How does betting the spread work

In this sense it rewards your skill, knowledge and judgement. If you can think of it, it is very likely that Spreadex offers a spread bet on it. Not only the classics, like Corners in football or Batsman Runs in cricket — alongside long-term prices on every major and most minor sporting events — but more esoteric offerings as well such as Players Under Par in golf or how many points or aces a tennis player may score. Get against a favourite rather than just backing a favourite Spread betting offers you the chance to get against a favourite by selling on the spread — this is the equivalent to laying a bet on a betting exchange.

More on this is explained here. Spread bet in-play Yes, you can bet in-play on fixed odds, but spread betting was the originator of in-play betting. The method of buying or selling means this is a very fluid way to bet on live events allowing you to either close out positions partially or completely during a match or event, or even change your mind and go completely the other way with your bet!

Bet over a whole meeting or tournament rather than specific race or match Spread betting can allow you to take a longer-term view over a horse racing meeting or event, or over an entire sports tournament. Bet on specific players or jockeys You can even use spread betting to drill down on to individual competitors in a race or match. For example, you could place a Player Performance bet on a football or cricket match, or with horse racing spread betting you can place a Match Bet on how well one horse will fare against another horse, or bet on the performance of a named jockey over a meeting or full festival.

The main difference between spread betting and fixed odds betting is that it is possible to lose more than your initial stake. Therefore you should keep these things in mind: 1. Understand the difference in volatility in different markets. For example, Total Goal Minutes in a football match is far more volatile than Total Goals in a football match.

Work out your worst potential downside. Taking the example above, if the Total Goals spread in a football match was 2. However, the Total Goal Minutes spread may be — so if you bought at , your worst case scenario of a draw here would mean you would lose times your stake. Manage your stakes. By using the example above, you can work out how much you should stake on each market to risk the same amount of your cash.

Alternatively, read on for more examples explaining how to place a sports spread bet. The widget shows in more detail how spread betting markets can differ in volatility. As explained above, the range of the outcome for a Total Goal Minutes football spread bet is far greater than for Total Goals. Therefore, it is important to choose a stake level you are comfortable with for different markets.

Try using the widget for different football markets to see how potential profit and loss levels can vary. This will help you practice sports spread betting and give you an idea of how the markets work before you try for real yourself. Spreadex is quoting Total Goals at 2. The game does indeed prove to be a bit of a thriller, ending in a home win.

Spreadex is quoting Total Goals at Your instincts prove correct, and the game ends in a draw. If any more than 2 goals were scored you would have ended up losing money. However when compared to sports spread betting, some of the limitations of the more traditional form of betting are revealed. Take horse racing — perhaps the sport most associated with fixed odds betting.

This assumption does not necessarily hold in all situations. For example, at the end of a season, the total points scored by a team can affect future events such as playoff seeding and positioning for the amateur draft, and teams may "run up" the score in such situations.

In virtually all sports, players and other on-field contributors are forbidden from being involved in sports betting and thus have no incentive to consider the point spread during play; any attempt to manipulate the outcome of a game for gambling purposes would be considered match fixing , and the penalty is typically a lifetime banishment from the sport; such is the lack of tolerance for manipulating the result of a sporting event for such purposes.

Spreads in sports wagering U. McNeil , a mathematics teacher from Connecticut who became a bookmaker in Chicago in the s. An example: The bookmaker advertises a spread of 4 points in a certain game; If the gamblers bet on the " underdog ", they are said to take the points and will win if the underdog's score plus the spread is greater than the favorite 's score. In the event of a push, the game is considered no action, and no money is won or lost.

However, this is not a desirable outcome for the sports book, as they are forced to refund every bet, and although both the book and its bettors will be even, if the cost of overhead is taken into account, the book has actually lost money by taking bets on the event. Sports books are generally permitted to state "ties win" or "ties lose" to avoid the necessity of refunding every bet.

Betting on sporting events has long been the most popular form of spread betting. Whilst most bets the casino offers to players have a built in house edge, betting on the spread offers an opportunity for the astute gambler. When a casino accepts a spread bet, it gives the player the odds of 10 to 11, or That means that for every 11 dollars the player wagers, the player will win 10, slightly lower than an even money bet.

If team A is playing team B, the casino is not concerned with who wins the game; they are only concerned with taking an equal amount of money of both sides. This is the house edge. The goal of the casino is to set a line that encourages an equal amount of action on both sides, thereby guaranteeing a profit.

This also explains how money can be made by the astute gambler. If casinos set lines to encourage an equal amount of money on both sides, it sets them based on the public perception of the team, not necessarily the real strength of the teams. Many things can affect public perception, which moves the line away from what the real line should be. This gap between the Vegas line, the real line, and differences between other sports books betting lines and spreads is where value can be found.

