Betting lines are designed to allow a player to put money on a prediction of a possible outcome of a given sporting event, and such lines or odds, are...
Betting lines are designed to allow a player to put money on a prediction of a possible outcome of a given sporting event,
and such lines or odds, are a type of measure to determine how much you can win based on how much you are betting.
Money LinesWhen wagering with money lines, you will see something similar to this:
Cubs + 155
Yankees -170
The team listed below is the one playing at their own field, and most of the time, they are the favorites because they have home advantage, while the team above is called the underdog, which means that they don’t have the edge to win the game since they do not count with the support of their crowd and are subject to conditions such as traveling and others that might affect their game. The “ + ” sign represents the amount of money which you will win when betting $100, and in this case you could win $155. On the other hand, the “ – ” sign represent the amount of cash you need to bet in order to make $100. As you can see, the underdog, or visiting team can make you more money while risking less, and the favorite will make you less by laying more, though it is easier to hit it with the favorite than with the dog, and that is the main reason for the differences concerning the betting-winning ratio.
Point SpreadsLet’s check the example below:
Lions +4
Patriots -7
Wagering on point spreads also utilize the “+” and “-“signs, but they are used in a different way, as here we are working with points. Now, if the final score of the game was Detroit 18, New England 21, and you placed a bet on the Lions, it means that you won the wager, even though they lost the match, and this is because when you sum the 4 points listed for Detroit, they end up as winners 22 to 21, and, on the other hand, if you placed a bet on the Patriots, you lost the bet, as when you subtract seven points from the Pats final score, you end with a 14-18 score favoring Detroit. As you can see with money lines, the underdog pays more, and on spreads, the dog is given points, while the favorite on money lines pays less, and on point spreads, points are taken away.
TotalsBetting on a totals means that you are making a bet on the combined score of both teams at the end of the game.
Example:
Packers: 32
Jets: 14
The total on this game is 46 points, and let’s say that the listed line was 40. If you thought the game was going to go under that number and bet that way, then you lost, and if you bet otherwise, then you won, as simple as that.
