Point Spread Bets Overview
Spread betting is betting on the outcome of the game based on accuracy. Point Spread betting can be risky, but it can also be very profitable when done correctly and carefully. Charles K. McNeil is known as the inventor of point spread betting. McNeil was a mathematics teacher from Connecticut who moved to Chicago in the 1940's to become a bookmaker.
How point spread bets work is a bookmaker will announce a spread of a certain amount of points. For example, the Chicago Bulls will be four point favorites over the Dallas Mavericks. The bettor then has two choices to make. The first option is to take the "favorite", which would be the Chicago Bulls. If they choose to bet on the Bulls, they are betting that the Bulls will win by more than four points. This is called "giving points". For example, the Bulls would need to win by five points for this bet to be good. A score of 91-86 would be a winner, while 91-88 would be a loser. If the bet was four points, and it ended at four points 91-87, this would be a "push" and the bettor would get his money back.
If the bettor were to bet the "underdog", he would "take the points". What the bettor needs to happen to win this bet is the underdog to either win the game straight up, or lose by less than four points. So, if the Mavericks beat the Bulls 91-87, the bettor wins. If the Mavericks lost to Chicago 91-88, the bettor would win, because the difference would be 3. If the Mavericks lost 91-85, the bettor would lose, because the point differential is greater than 4.
A lot of times point spreads would be in increments of (1/2), such as 4.5, to avoid any "push" or tie. Most point spread bets are won at -110, which would mean if the bettor put down $100 on the bet, and it won, the result would be $190 - $100 for the original bet back, and $90 for the winning bet. This is called "juice", which is money given to the "house", or agency in which the bet is made at. Sometimes, you will see "half juice specials" which would lower it to -105. This cuts into what they take out of a winning bet. Also, if the line is about ready to move one direction or the other, you may see the juice raised or lowered. For example, if the Bulls -4 was at (-120), it appears the line is just getting ready to jump up to (-4.5). Or if the Mavericks were +4(-105), this line is getting ready to jump up to +4.5.
Point spread betting is done most commonly in basketball and football. The NBA, college basketball, NFL and college football all offer point spread bets. Hockey and baseball do not usually offer point spread bets, because those sports usually just offer extended Moneyline bets, due to results not being very large.
Hopefully this gives you a brief overview of what betting on the point spread is all about. Some of our future articles will talk about some more detailed situations where point spread betting is used and we’ll discuss some advanced spread betting strategies as well. Go out and make a basic spread bet and start making that money!
