Football Spread Betting

Betting the point spread is the easiest and most popular way to wager on football.  Because our football handicappers have spent years looking at football odds, it’s easy for some of them to forget that not everyone knows what they are talking about!  Once you have this concept down, you’ll be well on your way to making football picks and placing bets on games.

One thing that you should know early on about point spreads is that football betting sites and local bookies do not set their lines based on how much they think one team will win by.  What they’ve done is tried to come up with a number that will split the action (or money bet) on both sides of the game.  Some people will swear up an down that this isn’t true, but trust me when I tell you that it is.  Sportsbooks aren’t in the gambling business, they are in the taking bets business.  Take this hypothetical situation:

Florida -7 vs Miami +7

The sportsbook takes $10,000 in wagers on Florida and $10,000 in wagers on Miami.  This is the perfect situation for them because there is no risk involved for them.  They’ll gladly take the $1,000 in commission they get from just taking the wagers.  If $15,000 was on one side of the game, the book is putting itself at risk because they are potentially in a losing situation if that side of the game wins.  Sportsbooks aren’t looking to gamble against the spread, regardless of what you might hear.  They are around simply to collect their commission.

So, what exactly is a point spread, and what do numbers like the -7 and +7 above mean to you?  Well, just think of favorite as the negative number and the underdog as the positive one.  If you bet on a favorite, like Florida in our example, they have to win the game outright and win it by more than the spread (-7) provided.  So, if you bet on Florida, for your bet to be a winner they would need to win by 8 or more points.  With an underdog you have a few more options, but obviously you are taking what is perceived to be the lesser team.  With Miami +7 in our example, we could grab a winning bet by the Hurricanes winning the game outright (it wouldn’t matter by how many points), or they can lose the game by any amount less than 7 points.  Now, if the odds makers were spot-on and Florida won the game by exactly 7 points, we’d have what books call a “push” which amounts to you getting your money back like you never placed the bet in the first place.

Now you should be ready to jump out there and start making your own football bets.  If you aren’t quite yet confident in placing your own wagers, we’ve have good news for you!  We’ve spent years bringing together handicappers to provide our customers with free football picks season after season.  Whether your game is college football or the NFL, we’ve got you covered!

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• How to Bet on Football
• American Football Betting
• How to Bet College Football
• NFL Football Betting Odds
• College Football Futures

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