The standard price to pay when betting on point spreads is (-110). A Falcons outright win as 4.5-point underdogs would do the same. A 17-14 or 21-17 Panthers win would cash the tickets with Chiefs +4.5 on them. However, if the Panthers were to win the game by four or less points, then all Panthers backers can toss their tickets in the trash. A 10-0 win is just as much a winner as a 56-50 win. As long as the Panthers win by five or more points, the final score itself does not matter. The favorite will always be represented by a negative (-) number, while the underdog will always be represented by a positive (+) number.īased on the line above and which team you decide to bet on, the Panthers must win by five or more points in order for those with a Panthers (-4.5) ticket to be declared a winner. The favorite team can also be referred to as the chalk. Using the example above, the linemakers have determined that the Carolina Panthers are 4.5-point favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs. You look at the matchup either online or at a Las Vegas sportsbook and this is what you see:ĭoc’s Sports offers college football expert picks for every game on our college football predictions page. Linemakers who work for the sportsbooks must put out lines that will entice the 'favorite' bettors to lay the points and take the favorite or entice the underdog bettors to take the points with the underdog.Īs an example, let's say you are looking to place your very first wager on the Super Bowl. Point spread betting is the most popular way to bet on the NFL and NBA, and it is a way for a sportsbook to generate betting interest on both sides. The easiest way for me to describe what all these numbers mean to you is to define it as point spread betting.

It looks like a massive spreadsheet with negative and positive numbers beside each teams' name.

The same can be said for the online sportsbooks. They also won't have a clue what any of it means. When a novice sports bettor looks at the massive digital signage, they will see a bunch of numbers, both positive and negative, some two digits, some three digits. In an actual Las Vegas sportsbook, there is typically a lot of commotion and the odds and lines are displayed on a massive digital board for everyone to see. If you've never set foot in an actual sportsbook before or logged into an online sportsbook, the chances of you getting overwhelmed when you actually do is very high.

What does plus 8 mean in betting