Point Spread In Basketball

1. A team favored by -7 must win the game by eight or more points to win the bet. If the team wins by seven, the result is a “push” and the bet is refunded. A spread of +7 means the team must win the game or lose by fewer than seven points to win the bet. A loss by seven would result in a push.
2. The point-spread was developed to provide a balance for both teams involved in a contest to attract bettors to potentially back the weaker team and receive points. The two squads in a game are listed with a title, either a favorite or an underdog.

• College Basketball Point Spreads
• Point Spread For Basketball Games
• Point Spread Basketball Explained

Basics on Reading College Basketball Odds—Lines, Spread and Totals

Point spread betting is one of the most popular and simplest forms of basketball bets that you can place. While this is a seemingly basic bet, it is one of the most utilized bets even by professionals. Remember, the complexity of a bet does not equal better odds or bigger payouts.

College basketball offers sports bettors a wealth of games on which they can wager. During the season, you’ll find a long list of odds from the top books posted on Maddux Sports’ college basketball lines page. Of course, it’s essential that as a bettor you understand how to read these betting odds. In this article, you’ll learn all that you need to know regarding how to understand NCAA Basketball odds, including the point spread, over/under and moneyline.

The elements we’ll be looking at are often referred to by different names. The point spread is often called the spread or the line. The over/under bet is also known as the total. And the all important rotation number, which is used to identify each team that is playing, can be called the number or the rotation mark. By the way, sometimes people will lump all odds together by calling them lines or they may be referring to the spread when they ask, “What’s the line on the Duke game?” Many terms, over the years, have become interchangeable.

The good news is that although terminology may be laced with slang and some inconsistencies, when you look at college basketball lines posted online they all have the same elements and they all look pretty much the same. The primary difference is some books will list the teams for one game side-by-side and another will have one team on top of another. The main thing to remember is that the visiting club is always listed first.

Starting from the left, the first things you’ll see will be the date and time of the game and right after that will be the rotation number and the team names. The point of the number is to create order and ease in making a bet. The numbers are listed in sequence and they are consistent from book to book.

As an example if Duke is playing at North Carolina and the Blue Devils have a rotation number of 901, then the Tar Heels, who are the home team and listed second, will be 902. In the next games listed, the visiting team would be 903 and the home club 904 and so the sequencing continues.

Because every sportsbook uses the same numbers, it makes it easy for the bettor to locate the game and the odds at different sites and it provides a shorthand by which bettors can make their wagers over the phone or at a land-based book. To avoid confusion when betting, you don’t mention the name of the team but rather the rotation number.

These initial parts of the line, which are used to identify the game which is being bet, read from left to right—date and time of game, rotation numbers and team names. All elements to the right of this information relate to the college basketball odds for that specific game. This is where you will find the point spread, moneyline and over/under.

The reason the point spread exists is to make it more difficult for sports bettors to pick a winner. In college basketball odds, as in college football, some spreads can be huge. How big might they be? If a team such as Duke or North Carolina, both of which a powerhouses, plays a club such as Idaho State from the much weaker Big Sky Conference the spread could be 40 points or more. Without the spread, it would be much too easy to pick the winner. With the spread in place, bookies hope to even out the bets between the two teams.

This is how the point spread works. The team that is favored is listed with a minus or negative sign and a number, while the underdog is listed with a plus or positive sign and a number. The favorite has points taken away and the dog is given points. In our game where Duke is visiting North Carolina, the spread would be relatively tight since both clubs are national contenders. Duke, because they are visiting, might be listed at +2.5, which means North Carolina would be -2.5.

If you wager on the Blue Devils and they win outright or lose by less than three points, then you win. Bet on the Tar Heels and if they win by three or more points, you win. Often the point spread is listed with a ½ point faction or decimal, which ensures no matter what the score the game cannot end in a tie. If the spread is a whole number, then the contest could end in a tie and that would result in a push. A push means that all bets are off and all cash is returned to the bettors. If the spread was 2 in the Duke/North Carolina game and the final score was Duke (+2) 88 and North Carolina (-2) 90, it would be a tie and a push.

The other number you’ll see associated with the spread is the stake—how much you have to bet to realize a profit of $100. The most common stake you’ll see is listed as -110. This means that you must wager $110 to win $100. Note that the payout on a spread wager is not even money (1:1), as some will say. If it were, you would wager $110 to win $110. The odds are a bit less than even, standing at 0.90:1.00. That’s 10% less than even. Where does that 10% of your payout go? It’s taken by the book as part of their commission, which is also called vigorish or vig.

Next, to the right of the point spread, is the moneyline. Note: some books may list the moneyline separately under a moneyline tab. But often the line is part of the odds listing. This type of bet is quite different from the spread due to the fact that no points are given or taken away and the basketball team that wins outright is the one that pays off. The way the books even the playing field is they charge more for you to wager on the favorite while offering a smaller payout and charge less to bet on the dog while providing a bigger payout.

