Betting on Basketball Point Spreads

How They Work

It’s inevitable in sports and basketball that in every game one team is going to be better than the other. Betting would be a little pointless if you were able to make the exact same bet on every team. Everybody would just always bet the better team, and also the sportsbook would quickly be out of cash and need to shut up shop. What point spread bets try to perform is even the playing field and offer stakes with the same risk level on both sides of the coin. They aim to create a playing area that is 50/50 even.

The way in which the sportsbook does this is by placing a gambling line that’s based on how many things they think the better team will win by. That is much like how our older siblings would”place us” several points when we played each other in basketball as kids. For example, let us mention that Florida Gators are enjoying the Arkansas Razorbacks. Let’s also say that Florida is the better team and the sportsbook thinks they will win the game by seven points. They can’t just let everyone bet calmly, or everyone would wager Florida and clean them out. Enter the point spread. The sportsbook would place the point spread on this match at -7 for Florida to win. The negative sign before the amount suggests that this team is the favorite. This means that in case you want to wager on Florida, they have to win by more than 7 points that you win your wager.

Gators v Razorbacks
Point Spread Florida Gators-7 Arkansas Razorback+7
Here are the Probable outcomes if you bet at -7 on Florida:

If Florida wins by fewer than 7 points, then you lose your wager
If Florida wins by 8 or more points, you win your bet

If Florida wins by 7 points, your bet is a push (tie)
If Florida loses, you lose your wager
A lot of times you will see the point spread place in a half point (-6.5 or -7.5 in this case ) to eliminate any pushes.

As you may already be supposing, alterations are made if you would like to wager on the Razorbacks. The point spread for the Razorbacks will be place at +7. It will always be the exact opposite of the group. As the negative signal represents the preferred, the and sign here signifies the underdog. In the event that you should wager about the Razorbacks, they can still still lose, and you win your wager.

Here are the Probable outcomes if you gamble in +7 on Arkansas:

If Arkansas loses by fewer or 6 points, you win your wager
If Arkansas loses by more or 8 points, you win your wager
If Arkansas falls by 7 points, your wager is a push (tie)
You win your wager if Arkansas wins