, or only lose by one
point, you will be paid at -105. This means for every $100 you wager, you will
profit $95.24.

You’ve probably noticed by now that in the first game there are no odds
posted in parenthesis to the right of each team. This means that the sportsbook
is paying out both bets at the standard odds for a point spread bet of -110.
Some sportsbooks will write the -110 in, and some will just leave it blank
assuming that you know they will be paying out at the standard odds rate.

The standard odds payout for a point spread bet is -110.

This means that either side that you wager on will be paid out at -110 for a
correct pick. This means that for every $100 you wager, you will profit $90.91.

Point Spread Betting Strategy

Sports betting is not just about being able to pick out the winner and loser
of a game. Because of the various different bet types, there is a lot of
different strategies that goes into how you approach them. Point spread bets are
no different. One of the biggest tips we can offer is to make sure that you
fully understand what you are betting on. A great pick is only great if you
actually put your money behind it correctly. Thankfully, this guide should have
you fully prepared for that.

Point spreads and payout odds can fluctuate tremendously between different
sportsbooks. A half point here or there might not sound like a lot, but it can
be the key to exploiting different lines to make maximum profit. We’ve put
together a
great strategy guide for betting point spreads that should help get
you on the right track.

What Is a Handicap Bet?

A handicap bet is pretty much the same thing as a point spread bet. The
terminology is popular in the United Kingdom, Europe, and most of the rest of
the world. Let’s take a look at a sample handicap bet from a UK based sportsbook
that offers some more options for bettors.

This is four different games you can bet on, right? Wrong. These are several
different handicap bets that you can make on a single game of soccer. Each of
the individual rectangles is the same as the point spread bets we talked about
earlier. For example, the first rectangle is betting on Liverpool at -3, getting
paid 6 to 1. This means that if you take this bet you need Liverpool to win by
four or more goals and you will get paid 6 to 1, or $600 for every $100 you
wager.

Let’s say you think Liverpool is going to win the game, but you think they
are only going to win by three goals. If the first bet were the only bet
available, you wouldn’t be able to bet on this game unless you were a maniac.
This handicap bet gives you more options, though! The next rectangle down is a
similar bet except for this time it is Liverpool at -2, getting paid 13 to 5. If
you take this wager, you need Liverpool to only win by three or more goals now,
instead of four. If this happens, you will get paid at 13 to 5 or $260 for every
$100 you wager. As you can see, this is more likely to happen, so you are
going to be paid less for the bet. However, it does give you an option to bet
what you want.

You could even take it a step further and take the next rectangle down and
bet Liverpool +1. This means that Liverpool can tie or win by any amount of
goals and you win your bet. As Liverpool is a huge favorite, you won’t be paid
very well at all for this bet, but you can still turn a profit when you are
right. You would be paid at 1 to 10 which means you would get $1 for every $10
you bet. If you bet $100, you would get a $10 profit on this bet.

All of this is exactly the same for betting on Southhampton except you use
the spreads and odds payouts that are underneath their team. You can also bet on
the tie in a lot of sports, especially soccer. In the above example, the spread
points would be added to Southhampton for calculations. This means that if you
bet +3, you would need Southhampton to lose by exactly three goals.

This may be more clear if you think of it as the actual score and then the
sports bettor’s score. Let’s say that Liverpool actually kicked the ball
through the goal three times, so the final score was the following:

This is clearly not a tie with the actual score. But! The sportsbook is
spotting them three points in the bet we took so we add three to Southampton,
and the sports bettor’s final score is the following:

Liverpool 3

Southhampton 3

This is a tie, and you win your bet. Does this mean that Southhampton and
Liverpool actually tied? Of course, it doesn’t. This is merely done for the
means of calculating the sports betting winners and losers.

Types of Handicap Bets

There are several different types of these bets that are offered. Let’s walk
you through each of them and explain the differences. Once you learn these, you
will probably be more knowledgeable than most recreational sports bettors! Now
you can be the one teaching people about these different types of bets.

Spread Past Tense

Standard Handicap Bets

These are the handicap bets that we have already talked about. These are your
straightforward bets that pay out according to the spread and odds posted. Draws
are treated as a loss with this format. If you just scrolled to this section
first, scroll up and read the general section about handicap bets because this
type is addressed extensively with some great examples there.

No Draw Handicap Match Bets

One of the main reasons that sports bettors like to bet is the action and
excitement of winning and losing. Many sports bettors would rather take the risk
of winning or losing than having the option of pushing (a tie) on their bets.
For this reason, many sportsbooks offer what are called no draw handicap match
bets. These are bets on an individual match that are designed so that there is
never going to be a tie. In the standard handicap bet examples we used above,
you saw that all of the bet options were in whole numbers. This allows for there
to be draws.

