Determining Point Spreads

Point spread betting is an excellent way for bettors to get into the whole system of football betting because it is quite uncomplicated and simple. The outlay required to purchase a sports betting point spread is also quite reasonable as compared to one required for more complicated and multi layered bets. The only thing that the bettor needs to be wary of is that the sports betting point spread is fair and is economically viable. It must be an accurate representation of the realities on the playing field. Above all the sports betting point spread must be not overtly in favor of the bookmaker. While it is safe to assume that most sports betting point spreads will not be 100% representative of the actual results of the game, the betting odds must not be too leveraged in favor of the house also. Sometimes the sports betting point spreads are so far flung that achieving payouts from these are fairly impossible. Wholesale betting odds though, are mostly 100% realistic.

How point spreads work is fairly simple. A lay man can interpret a point spread as the number of points by which the favorite team will beat the underdog. This understanding is not wholly incorrect but it is only a one sided view of how point spreads work. In any football game it is only but natural that one team is slightly more favored than the other to win the match. In some matches this skew is not so prominent but in some others the skew is extremely visible. More often than not in games where one team is really popular and expected to win the contest hands down, most bettors would like to place their bets only on that team. This is only common sense because all bettors are looking for a payout. This can lead to a situation wherein there are a lot of bettors who are willing to bet on the favorite but virtually no one who wants to put their money on the underdogs. Online betting sites are not particularly fond of this situation because it puts them in a precarious position and leaves them extremely vulnerable in the event of a loss. So they devise sports betting point spreads.

Sports betting point spreads are theoretically the exact point at which both sides to the betting game are more or less equally distributed. Accurate point spreads could actually return even money to the bettor. In effect this point spread line is very often the number of points required for the favorite team to defeat the opponents.

We can use the example of an Atlanta versus Kansas match to illustrate how point spreads work. The favorite in this match is Atlanta and bookmakers have set the point spread at 5 points. The odds will be displayed as -5 for Atlanta and +5 for Kansas. This means that Atlanta needs to beat Kansas by 6 points or more for bets made on Atlanta to pay out winnings. If Atlanta wins by a lesser margin the bet will fail and the bettor will lose his money.

The sports betting point spread is regularly updated. Bookmakers who offer live betting opportunities to the bettor, the sports betting point spread gets adjusted even while the game is in progress. As such, there will be also other bookmakers who are not quite as intuitive or pro-active with setting accurate sports betting point spreads and it is this community that the bettor needs to be wary of. Nowadays, there are a whole gamut of betting exchanges available that act as a repository and a go between for bettors and oddsmakers. These betting exchanges cull out betting odds from a broad array of associated bookmakers and gambling counters and display it all on a single screen. Bettors can take their pick from amongst these betting odds and choose which betting option suits them best.