So, you want to learn how to read a sports betting line?
In fact - many people bet casually on sports, and they will never know how to read these lines. However, if you want to bet more seriously, you will need to know what each lines mean. It is always important to spend some time for analyzing your favorable team in order to place any bet on it. Remember - all sports books use different lines, and you will need to look around and find the one that most favorable to you before making any bets.
So, how to read sports betting line? It is this...
1. Whenever you look at the sports books, you will see something like this...
NYJ -11.2 -120 -250
ALT+11.2 -120 +310
55.5 ov-110
2. First of all, you need to determine the favorite and underdog. The favorite means that it has a "minus" sign next to the first number, and the underdog will be a "plus" sign. From the above example, the NYJ is the favorite and the ALT is the underdog.
3. Then, you will need to determine the spread. The spread means the first number following both teams. From the above, you can see the spread is 11.2. One of the most common types of bet is spread betting. In other words, if you bet the favorite on spread, it means that the team not only has to win the game, but it has to win by at least as many points as the spread. On the other hand, if you bet on the underdog, that team does not necessarily have to win, but it must come within that many points.
For example from above: if you bet on NYJ on the spread and NYJ only won by 6, that would not be enough to cover and this means that you will lose your bet in result. On the other hand, if you bet on ALT and they lost by only 6, you would win because they came close enough. The number that follows next to the spread number is indicating how much a bettor has to bet in order to win $100.
4. Now, you will need to determine the money line. It is the last number in each of the top two rows. From the example above that NYJ is -250 and ALT is +310. This means that when you be the money line, you are betting on the team to win outright. In other words, the team you choose need to win the game in order to win your bet. The plus sign indicates that you can win that much money by only betting $100, and the minus sign indicates that you need to place that amount of money in order to win $100. From the example: you need to place $250 bet on NYJ in order to win $100 profit if NYJ wins the game; and you can simply place $100 bet on ALT and makes $310 profit if ALT wins.
5. Lastly, you will need to determine the over-under, and it is the first number in the last row. This means that you are betting on the score of the game. The bet is whether the combined scored of both teams at the end of the game will be higher or lower than that number. From the example above, the over-under is 55.5, and if you bet over and the game ends 30-18, you would win. The last number in the bottom row is how much you have to bet in order to win $100 on the over-under.
In fact - many people bet casually on sports, and they will never know how to read these lines. However, if you want to bet more seriously, you will need to know what each lines mean. It is always important to spend some time for analyzing your favorable team in order to place any bet on it. Remember - all sports books use different lines, and you will need to look around and find the one that most favorable to you before making any bets.
So, how to read sports betting line? It is this...
1. Whenever you look at the sports books, you will see something like this...
NYJ -11.2 -120 -250
ALT+11.2 -120 +310
55.5 ov-110
2. First of all, you need to determine the favorite and underdog. The favorite means that it has a "minus" sign next to the first number, and the underdog will be a "plus" sign. From the above example, the NYJ is the favorite and the ALT is the underdog.
3. Then, you will need to determine the spread. The spread means the first number following both teams. From the above, you can see the spread is 11.2. One of the most common types of bet is spread betting. In other words, if you bet the favorite on spread, it means that the team not only has to win the game, but it has to win by at least as many points as the spread. On the other hand, if you bet on the underdog, that team does not necessarily have to win, but it must come within that many points.
For example from above: if you bet on NYJ on the spread and NYJ only won by 6, that would not be enough to cover and this means that you will lose your bet in result. On the other hand, if you bet on ALT and they lost by only 6, you would win because they came close enough. The number that follows next to the spread number is indicating how much a bettor has to bet in order to win $100.
4. Now, you will need to determine the money line. It is the last number in each of the top two rows. From the example above that NYJ is -250 and ALT is +310. This means that when you be the money line, you are betting on the team to win outright. In other words, the team you choose need to win the game in order to win your bet. The plus sign indicates that you can win that much money by only betting $100, and the minus sign indicates that you need to place that amount of money in order to win $100. From the example: you need to place $250 bet on NYJ in order to win $100 profit if NYJ wins the game; and you can simply place $100 bet on ALT and makes $310 profit if ALT wins.
5. Lastly, you will need to determine the over-under, and it is the first number in the last row. This means that you are betting on the score of the game. The bet is whether the combined scored of both teams at the end of the game will be higher or lower than that number. From the example above, the over-under is 55.5, and if you bet over and the game ends 30-18, you would win. The last number in the bottom row is how much you have to bet in order to win $100 on the over-under.
