Spread Betting – How to Master Point Spread Betting

Spread betting is one of the most popular and favorite markets in sports betting. It is offered by every bookmaker and is represented across all major sports.

This makes it one of the most important bets to master for both amateur and experienced gamblers.

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about spread betting, from what spread betting is to the best spread betting strategies.

What Is Spread Betting?

Spread betting, point spread, or handicap betting represents an act in which bettors place bets on the spread market.

The spread or handicap market is the result of bookmakers trying to create even odds for both teams in a case where one team is the favorite.

To do this, the oddsmakers assign a certain advantage to the underdog or a certain disadvantage to the favorite, whichever way you want to look at it.

This advantage or disadvantage is presented in the form of the value used to keep track of the result in the given game.

For example, if you are betting on the point spread in a basketball match, the handicap will be presented in the form of points since the score in basketball is tracked with points.

If you are betting hockey, the handicap will be presented in the form of goals, since that is how the score in hockey is kept.

Spread Betting vs. Handicap Betting

Spread betting and handicap betting are the same thing. These two terms are interchangeable depending on where in the world you are located.

European and Asian bookies and punters prefer the term handicap, while the American bettors and bookmakers prefer the term spread betting.

The use of the term also depends on the sport that the bettor or oddsmaker is referring to. Spread betting is mostly used for basketball and American football, for example.

On the other hand, the term handicap is almost always used in the context of sports such as football and tennis.

What Do + and – Mean in Sports Betting Spread

After you open a betting site, and for example pick a basketball match between the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls, the handicap market will be displayed like this:

	Boston	Chicago
Spread	-3.5 1.85	+3.5 1.85

Based on this table, bettors can conclude that Boston is the favorite. This conclusion is made simply on the fact that there is a minus sign before the numbers.

When there is a plus sign before the numbers like under Chicago’s name, it means that that team is the underdog.

Apart from giving bettors the information of who is the favorite and who is the underdog, the plus and the minus sign along with the numbers serve another purpose. They give gamblers information on how to calculate the spread.

If the final score of the game is Boston – Chicago 100:97, the handicap will be calculated by deduction or adding 3.5 points to the teams.

If you bet on Boston to cover the spread, just like the -3.5 handicap suggests, you will deduct 3.5 points from Boston’s total points at the end of the game. If Boston has more points than Chicago after you deduct the handicap then you have a winning bet.

In this case, Boston has 100 points and we need to deduct 3.5 points and calculate the score again:

• 100 – 3.5 = 96.5

After we count in the points’ handicap, the score is Boston – Chicago 96.5:97. In this case, your bet is lost since Chicago won by half a point after the handicap.

Asian Handicap

This handicap originated in Asia and oddsmakers and bettors use it mostly for football. The Asian handicap has much more options and variations than the standard handicap. We will explain the most common ones using examples.

Asian Handicap 0.0

Bookmakers use this type of handicap to eliminate the draw from the offer, and offer players only two options, to bet on the home or the away team. If the game ends in a draw, the player will receive his stake back.

	Real Madrid	Barcelona
Asian handicap	0.0 1.70	0.0 2.00

If you place $100 on Real Madrid there are three possible outcomes:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona – you win $170 ($100 stake + $70 profit)
• If the game ends in a draw – you receive your stake back ($100)
• If Barcelona beats Real Madrid – you lose your entire stake of $100

Asian Handicap 0.25

With this handicap, the team that is the outsiders gets a boost of a quarter of the goal. This handicap can be very difficult to calculate for beginners so we will immediately jump to an example.

	Real Madrid	Barcelona
Asian handicap	0.0,-0.5 1.90	0.0,+0.5 1.90

If you place $100 on Real Madrid there are three possible outcomes for your bet:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona – you win $190 ($100 stake + $90 profit)
• If the game ends in a draw – you lose half of your stake and get the other half back -$50
• If Barcelona beats Real Madrid – you lose your entire stake of $100

If you place $100 on Barcelona there are three possible outcomes for your bet:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona – you lose your entire stake of $100
• If the game ends in a draw – you get half of your stake back ($50) and the other half is multiplied with the offered odds ($50 x 1.90 = 95$), which means you win $145 ($100 stake + $45 profit)
• If Barcelona beats Real Madrid – you win $190 ($100 stake + $90 profit)

Asian Handicap 0.5

This line gives the favorite a handicap of half a goal. It is calculated the same way as the basketball handicap we mentioned early.

	Real Madrid	Barcelona
Asian handicap	-0.5 2.20	+0.5 1.60

If you place $100 on Real Madrid there are two possible outcomes for your bet:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona – you win $220 ($100 stake + $120 profit)
• If the game ends in a draw or Barcelona wins – you lose your entire stake of $100

If you place $100 on Barcelona, there are two possible outcomes for your bet:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona – you lose your entire stake of $100
• If the game ends in a draw or Barcelona wins – you win $160 ($100 stake + $60 profit)

Asian Handicap 0.75

The 0.75 line gives the favorite a handicap of three-quarters of a goal. It is calculated the following way.

	Real Madrid	Barcelona
Asian handicap	-0.5,-1.0 2.75	+0.5,+1.0 1.40

If you place $100 on Real Madrid there are three possible outcomes for your bet:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona by two goals or more – you win $270 ($100 stake + $170 profit)
• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona by one exactly one goal – you lose half of your stake $50 and get the other half back ($50)
• If the game ends in a draw or if Barcelona wins – you lose your entire stake of $100

If you place $100 on Barcelona there are three possible outcomes for your bet:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona by two goals or more – you lose your entire stake $100
• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona by one exactly one goal – you get half of your stake back ($50) and the other half is multiplied with the offered odds ($50 x 1.40 = 70$), which means you win $120 ($100 stake + $20 profit)
• If the game ends in a draw or if Barcelona wins – you win $140 ($100 stake + $20 profit)

Asian Handicap 1.0

This line gives the favorite a handicap of one goal.

	Real Madrid	Barcelona
Asian handicap	-1.0 3.75	+1.0 1.25

If you place $100 on Real Madrid there are three possible outcomes for your bet:

• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona by two goals or more – you win $375 ($100 stake + $275 profit)
• If Real Madrid beats Barcelona by exactly one goal – you receive your stake back ($100)
• If the game ends in a draw or if Barcelona wins – you lose your entire stake of $100

How to Bet the Spread

There is no magic formula when it comes to spread betting, although there are a few things that will probably have an impact on your bottom line.

Try to find online bookmakers that have the lowest house edge on spread betting. Most bookmakers offer betting odds of 1.85 on handicap markets. However, there are still bookmakers that offer odds of 1.90 or even higher on the same markets.

This difference might seem insignificant but it will have a big impact on your profitability.

If you are planning to bet on the spread, try to bet as soon as the odds come out. If you miss the opening odds, wait and place the bet just before the game starts.

If the odds move too much in one direction or the other, it is a good idea to skip the match or bet in the opposite of the move.

The reason for this is that sometimes the public recognizes value odds and starts to bet, to counter this. As a result, the bookmakers adjust the odds, but more often than not they make too much of an adjustment. In this case, the value shifts to the other side.