In a nutshell, the points spread is used to balance out betting between the two NFL teams. In most matches one team (the favourite) will be given a negative points spread while the other (the underdog) will be allocated a positive one. The point spreads will be higher depending on how much of a mismatch sportsbooks predict the game to be. The focus of the content on this page is to teach Canadians with a betting guide for beginners about betting odds, types of bets available on online sportsbooks and how do betting odds work. In this betting guide, Canadians will learn how odds are displayed.Betting odds come in three formats – American odds, fractional odds and decimal odds. How to Read Sports Betting Lines. Sports betting lines on FanDuel Sportsbook are presented.
Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.
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Sports Betting Odds Explained
Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.
American Style Sports Betting Odds
Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:
American Odds
- Matchup Odds
- New England Patriots +120
- Pittsburgh Steelers -140
The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.
The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.
The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.
A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.
Examples:
A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.
Examples:
Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.
In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).
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Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds
Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.
How Do Betting Lines Work
Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.
What Is Line Betting?
Line betting is a form of betting where the market is handicapped to make both betting outcomes equal. The bookmakers achieve this by giving both teams a margin, known as a line. If the bookmakers believe that one side is 12.5 points better than their opposition, you can back them to win by 13 or more points. Alternatively, you can back their opposition to either win the match or lose by less than 13 points. This gives you the chance to back a team at healthy odds, no matter how short or long they are on the Head to Head (H2H) market.
The example below shows the market for a game of AFL between GWS and Port Adelaide. GWS are the heavy favourites on the H2H market, paying $1.30 to win. The bookmakers have declared that in order for the odds to be even, GWS need to start 24.5 points behind their opposition, or Port Adelaide need a head start of 24.5 points.
Team | H2H Odds | Line | Line Odds |
---|---|---|---|
Greater Western Sydney | $1.30 | -24.5 | $1.91 |
Port Adelaide | $3.50 | +24.5 | $1.91 |
How Do I Know If My Line Bet Is a Winner?
Working out the result of a line bet is relatively simple – just add or subtract the line from your team’s score and if their score is higher than their oppositions, it’s a winning bet.
For example, if you backed GWS at the line of -24.5, and GWS ended up winning 102-90, your bet would be unsuccessful because their adjusted total is less than Port Adelaide’s score of 90. Alternatively, if you backed GWS at the line of -24.5 and GWS ended up winning 150-90, your bet would be successful because their adjusted total is greater than Port Adelaide’s score of 90.
What Sports Is Line Betting Available On?
How To Understand Betting Lines
Line betting is available on most sports, including AFL, Basketball, NRL and Tennis.