A teaser is a bet that alters the spread in the gambler's favor by a predetermined margin — in American football the teaser margin is often six points. For example, if the line is 3. In return for the additional points, the payout if the gambler wins is less than even money , or the gambler must wager on more than one event and both events must win.

In this way it is very similar to a parlay. At some establishments, the "reverse teaser" also exists, which alters the spread against the gambler, who gets paid at more than evens if the bet wins. Sports spread betting[ edit ] In the United Kingdom , sports spread betting became popular in the late s by offering an alternative form of sports wagering to traditional fixed odds , or fixed-risk, betting.

With fixed odds betting , a gambler places a fixed-risk stake on stated fractional or decimal odds on the outcome of a sporting event that would give a known return for that outcome occurring or a known loss if that outcome doesn't occur the initial stake. The spread on offer will refer to the betting firm's prediction on the range of a final outcome for a particular occurrence in a sports event, e.

The more right the gambler is then the more they will win, but the more wrong they are then the more they can lose. The level of the gambler's profit or loss will be determined by the stake size selected for the bet, multiplied by the number of unit points above or below the gambler's bet level. This reflects the fundamental difference between sports spread betting and fixed odds sports betting in that both the level of winnings and level of losses are not fixed and can end up being many multiples of the original stake size selected.

For example, in a cricket match a sports spread betting firm may list the spread of a team's predicted runs at — If the gambler elects to buy at and the team scores runs in total, the gambler will have won 50 unit points multiplied by their initial stake.

But if the team only scores runs then the gambler will have lost 50 unit points multiplied by their initial stake. It is important to note the difference between spreads in sports wagering in the U. In the U. In the UK betting above or below the spread does not have a known final profit or loss, with these figures determined by the number of unit points the level of the final outcome ends up being either above or below the spread, multiplied by the stake chosen by the gambler.

For UK spread betting firms, any final outcome that finishes in the middle of the spread will result in profits from both sides of the book as both buyers and sellers will have ended up making unit point losses. So in the example above, if the cricket team ended up scoring runs both buyers at and sellers at would have ended up with losses of five unit points multiplied by their stake.

This is a bet on the total number of points scored by both teams. Suppose team A is playing team B and the total is set at If the final score is team A 24, team B 17, the total is 41 and bettors who took the under will win. If the final score is team A 30, team B 31, the total is 61 and bettors who took the over will win. The total is popular because it allows gamblers to bet on their overall perception of the game e.

Example: In a football match the bookmaker believes that 12 or 13 corners will occur, thus the spread is set at 12— A "sell" transaction is similar except that it is made against the bottom value of the spread. Often "live pricing" changes the spread during the course of an event, increasing a profit or minimizing a loss. In North American sports betting many of these wagers would be classified as over-under or, more commonly today, total bets rather than spread bets. However, these are for one side or another of a total only, and do not increase the amount won or lost as the actual moves away from the bookmaker's prediction.

Many Nevada sports books allow these bets in parlays , just like team point spread bets.

With you winners bet prediction consider

If the Cowboys win , they win by three points and do NOT cover the 4. Point spread wagers often will be put into parlays in which you make multiple bets on one slip for a larger payout. The three main key numbers in NFL point spread betting are 3, 7 and 10, representing a field goal, a touchdown and a field goal plus a touchdown. The two most common margins of victory are three and seven points because of the type of scoring in the NFL.

The most common betting line for a point spread is A line on either side is like paying a tax or commission to the sportsbook. Bettors would pay 10 percent aka juice to the sportsbook, which is essentially a fee for brokering the wager. For example, if you see If you see There are three potential outcomes of your point spread wager: you win, you lose or you push a tie. The answer to this question: It depends on which side wins the wager, the bettor or the book. Here are two examples that illustrate where the vig ends up: Matchup: Baltimore Ravens vs.

With other sports, spread betting is a bit different yet still not all that difficult to comprehend. The main reason: Football and basketball are higher-scoring sports that often feature final scores with wide margins , , etc. Point spreads help tighten those margins in the betting market. Conversely, baseball, hockey and soccer are traditionally lower-scoring sports with tighter victory margins , , , etc. The key difference? Whereas the vig in football and basketball spread betting is most often on both sides, in the other sports, it can vary greatly.

You can instead choose to bet the Astros on the run line at odds. The puck line odds would be much more extreme, roughly Golden Knights Because oddsmakers believe this contest is a virtual toss-up hence the tight moneyline odds. Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities.

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