If you were asked what your favorite team was last year to bet on, who would it be? Hopefully you answered Tennessee Titans. This is not because they were the best team but rather because they did cover the spread more times then any other team in the NFL . They covered the spread 11 out of 16 regular season games before they got blistered in the first round of the playoffs.
If you are not a fan of the Titans then you may have been a little hesitant to put your money on this team. This is a mistake that many people that are new to sports betting make. Picking winners is not always done by picking the most talented team. Gambling on football has always been common place and you would be surprised at how many people do not know what they are doing. Most people that bet at sportsbooks do not know how point spreads work or what they are truly for. Understanding your bet is crucial no matter how small the amount.
Many beginning bettors make the mistake of thinking that sports betting is about wits and the internet sportsbook is the opponent. This is in fact not the case at all. The spread is nothing more than a tool that is used to balance out the sides that people are betting on. It is a part of life in sports and is posted in every newspaper, on tv, and millions of sites on the internet.If the point spread does it’s job then half of the money will be on one team and the other half of the money on the other team.
The most common type of spread you will see usually looks something like – 2.5 for team a against team b which is +2.5. If you bet on Team A then they would have to win by at least 3 points for you to win. On the other hand, if you bet on Team B, you can lose the game by 2 points and still win the bet. It is my opinion to always buy the extra half point so that you have a chance to push if the bet hits right on the spread. This only cost a very little amount but could save your whole bet.
When you see a line of -110 for example, this is referred to as the juice the sportsbook charges you to place your bet. You would have to risk $110 to win $100. If it works like it is supposed to then the sportsbook basically takes $100 from a loser and gives it to the winner. The sportsbook gets to keep the $10 juice from the loser. You are basically playing against the people betting the other way. You will also see lines that are for example +110 for a team. This means that you only have to risk $100 and you will win $110. The odds and juice vary on every sports bet depending on the match up.
You will also see the line change every so often in a continuous attempt to keep the action as balanced as possible. In some occasions, the internet sportsbook will take a gamble itself and move the line in an attempt to get more money bet on the side that they think will be the loser. This only happens so often and you never know when it does because the sportsbooks usually leave it up to the bettors to decide how the line changes.
The odds work the same way for all types of bets in every type of sport. You obviously will get better odds on some games or events then others. If you do not understand a bet, then you should not be making that bet.