The following question has been gaining popularity on social media platforms like Twitter:
“What is the betting value of -1600?”
The question is referring to the Detroit Lions currently sitting at -1600 in the betting markets. While the price tag might not seem too enticing at first, it’s always important to consider the betting format when trying to make sense of betting odds.
The Spreadsheet Trick
If you’re looking to quickly find the betting odds for -1600, you might want to take a look at the following Google Docs spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was designed to quickly answer the question, “What is the betting value of -1600?”
The answer, as expected, is rather costly as the current lines have Detroit Lions +1600 against the spread. While this may not seem like a massive bet, it’s always important to consider the large implied odds in this case. A winning bet on the Lions in this instance would result in a massive 100-to-1 return on the investment.
Understanding Betting Odds
In order to fully understand the betting odds for -1600, it’s important to first consider the format. While most wagering platforms like sportsbooks and online betting exchanges offer straight-up wagering as an option, most people are familiar with sportsbooks offering “money line” wagering. This option allows bettors to choose between two teams with each wager resulting in a win or lose outcome. For example, a bettor might decide to bet on the New England Patriots versus the Los Angeles Rams with each winner paying out 2.0 points.
In a world of betting options, it’s important to keep in mind the advantages and disadvantages of each option. While the money line option has the advantage of simplicity, it also has some serious drawbacks.
Straight Up Wager
The simplest (but also least efficient) way to wager is via a straight up wager. This type of wager has been the most common way to wager since the inception of sports betting. Simply put, you choose your side (or your favorite team) and the payment is straightforward: win or lose.
This type of wager has several significant disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is that it’s the most costly wager to make given the maximum payout for a straight up wager is only 2:1. Further compounding this issue is the fact that if your team loses, it’s essentially a free bet as you’ll lose the same amount you wagered. While there is no rule preventing bookmakers from adding juice (or bonus money) to a straight up wager, there’s also no reason for them to do so.
Points Bet
Another popular way to wager these days is via points betting. This type of wager allows bettors to choose their side (or their favorite team) and then the points they want to wager on that outcome. For example, a bettor might decide to wager on the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl this year and decide to wager 10 points (1.0 point for each team they win).
The advantage of this type of wager is that it provides more flexibility as you can’t predict the result perfectly anyway so there’s a little bit of risk in any wager you make. This type of wager also provides a larger return (in this case 12.0 points) than a straight up wager (2.0 points) given it’s possible to hit a payout of 20:1 with this type of wager. However, the risk of hitting a losing wager is also quite high with points betting as you’ll need to wager at least a 61% payout to make any money off this type of bet.
The Margin Bet
Some people prefer to take the risk of losing some money instead of all of it with a straight up wager. This type of wager gives you the option of risking a little bit of money on a highly speculative event. Typically, you’ll need to wager at least 1.5x the amount you’re going to win (in this case 3.0x) in order to make a profit off this type of wager.
This type of wager also has several disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is that there’s no limit to how much you can lose. This is significant given the speculative nature of the bet. Another disadvantage is that this type of wager requires a considerable amount of research as you’ll need to keep up with a number of different events and teams in order to make any kind of profit off this type of wager. Finally, this type of wager is quite costly as you’ll need to spend a lot of money on subscriptions to websites and news papers that cover a broad array of sports.
The Verdict
All things considered, the simplest and the most popular way to wager on sports right now is via the money line. This should come as no surprise as it’s the option that provides the maximum return given the facts that it’s the most common way to wager and it’s the simplest wager to understand.
If you’re looking for flexibility, points betting provides this option with more potential than a straight up wager. However, you’ll need to be aware of the significant risk associated with this type of wager. Finally, the margin bet is the ultimate in flexibility as you can use it to wager on almost any outcome you can think of. However, this type of wager is quite costly and requires a considerable amount of research to make any kind of profit off this wager.