What no draw handicap match bets do is use half numbers so there can be no
ties. Instead of a line of -2, you might see a line of -1.5 or -2.5. Since half
goals are not possible in sports, this would negate the chance of a tie.

Handicap League Bets

Handicap league bets are quite similar to the bets we’ve already talked about
except you are now betting on a team’s performance across the entire course of
the season. Bets are made at the beginning of the season before the first
game is played and are not paid out until the last game of the season has been
played. Here is a screenshot of some handicap league bets on Premier League
soccer.

Spread Gambling Definition

As you can see, each team is listed, followed by the adjustment or line
change for each team, and then the odds that you would be paid out. If you
notice, Chelsea has the word scratch next to their name. This is because they
are the league favorite to win and all other adjustments are made about them. If
your team is in first place at the end of the regular season after the
adjustments are made, you will win your bet and be paid the posted odds. As you
can see, the odds pay out fairly well on these bets as they are season long and
are more difficult to win.

Remember with bets like this you can still be profitable by betting several
options. Let’s say you think Chelsea is going to win, but you also think
Manchester United, Liverpool, and Everton also have a shot. If you were to place
a $100 wager on all four of these teams, you would still turn a profit! Let’s
pretend you did this and say that your last pick Everton pulls it off and wins
the regular season according to the sportsbook. Remember, they don’t have
actually to win, they just need to be on top after the sportsbook makes the
point spread/handicap adjustments to the final rankings.

Bet $100 on Chelsea, lose $100

Bet $100 on Man Utd, lose $100

Gambling Spread Meaning Synonym

Bet $100 on Liverpool, lose $100

Bet $100 on Everton, win $1600.

So even though you lost 75% of your best here, you still profited $1200
overall! Now you can see why these bets may not seem as wild as they may
initially seem. You also get to enjoy the action for an entire season on one
bet. That’s quite a bit of entertainment bang for your buck.

Asian Handicap Bets

The last type of handicap bet that we want to talk about is an Asian handicap
bet. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be Asian to place this bet; it’s open to
everyone. This form of handicap bet is set up through the use of whole, and half
number point spreads to ensure that no draws are possible. The difference
between Asian handicap bets and no draw handicap bets is that the Asian handicap
bets have the possibility of what is called a split handicap outcome. Your bet
will have a whole number and a half number line that are treated effectively as
two separate bets, but all in the same bet.

These bets are less popular as of now, but most sportsbooks are starting to
offer them as they are growing in popularity. The reason for the growth is that
more people are starting to understand them and see that they can help you cut
down some variance and risk, while still ensuring that there is no draw. The
reason for the name is that these bets are growing extremely quickly in
popularity in the Asian countries and betting markets. Most online sportsbooks
are starting to offer these fairly regularly now.

Let’s take a look at a sample Asian handicap bet to make this make more
sense. Some things are just better learned through getting your hands dirty. For
example, imagine that you choose to bet Manchester United at (-1, -1.5). Half of
your bet would be for Manchester United at -1, and a half would be at Manchester
United -1.5. Let’s say Manchester United wins the game by one goal. You would
push on your first bet and lose on your second bet. If you bet $100 on this, you
would receive $50 back for the push and lose on the other portion of your bet.

Let’s look at one more example just to make sure you are clear. Here are the
odds for a soccer match for an Asian handicap bet. We’ve included the payout
odds this time as well so you can experience exactly what these will look like.

Let’s say you decide to bet $100 on Liverpool, and they lose the game by two
goals. You would push on the first half of your bet and win the second half of
your bet. You would receive your $50 back for the push and $43.48 in profit on
your second bet. Basically, the sportsbook would hand you back $143.48 total,
which would include $50 for the push, $50 for your original bet, and $43.48 for
the push.

If Liverpool ends up losing the game by only one goal, you will win on both
sections of the bet. You would be paid $86.96 in profit on your bet. The
sportsbook would hand you back $186.96 which would include your original $100
wager and $86.96 in profit.

The Wrap Up

Hopefully, by now you are an absolute expert on point spread and handicap bet
types. If you’re still confused on anything, take your time and reread through
the examples we posted and it should slowly become clearer to you. Sometimes the
math can be a bit confusing to people, so take your time. If you are ever
confused with a bet, you are making online or at a casino, just ask support of
the agent for help to clarify. They will be more than happy to assist you in
making sure you’ve bet on exactly what it is that you want to bet on. Don’t
worry, no one will laugh at you or give you a hard time because you are
confused. We all were new to this one day, and they are specifically paid to
help new bettors like you understand everything and have a much better betting
experience.

These bets are extremely popular and a lot of fun to make. They allow you to
bet on teams that you want to root for, but you know they aren’t going to win
the game outright. It all comes down to betting on how you think the team will
perform in regards to what the sportsbook thinks. If you can find teams that
you think the sportsbook is undervaluing or overvaluing, you can make a lot of
money by betting on your findings.