A major part of sports betting is figuring out how to bet on the spread (also called the over/under or point spread). The spread can be represented by the points one team is scoring compared to another. For example, if a football team scores 20 points and their opponent scores 15 points, the point spread is 5 points. In this article, we will discuss various ways you can bet on the spread and give you some pointers on how to become a profitable sports bettor.
Use The Points To Your Advantage
Firstly, you should look at betting on the spread from a mathematical perspective. If you follow this simple formula, you will find that most of the time, you will be correct in your bet. For example, if you bet $100 on a football game with a 5 point spread and the game ends up being a 13-3 victory, you will win $130. Many people use this as a guide for their point spread wagers, rather than relying on hunches and gut feelings (which we will discuss below).
However, sometimes points can be a bad thing. If the points are very close, this can increase the uncertainty of whether you will win or lose. For this reason, you should avoid betting on the spread when there are only a few points separating the teams. An example would be a college football game where the point spread is 7 points, or a National Football League game where the point spread is 4 points. In these types of situations, you are more likely to lose money because there is more room for error.
Consider All The Options
Secondly, you should consider all the available betting options when you are placing a bet on the spread. If you are just selecting the ‘over’ or ‘under’ option, you are limiting yourself to a one-sided wager (i.e. you will either win or lose based on the selected team’s performance). However, sometimes people get lucky and win a bet on the spread based on a team they thought was inferior, only to see their team turn out to be a great winner later on in the season. This can sometimes happen when selecting between two evenly matched teams, but it can also happen when one team is significantly more experienced than the other (e.g. the Cleveland Browns vs. the New York Giants in the 2015 NFL season).
In these situations, you might want to consider taking advantage of the fact that you have two options and bet on both teams. For example, if you think the Browns are going to beat the Giants, you can bet on the Browns and also place a separate bet on whether the Giants will cover the spread or not. In most cases, this is a good option because you are coveringyour bases by also including an uncertain event in your wager. Some bookmakers may give you an advantage by accepting wagers on both teams, and in some cases, this is how odds are calculated (i.e. the total bet divided by the number of available betting options).
Try To Get The Best Odds Available
Thirdly, you should try to get the best odds available when placing a bet on the spread. In general, the closer the odds are to even money, the more desirable the betting option is. This is because it is more likely that the bet will come in even (i.e. you will win or lose an even amount of money).
Even though getting the best odds is usually the key to profitability, it doesn’t always have to be. Sometimes, particularly during championship season, the lines can get really close to even money and this can make betting on the spread very desirable because there is a great chance you can win a large sum of money. However, this is usually the case only when there is one clear favorite and the rest of the teams are just a bunch of also-rans. In most other cases, you will want to avoid the oddsmaker’s juice because of the additional fees it will cost you. Furthermore, the additional juice can make the difference between a profitable and unprofitable wager.
Watch The Games
Fourthly, you should watch the games. This is especially important if you are looking to become a profitable sports bettor. The more you watch, the better you will become at figuring out which games have the highest probability of resulting in a win for your team. In some cases, this can be very difficult because the spread can be very close or there can be a lot of uncertainty about the outcome of the game.
For this reason, you might also want to consider betting on the totals rather than the spread, particularly in the earlier parts of the season. The totals are simply the points scored by each team, regardless of how the game is played (e.g. run or pass, or whether the ball is actually kicked or caught). For example, in the NFL, the total points scored is typically used to determine the outcome of the game, rather than the point spread. This is because there is a lot of uncertainty about the final score of even highly rated teams due to the fact that they can turn the game into a shootout and score a lot of points in the final minutes. Thus, by taking the uncertainty out of the game, you can make a more reliable prediction about the outcome of the game and increase your chances of profiting from betting.
Follow The Leads
Finally, you should follow the leads. There are certain strategies you can use to successfully bet on the spread, and one of the most effective ones is using information gathered from prior games to make predictions about upcoming games. This can be very effective because it cuts out the element of luck and gives you a better chance of profitable wagers. It also helps when using this strategy that you should carefully follow all the leads (i.e. use the information available to you fully and do not rely on just one source of information).
Many people are wary of using this strategy because they think it is too easy to become too reliant on prior results and lose track of the bigger picture. However, this is something you have to get used to if you want to be a successful bettor. Just make sure you are not getting too far ahead of yourself, and if anything changes about the fundamentals of the game (e.g. the rules), you will have to review the strategy and adjust your approach as needed. But, in most cases, this is a very reliable strategy and it can and has resulted in huge rewards for those who use it effectively.
In conclusion, there are many ways you can make money betting on the spread. If you can predict with a high degree of reliability which teams are going to win and which ones are going to lose, you will be able to make a lot of money. But it takes a lot of patience to figure out which games have the highest probability of resulting in a win for your team, because there is a lot of uncertainty about the outcome of even well-rated games due to the fact that they can quickly turn into shootouts.