Using the Duke and North Carolina matchup, the moneyline would have the dog Blue Devils at +120 and the favorite Tar Heels at -140. This moneyline is directly connected to the spread of 2.5. With the moneyline, a club that’s posted on the plus side shows how much you’ll win when wagering $100 and when a team is listed in the negative that tells you how much you must bet to win $100. In our example, you would wager $100 on Duke (+120) to win $120 and $140 on North Carolina (-140) to win $100.
Below is a list of the corresponding point spreads as they relate to the moneyline, ranging from -2 to -10.

With college basketball odds the last number you will see, which is posted to the right, is the over/under. As it is with the spread, they may not be expressed as a whole number. The over/under represents the total number of points that may be scored in the game. Your wager is either on the over or the under.

In the Duke/North Carolina contest, the total would be around 152.5. If the sum of the points scored by both teams is 153 or higher, the over wins and if it is 152 or lower, then the under wins. As it is with the point spread, this number comes from handicappers working on and assessing matchups, stats, coaches and player performance.

Once odds are posted for a game, sports bettors need to decide quickly, based on research, which bets they are going to take. Early college basketball odds tend to be soft and offer more leeway than adjusted odds, which get tighter as game time gets closer. The elements discussed in this article are all common in NCAA Basketball odds listings. Know how to read each part in order to make smart and timely bets.

If you place wagers on US sports, then chances are high that you’ve heard of point spreads. Here’s how they work; if a game has Patriots -9.0 and Vikings +9.0, the Patriots are 9.0 point favorites and the Vikings are 9.0 point underdogs. Unless otherwise stated, no matter which team you bet on, you’ll be required to risk $1.10 for each $1.00 you want to win. For Patriots bettors to prevail, they need their team to win by 10 or more points. A 9-point Patriot victory would be a push (a tie). For Vikings bettors to take home the victory, they need to either win the game or lose by less than 9 points.

Point spreads are used since most recreational bettors prefer to wager even money propositions. In the above example, if there was no point spread, only moneyline betting would exist. So, if odds makers are giving the New England Patriots a 73% chance of winning a game, then in order to take bets and still have a small profit margin, the bookmaker would have no choice but to require Patriot bettors to stake $3.00 or more for each $1.00 they want to win.

With a point spread, the odds are balanced, so you usually have to risk just $1.10 to win $1.00. This makes the point spreads appealing to recreational bettors, who often think it’s easy to make money from them. We have to be honest with you; it’s NOT easy, but it IS possible. The strategy we cover in this article should help!

We’ve provided a brief explanation of point spreads in our introduction here, but if you’d like to know more about this type of wager then please read our beginner’s guide to betting point spreads.

Simple Tips for Point Spread Betting

Strategy for betting point spreads is obviously different for each sport and league, but these four tips are general enough to apply to them all.

• Take Advantage of Bonus Offers
• Use Multiple Betting Sites
• Be Careful of Road Favorites
• Understand Key Numbers

Let’s go over each of these tips in a little more detail.

Take Advantage of Bonus Offers

One way to make money from sports betting is to open an account at an online betting site and take advantage of their sign up bonus. This gives you extra money to wager with, and since point spreads are so straightforward, it can be relatively easy to meet the associated wagering requirements and still come out ahead. Repeating this process at multiple betting sites will maximize your potential returns! We just ask that you please stick with reputable sites, like any of the ones that we recommend.

Use Multiple Betting Sites

We already mentioned how using multiple betting sites allows you to take advantage of multiple bonus offers. That’s not the only benefit either. Since point spreads vary between sites, one of the best ways to beat these wagers is to compare the different spreads in order to find which one is the most favorable. This doesn’t take nearly as long as you might think, and it will make a huge difference to your bottom line over time.

Let’s take a hypothetical game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots as an example. One site might have the spread as follows.

Another site might offer a slightly different spread.

If you’re betting in favor of the Patriots, then you should be betting with Bookmaker A. If the Patriots win by more than seven points, then you’ll win with either bookmaker. However, if they win by exactly seven points, you’ll lose with Bookmaker B. With Bookmaker A, you’ll push and get your stake returned.

On the other hand, if you’re betting on the Bills, then Bookmaker B will be your best option. A Bills loss of exactly seven points would be a push at Bookmaker A, but it would be a win for you at Bookmaker B.

It’s only a half-point difference, and that might not seem like a lot. The bookmakers tend to be very accurate with their spreads though, and an extra half-point in your favor can easily add up to extra profits over time.

Be Careful of Road Favorites

Many novice bettors fail to understand the impact of home advantage when wagering on sport events. When looking at the board for potential wagers, these bettors tend to get excited and bet on lots of superior teams favored on the road against weaker opponents. The betting market is so much more advanced than this, and for the most part point spreads are always going to be 50/50 propositions.

