Sports betting has existed since 1000 B.C in China, where betting on animal fights was commonplace. In ancient Rome, one could wager on the Gladiatorial games. The thought of gambling on sports is as old as organized game itself. But up until the 1940s, bettors were rather limited in the kind of bets they could create. The standard system of odds would enable bets on, by way of example, the 3-1 odds that the Steelers would beat the Browns.
That was before Charles McNeil, a math teacher in Chicago, devised the idea of the point spread. An enthusiastic gambler, McNeil established what he called”wholesaling odds” and began his own bookmaking operation from the 1940s. He started out supplying this new style of betting on football, but his business model grew to include basketball. McNeil altered the way sports betting was done, and his legacy lives on today in what we now call the point spread.
What is a Point Spread and How Does it Work?
If you’re new to sports gambling, you might find it daunting to wager on anything besides if your team will win or lose the match. That sort of bet is referred to as a moneyline bet or a fixed-odds wager, and it is the very base of this wager, but is just the start concerning how far you can take your sports gambling game.
The point spread, which is occasionally known as the”handicap”, is the number of points obtained from the favorite, or given to the underdog, so as to open up the chances of either team winning the wager evenly. In most games, there’s usually a team that is more likely to acquire, based on a range of statistical factors. If the only sort of wager available was on who’d win between a really strong team and a bad team, it would not be that exciting. The point spread was designed to make betting a whole lot more intriguing, since it helps a bet on the losing team to win you money. How? Let us break down an illustration:
Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks
Packers -6
Seahawks +6
In this example, we’ve got a favored to win, and also an underdog. The Packers will be the favorites, and that is shown by the (–) worth in the front of the 6. Underdogs are represented with the (+) value. The 6 point value is how many points either team can win, or lose . If you think that the Packers will win by MORE than 6 points, then you’d bet on the favorite in this situation, meaning that the Packers have to win by 7 or more points so that you win your bet.
Maybe you’re more convinced that the Seahawks can win the game or lose by less than 6 points. If that’s the case you’ll want to place your bet on the underdog. If the final score is Packers 21, Seahawks 17 — the wager on the +6 point spread is a winning bet if you bet on the Seahawks.
Stage Spread Tie Rules (Push)
If the Packers won the game by exactly 6 points, then it’s known as a”push” and you’d get your cash back.
Oftentimes you’ll see a point spread that has a half-point added to this number. Obviously, there’s no such thing as half a point in a soccer game, so why do we so often see point spreads with a (.5) attached to the score? Sportsbooks do so to make sure there is not a prospect of a drive. Let us take another look at our match from above with the half point included.
Packers -6.5
Seahawks +6.5
In cases like this, if you bet 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 seven points, then you lose your bet, and if they shed by 6 points, you’ll win. The opportunity of a tie or”push” has been eliminated.
What exactly does”Cover the Spread” and”Against the Spread” (ATS) Mean?
You might have heard the term”covering the spread” or the term”betting against the spread.” This means that if the favourite team wins an event with the point spread taken into consideration or that the underdog team wins with additional points, they’ve covered the spread. If the Packers win that game by more than 7 points, then they’ve covered the spread.
Betting”against the spread” (ATS) just means you’re betting on the point spread in a particular matchup as opposed to the moneyline, or even another sort of wager. Bettors frequently use a group’s ATS document to gauge its performance against the spread. For instance, the New England Patriots were 11-5 ATS in the 2017 regular season, meaning they covered the posted point disperse 11 times, and neglected to pay five times.
Point Spread Payout Explained Now that we know how the point spread works, let us figure out how much money you’ll win (or lose.) If you bet on the spread of a match, you are going to see another number beside the amounts representing the point spread.
Packers -6.5 (-110)
Seahawks +6.5 (-110)
This (110) number lets you know how much you have to wager in order to win $100. The vigorish — also called vig or juice — is the cost sportsbooks charge for creating a bet. The most frequently encountered vig utilized for every side of a bet is -110.
Let’s say you decide to wager $100 on the Packers to win by more 7 points and the final score is Packers 30, Seahawks 21. The Packers have won by 9 points, meaning they’ve covered the spread, and you have won the bet. The -110 means that your $100 wager will win you a total of 190. That total includes your initial bet amount, so your total benefit is $90.
Point Spread Examples Following is a closer look at just how sportsbooks display the odds they give. In the NFL and the NBA, the point spread is easily found, in addition to the moneyline and the Over/Under betting choices.
NFL Point Spread Explained
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