What Does ‘Spread’ Mean in Betting?
Spread (also known as “point spread”), refers to the number of points by which the perceived better team is favored over the underdog. Bettors can either bet on the favorite to cover the spread or the underdog to stay within the spread.
The idea of the spread is to offer a handicap to the favorite in order to find the number of points they are expected to win by. This number is known as the spread total and the odds for either side tend to be the same. For the underdog to cover the spread they need to either win the game or lose by less than the spread total, whereas the favorite has to win the game and win by more than the total.
The team that is favored will have a minus sign (-) in front of their spread number; their opponent—the underdog—will have a plus sign (+) in front of their number.
Best Sportsbooks for Spread Betting
How Does the Spread Work?
In a football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears, the Packers may be given a spread of -7.5, meaning that they are favored by 7.5 points. If a bettor takes the Packers to cover the spread, they must win by 8 or more points in order for the bet to be successful. If the bettor takes the Bears to stay within the spread, then the Bears must lose by 7 points or less or win the game for the bet to be successful.
How To Read a Betting Spread in Different Sports
Spread betting is the most popular way to bet on football and basketball. Basketball spreads work exactly like the football example above. One team will be favored over their opponent by a certain number of points and the juice will be close to -110 on each side (Bet $110 to win $100).
Even though spreads exist in other popular sports like baseball, hockey and soccer; they are not the most popular way to bet on those sports. Additionally, they will appear a little differently in the sportsbook.
Baseball
The spread in baseball is called a “run line”. Whereas the spread can vary in football and basketball, the run-line in MLB is always +/- 1.5 runs. In other words, the favorite will be -1.5 runs while the underdog will be +1.5 runs. Another difference between an MLB run line and a football and basketball spread is the juice. Since the spread does not vary and is always 1.5 runs, the juice will vary by a large margin.
Here are a couple of examples:
| Team | Run Line | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | +1.5 runs | (-195) |
| Washington Nationals | -1.5 runs | (-170) |
| Team | Run Line | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers | -1.5 runs | (+116) |
| Atlanta Braves | +1.5 runs | (-136) |
For bets on the favorites (Nationals and Brewers) to win, they would need to win the game by at least two runs. For bets on the underdogs (Cubs and/or Braves) to win, they would need to win the game outright or lose by only one run.
Hockey
In the NHL, the spread is referred to as a “puck line”. The NHL puck line is pretty much identical to the MLB run line. The spread will be 1.5 goals and the juice will vary big time depending on the match-ups.
Examples:
| Team | Puck Line | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| New York Islanders | +1.5 goals | (-160) |
| Philadelphia Flyers | -1.5 goals | (+140) |
| Team | Puck Line | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | +1.5 goals | (-155) |
| Boston Bruins | -1.5 goals | (+135) |
For bets on the favorites (Flyers and/or Bruins) to win, they would need to win the game by at least two goals. For bets on the underdogs (Islanders and/or Canadiens) to win, they would need to win the game outright or lose by only one goal.
Soccer
Spread betting in soccer can be a little more complex than the sports already covered. For one, soccer spreads are settled at the end of regulation. Goals scored during overtime or if the game goes to penalty kicks, do not count towards the spread.
Additionally, many sportsbooks use Asian Handicap odds for some soccer spreads. The purpose of Asian Handicap is to keep the juice as close to -110 on each side. This way the oddsmakers avoid having higher juiced favorites like the Baseball and Hockey spreads mentioned earlier. However, not every spread will be an Asian Handicap; some will appear as -.5, -1, -1.5, -2, etcetera. Here is an example of each:
Standard Spreads (Non-Asian Handicap)
| Team | Spread | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Man United | -1 | (-110) |
| Everton | +1 | (-110) |
Man United would need to win the game by two or more goals for their spread bets to be winners. Everton winning the game outright or the game ending in a Draw, would mean Everton spread bets would be graded as winners. If Man United won the game by exactly one goal, spread bets would be no-actioned and stakes returned to both Man U and Everton bettors.
Asian Handicap Spreads
| Team | Spread | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | -1, -1.5 | (-110) |
| Valencia | +1, +1.5 | (-110) |
As you can see each team has two different spreads. When a bet is placed on an Asian Handicap spread, 50% of the risk will be placed on the one spread while the other 50% will be placed on the second spread. So, if someone bet $110 on Barcelona -1, -1.5 (-110), $55 would be on Barcelona -1 and $55 on Barcelona -1.5. On the other hand, a $110 bet on Valencia would be split with $55 on Valencia +1 and $55 on Valencia +1.5. These bets would lead to numerous potential outcomes:
- Barcelona wins the game by two or more goals. Both the $55 bet on Barcelona -1 and $55 bet on Barcelona -1.5 would win and the bettor would profit $100. The Valencia bettor would lose both the +1 and +1.5 with a net loss of $110.
- Barcelona wins the game by one goal. The $55 bet on Barcelona would be a loser, but the $55 bet on Barcelona -1 would be a push (risk returned). End result would be the bettor being down $55. The Valencia bettor would win the +1.5 portion of his bet, but the +1 portion would be a push leading to a $50 profit for the Valencia bettor.
- Barcelona loses the game outright or game ends in a Draw. Both the -1 and -1.5 portions of the Barcelona bet would be graded losers and the bettor would be down $110. The Valencia bettor would win both the +1 and +1.5 portions of the bet resulting in a $100 profit.
What Does Against The Spread Mean?
You can find more information about ‘Against The Spread’ here.