We’re not saying that you should never bet on road favorites. Just make sure that you have good reasons to do so. Keep in mind; they don’t just need to win, they need to win by a greater margin than the spread suggests they will.

Understand Key Numbers

While understanding key numbers is beneficial for betting point spreads on any sport, key numbers are known for having the most significance in football. In NFL football, most games are decided by three or seven points. Therefore, when shopping the odds, the difference between -7.0 and -6.5 is far greater than the difference between -5.5 and -5.0.

With some betting sites odds, certain games are priced differently than risking $1.10 to win $1.00 (which is called -110 odds). For example, you might see the Giants priced at -105 and +7 in a game against the Jets. Now, you only have to risk $1.05 to win $1.00. This is obviously better odds, but it’s very likely that they will lose by exactly seven to give you a push. Taking -110 and +7.5 with an alternative bookmaker is actually the better bet.

Getting your head around these kind of intricacies, as well as knowing the relevant key numbers, is vital if you want to bet on the point spreads successfully.

Now that we’ve got the basic tips covered, we want to provide you with some point spread betting tips specific to two of the most popular US sports: football and basketball.

Point Spread Betting in Football

One of the best ways to beat football point spread betting is to use teasers. A teaser is a form of a parlay bet using modified point spreads. Each point spread you select is moved 6 points in your favor. For example, let’s say you’re interested in betting on the following.

A teaser would give you a single wager with the following spreads.

Each selection is obviously easier to get right with the spread moved in your favor, but you do have to get all three correct in order for your wager to win.

If you want to learn how to beat this form of wagering, you’ll definitely want to read our article on betting football teasers.

Another way to beat football point spreads is to shop for off market prices. For example, let’s say you’re shopping online betting sites and see every site is offering Vikings +7.0. Then, you stumble upon one site that’s offering +7.5. There’s a good chance that this is a +EV wager, simply because it is out of sync with every other site. Please note that this strategy isn’t quite the same as simply shopping for the best lines. Here, you’re specifically looking for wagers that are +EV because they’re against the market.

It’s also important to consider whether or not there’s any correlation between the point spread and the betting total. If they are, a parlay wager is a good way to get maximum value. For example, a college football point spread +24.5 parlayed with under 48 points in the same game might be a great parlay bet. If the +24.5 team covers the point spread, then there’s an increased chance that the game also goes under the posted total of 48.

Finally, you might want to think about learning the correct strategies for buying half-points in football. While many people are against this method, we’re here to tell you that there are some circumstances where buying points can be profitable.

Point Spread Betting in Basketball

Buying half points is a strategy that can work for basketball too. Most online betting sites offer bettors the ability to purchase half-points at 10 cents each. Let’s say the Lakers are -6.5 at odds of -110 for example. Here of some of the options you can expect to see.

College Basketball Point Spreads

A great strategy for betting basketball point spreads is to shop dozens of betting sites for the best line, and then purchase as many half points as possible (provided they are priced 10 cents each).

When using this strategy, it’s helpful to know the most common margins of victory in NBA basketball and how often they occur.

This information shows us that nearly half the games finish with one of the eight point margins listed, and this isn’t the result of variance. Some margins of victory occur more frequently than others because of end game strategy. The winning team is often found running the clock, while the losing team if often found intentionally fouling.

The key here is to target the point spread five and seven, because these are virtually tied as the most common margins of victory. It’s important to recognize that most betting sites are only willing to sell 2 or 3 half points for 10 cents each, after which point they start charging more. Some sites sell up to four half points at this price though.

To show how this can be exploited, take a point spread of -8.5 at odds of -110. This is a 50/50 proposition. Let’s assume you’ve purchased enough points to move the spread to -6.5 at odds of -150. Now, you’d win instead of lose 6.24% of the time they win by 8, and 6.59% of the time they win by 7. Add these together with the 50% from the original proposition, and we get 62.83%.

Go to our odds converter, and you’ll see that the implied probability of -150 is 60%. This means you need to win 60% of the time to break even. However, our handicapping shows the actual probability of winning is 62.38%.

If we risked $150 to win $100 on this -150 line, 62.38% of the time we would win $100. And 37.62% of the time we would lose $150. This gives us an expected profit of $5.95 for every $150 risked.

Point Spread For Basketball Games

Point Spread Basketball Explained

If you only make large +EV bets such as the basketball example above, betting sites will limit the amount you’re allowed to wager. It’s not uncommon for online bookmakers to spot a skilled bettor and say, “Okay you can keep wagering here, but the maximum you’re allowed to bet per game is $500.00.”
If you keep betting and winning, they might decrease your limits even further. That’s why we recommend trying to hide the fact that you’re so sharp. By placing some random wagers and occasionally spending some time at their casino, you’ll have a much better chance of staying under the radar.
This is also another good reason for using multiple sites. Since there are so many different reputable betting sites to choose from, it would take you a long time to get limited at every single one of them.