It’s effectively the tax you must pay to place a bet and largely how the books make their money.

What are those -110 numbers next to the point spread? Why are they sometimes different? Why are the numbers sometimes a +? So if a point spread is instead 3.5, the favorite has to win by more than 3.5 points (which in reality, means winning by four or more points, of course, since you can't score half a point). That's why sportsbooks will often add 'the hook' (.5) to a point spread - to avoid such ties. In this example, if the game lands exactly on a final margin of 3 points, it’s a push, and you get your money back.

If Team A is a 3-point favorite over Team B, Team A has to win by more than 3 points to win the bet, or 'cover.' Team B can win the game outright or lose by one or two points (but no more than that) and they 'cover.' The team that is the favorite to win gets the minus-number (-3) the underdog gets the plus-number (+3).īut the actual number itself, ignoring the plus-minus sign, will always be the same for both teams, because, again, that's the expected margin of victory. It is represented as both a negative and positive number if the spread is 3 points, you'll see that as both -3 and +3. The point spread is the expected final score difference between two teams. What is a point spread? Why does it usually have a.

Point spread betting basketball