Spread in basketball
A point spread bet is a wager on which team/player will win the match/game. If you're taking the points with the underdog, the points will be added to your. A point spread's purpose is to even out the playing field between two unmatched teams. You can bet on the underdogs with the extra points, or on the favorite to. Point spreads level the playing field by assigning a handicap to the favored team, which they must overcome for a bet to pay out. For example, if a team is. The spread is one of the most common ways to wager on a game, with the betting market spread in basketball how many points one team is favored by. That number is the.
NBA Point spread betting explained
What does +1.5 spread mean in basketball? In sports betting, a +1.5 spread means that the underdog team is given a 1.5 point advantage. This means that the underdog team can lose the game by up to 1 point and still win the bet. The favorite team, on the other hand, must win the game by at least 2 points in order to win the bet.
What does the +8.5 spread mean in basketball? So, if it says “Celtics -8.5”, that means the Celtics are favored to win by 8.5 points. If it says “Hornets +8.5”, that means that you are betting on the Hornets to either win outright, or at least lose by fewer than 8.5 points.
Basketball Betting 101: Types of Bets Explained
The point spread given in the table above is for the home team only. To see the odds for both teams, click on the matchup. A money line , used in baseball and hockey, takes the place of a point spread. Money line betting is simply wagering on the contest based on a given price rather than a point spread. The team wagered on has to win the game outright, regardless of the score.
The minus sign e. The plus sign e. You bet on whether the total points scored will be more or less than this number. National Basketball Association. Live Odds. April 22, For any NBA regular season game in which there are odds offered, there is a point spread.
For example, in a game between the Celtics and the Lakers, a spread could imply that on average, the Celtics will win by 7. The most important term is the point spread itself, most often referred to as simply, the spread. In this scenario, we would say that the game has a 7. This is a rare outcome, but would most likely result in your stake , the amount of money you risked for the wager, being refunded to you.
In our hypothetical, this means that the Celtics would be listed at More holistically, the Celtics, for instance, would be likely listed as something like The is their odds to cover that spread and determines your payout. Usually, the odds will be the same for both sides of a spread, and that number will be close to if not exactly, You can also find spread markets in college basketball betting , and the mechanics are essentially the same.
What might change a bit are the numbers you see; the talent differential in college leagues can be much greater than what you would see at the professional level. The scores are also often lower in college basketball, due to shorter games, so teams might not be able to pull away as much in a matchup between two relatively even sides. Spread in basketball These different numbers are known as alternate spreads.
Using our Celtics vs. Lakers hypothetical, with the standard line set at 7. You could pick the Celtics on an alternate line of This would increase your payout, but would open you up to more risk; if the Celtics win by 8 or 9, you would lose, whereas you would have won if you had just bet on the original spread. A moneyline is different, as it lets you simply pick the winner of the game, but unlike a spread bet, the payout is rarely close to the same on both sides.
This can be great when you feel strongly about the result of a game that a sportsbook thinks is relatively even, but is not a great way to go when you want to invest in a team that is heavily favored. The spread is your best option when you want to bet on a team that your sportsbook of choice agrees is going to win. Their point spread in this scenario could be something like Conversely, you can use spreads to bet on an underdog you think is undervalued, especially when you want a less risky wager than betting on them to pull off the upset.
In our hypothetical game, you might think that the Rockets are good enough to keep it close, or that the Bucks might rest their starters for the final quarter, or even half. Live Bets are wagers you make during a game, rather than before it starts. These numbers change throughout the game based on what has happened. Rockets example again, a game where the Bucks opened as 9.
If the Rockets surprise everyone and start the game on a run, the live line could move; the Bucks might now only be favored by 7.