What Is Spread Betting? Spread Betting Explained

To that end, it’s always worth checking the book you’re using or verifying who’s home for the game before you make your bets. In our above example, the use of the half-point in the spread means there’s no way that there will be a push on the bet (where the favorite wins by the exact amount of the spread). This number shows you how much a bet on either team will payout if you win. Have you ever played a game of pickup basketball where one team was better than the other? Maybe, in an attempt to make the game more interesting, both teams agreed to give the lesser team an advantage. The better team “spots” the other team a few points in the hopes that this will make the game more even.

The point spread represents the margin of points in which the favored team must win the game by for a customer to win their bet. Point spread wagers are usually offered at 11 to 10 odds, meaning a customer must risk $110 to win $100. The underdog is the team with the lesser chance of winning the game outright. In a spread bet, the underdog is indicated by having a positive spread line (e.g. +1.5, +3.5, +7.5 etc). These lines indicate the extra points being given to the underdog. In a spread bet, the underdog must either win the game outright or lose WITHIN the given handicap to cover the spread.

Forex spread betting platform

If the Jets (+13.5) lost by 13 points or fewer, or won the game, they covered the spread. We could write another 5,000 words about how point spreads are truly made, but in the simplest terms, it’s a 3-step process. The stronger team or player will be favored by a certain number of points, depending on the perceived gap in ability between https://www.bigshotrading.info/blog/what-is-spread-betting-and-how-does-it-work/ the two teams. Home and away – Kevin Durant will play great basketball anywhere, but what about the rest of the team? Role players especially tend to perform better in the familiar surroundings of their home arena. In addition, teams reliant on jump shots may fare better in their home arena where they receive more crowd encouragement.

The LA Rams were favored by 4 points over the Bengals at most sportsbooks. That means the Bengals would have needed to win the game outright or not lose the contest by 5 points or more. The final score was Rams 23, Bengals 20, so bettors who bet Bengals +4 would have won their bets considering Cincinnati only lost by 3 points. One good strategy can be to back scrappy bad teams against far superior teams.

Point Spread Example

In this case, if you bet the favorite, they have to win by two or more goals. You will likely have a payout ranging from (-130) to (+200) for a favorite on the puck line. If https://www.bigshotrading.info/ oil had moved up 50 points from when you bought it, you would make (50 points x £2) £100. Note that the conversion from moneyline to spread varies from sports to sport.

For example, a line of -100 would need to be boosted up to -110 before adding the point, and the 10-cent cost to do that is added to your point purchase. Lines that are above -110 don’t require any extra steps to bring them down to -110. Free sports picks allow you to monitor a handicapping service to see how they perform before signing up for a long term package. WagerTalk provides daily free predictions to our visitors so they can find a handicapper that is right for them. INFINOX Capital is a registered trading name of IX Capital Group Limited, authorised and regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (‘the SCB’) under Registration Number SIA F-188. We are authorized by SCB to deal, arrange and manage securities.

Learn to trade with confidence

When the top end of a spread offered by one company is below the bottom end of another’s spread, the arbitrageur profits from the gap between the two. Simply put, the trader buys low from one company and sells high in another. Whether the market increases or decreases does not dictate the amount of return. Due to widespread access to information and increased communication, opportunities for arbitrage in spread betting and other financial instruments have been limited. However, spread betting arbitrage can still occur when two companies take separate stances on the market while setting their own spreads. If I think the share price is going to go up, I might bet £10 a point (i.e., £10 per penny the shares moves) at 411p.

No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by INFINOX or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Covering the spread is when your team covers or beats the handicap that has been assigned to it. Maybe a few key players have been ruled out for the 49ers or returned from injury sooner than expected for the Lions.

And when the teams are evenly matched: “Evens” or “Pick ‘em”

In order to understand spread bets it’s important to ensure you also understand how the bets work and the terminology that comes with them. As mentioned above, the spread is also used as a handicap that estimates what sportsbooks think the average margin of victory or defeat will be, and puts each team on equal terms from a betting perspective. This then allows sportsbooks to open up a completely new betting market (against-the-spread bets) that can be featured alongside traditional moneyline bets.

• At the expense of the market maker, an arbitrageur bets on spreads from two different companies.
• This refers to a team that looks good on paper but isn’t as good as their record would indicate.Next, look at the points both teams score and how many points they give up.
• The spread-betting broker profits from this spread, and this allows spread bets to be made without commissions, unlike most securities trades.
• Adjusting the spread with alternative spread betting gives the gambler a choice in what they think the team can do while offering a higher payout if they win.
• But remember, for moneyline bets the side the bettor picks has to win outright, which is a taller task for the underdog than covering the spread.

On this page we’ll explain step by step what point spread bets are and how to place them at online sportsbooks and casinos. We’ll go into detail about how they work in all the major sports and, most importantly, how to find teams that are the most likely to cover the spread. There is also the risk of your spread betting account being closed out during periods of immense volatility. If you don’t have sufficient funds within your account to cover this volatility, your positions will be closed for a loss automatically by your broker.