What Is Betting Against The Spread?

What happens when you are a bookmaker, and you have a favourite NFL team going up against an underdog? Betting enthusiasts will surely bet on the favourite to win. Everyone loves an underdog, but most prefer to win money, after all. The logical outcome is that everyone will bet on the favourite, win, and that will leave the bookmaker bankrupt.

In order to avoid this exact situation, bookmakers apply point spreads to betting options. A spread will appear similar to this example; +7.5/-7.5. This means that team A has 7.5 extra points added to their total, while team B has 7.5 points deducted from their total. After these deductions are made from the final score, that total is considered to be the final score for bettors.

So to be clear; if you bet on team A to win, and they did win, but didn’t also cover the spread, your bet loses. This situation is referred to as betting against the spread.

Why Do Spreads Change?

But spreads aren’t written in stone. A spread can be declared for a game, and then suddenly change. It seems unfair that a bookmaker can do this without warning, but it is absolutely necessary in order to keep betting fair.

After all, if a team were to suddenly and unexpectedly lose a star player, they would suddenly be at a massive disadvantage. Since this major change has occurred, it only makes sense that the spread should also be changed to reflect the new circumstances.

A bookmaker might also change a spread in order to balance out betting. If too many bets are being placed on one outcome, the bookmaker risks having to pay out far too much, resulting in financial dire straits. In order to combat this, the spread may be adjusted to lure bettors over to the less popular outcome.

Spreads And Payouts

Bookmakers generally keep payouts equal, in the case of NFL spread betting. This makes betting on the event, once again, as fair and inviting as possible. Beside the spread, there will be a negative number in brackets. For example; +7.5 (-110)/-7.5 (-110.) This bracketed number gives a quick and easy reference as to how much would have to be bet in order to win back $100.

It should be kept in mind, though, that this is not always kept equal. Sometimes the payouts will sway one way or other, again to attract bets to one outcome or the other, or based on the circumstances of the match.

Other Sports

Spread betting is by far most common in the https://sportsbetafl.net/grand-finals/, with most betting enthusiasts being draw to it by the drastically simplified options. But spread betting options do exist in other sports. Soccer, baseball and hockey all also have spread betting, though are referred to using different terminology. However, the exact same rules still apply.

In MLB the spread is referred to as a run line, in NHL it is referred to as the puck line, and in soccer it is naturally referred to as the goal line.