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Reading and Understanding point spreads

Reading and Understanding point spreads

Emily loves sports - college football, NFL and NBA. She knows a lot of people have an explosion of sports betting and want to join in the fun. But Emily is not sure how to start the game sports. In newspapers and on the Internet who always sees "point spreads" (sometimes called "lines") in games, but not exactly sure of what the numbers mean.

Understanding point spreads is a key first step to learn about sports betting. Emily is not alone in the basics who need point spreads explained, so let's all learn to read point spreads together. Then we are on track to enjoy the fun sports betting.

What is the point spread?
In any game of football or basketball (the main sports that use point spreads) There are two teams playing against each other.

These teams, however, are rarely exactly the same - which means that a team usually has a better chance the other to win the game. If bettors are allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart, obviously, go for the best team (likely to gain more than 50% of the time in the process).

If it were so easy to win in Las Vegas and offshore sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! Here is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the chances of each team "winning" by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made to obtain the result Against The Spread (ATS result for short).

Let's see Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team - so if based simply betting that the team would win the game, most unequal people would have wagered on New England. However, using the point spread, houses betting set the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half of the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other the half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

Point Spread Reading
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Best team, called the favorite, is expected to win the game and must "give" or "lay" points to the weaker team. The bookmark is displayed with a sign less and the number of points that are favored by (eg, New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game but must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

Philadelphia wins the game any number of real points
O
Philadelphia lost the game in less than 7 points.
There was also the possibility that the end result could land exactly the number of spread (for example, the Patriots winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a "push" or "no action" and return then issued to bettors of both teams.

The same game with the same distribution point can be considered from the perspective of equipment plus weak: The Underdog (Philadelphia, in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and thus receives or "gets" points given by the team over strong. When a game is stated from the perspective of the oppressed is the team with a plus sign appears and the number of points that are oppressed by:

Philadelphia Eagles 7 vs. New England Patriots

Note that Philadelphia -7 +7 And New England is the same point of distribution in the same game, just noted. The first is from the perspective of the oppressed, the latter is the favorite.

For those who like to look at things mathematically
It is fundamental, but for a few a mathematician is circumspect. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

Subtracting the difference in score points from the favorite (hence the sign less before the number) and then compare with the results below
O
Adding the point spread to the homeless score (hence the "+" before the number) and then compared with the score of the favorite
Who Really "Won" the Super Bowl?
Let's see the actual outcome Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21

The favorite, New England, won the game, but not more than the point of dissemination were favored by (7), so that the ATS result was a loss to Pats bettors.

Looked at from the perspective of the oppressed, of Philadelphia has not won the game, but lost by less than the difference (7), so the result was a victory for gamblers ATS Eagle.

Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats least 7 equals 17, which is lower than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the Eagles losing the result of ATS win (or you could figure 20 more 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which has more than 24 of the Pats).

Emily's boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $ 100 to the Eagles at 7. The Eagles could not have won a Super Bowl ring, but since winning ATS result Emily's boyfriend took his bet - giving money to take a good dinner.

And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.

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