Betting Lines

When you first begin to enjoy sports betting, there are certainly going to be many terms that you aren't familiar with and don't know. One of these is betting lines. Simply put, betting lines are the odds that the bookmakers create on any event. They include the list of upcoming games and the point spread that is set for each of these games.

How to You Use Betting Lines?

These terms can often be off-putting as people think that they are much more complicated than they really are. Betting lines are simple to understand with the right examples. In sports betting, the major sports that require a point spread or that use betting lines are football and basketball. In football, for instance, the score is usually quite low so that betting lines aren't going to be huge. Basketball, on the other hand, can be a very high scoring affair, so the sports betting points spread could be much larger.

Sports Betting with Points Spreads

Points spreads, in actuality, are the adjustment to the final score that the bookmaker makes. For instance, take a football game between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Raiders are -11 and the Steelers are +11. This means that if you bet the spread on the Raiders, they'd need to win the game by 12 points so that you could bea winner with your bet. The Raiders, therefore, are 11 points against the spread. Overall, what we have here is a situation where a +11 point spread on the Steelers would mean that you can win, even if the Steelers lose, as long as they lose by less than 11 points. In general, you just have to add or subtract the spread from the final score to see if you've won. These are the betting lines set out by the sports betting bookmakers.

More Clarification with the Betting Lines

Now, when you see the two teams and the point spread for sports betting, you'll need to know a few things. First of all, the team expected to win the game is called the "favourite" and is the one with the minus sign in front of the point spread. The "weaker" team gets the + point spread, so they are getting extra points added to their final score.

Sports Betting Explained

Hopefully, with this short explanation about betting lines, you'll be ready to look at point spreads and enjoy some sports betting fun. Certainly, there is a lot more to learn about sports betting, but this should get you on your way and having fun with betting lines!