A Guide to Spread Betting

Negative Spreads

Negative Spreads can be used to increase odds on the favourite team or player to win a game. These bets are commonly placed because the odds on the team or player may be too short to make them attractive, and there is a good chance the player/team can win the game by more points, goals or runs than their opponent.

An example using points can be a basketball game. The odds on the favourite team may be quite low. However, if a spread is set on the bet, which the team then has to cover for the bet to win, then the odds will be lengthened.

A straight bet on a team to win will certain odds, but placing a spread of -8.5 points will increase the odds. This means the team needs to win the game by at least 9 points for the bet to win, making it more difficult to win the bet, which in turn, makes the potential winnings larger.

In football, where there are goals, the spreads offered may not be as high as basketball. In football there may be spreads such as -1.5, -2.5, -3.5, and so on. This means that the team needs to win the game by at least 2, 3 or 4 goals, respectively. When betting on a team that is the strong favourite to win, this can be a useful bet, but it is important to remember that the larger the spread, the more difficult it will be to win the bet.

In games where the score is made in runs, such as baseball, the negative spread is used in the same way. Here there will be lower negative spreads such as -1.5 or -2.5. This will mean the team needs to win the game with 2 or 3 more runs than the other team. In baseball, these spreads may be called runlines.

In tennis, spreads can be available for how many sets a player will win by. In matches that are played in a best of three sets format, the spread offered will be -1.5. This means the player, or doubles partners, need to win the game in 2 sets, 2-0. In best of five sets formats, the spreads are a little more flexible, offering punters a -1.5 spread as well as a -2.5 spread. In the -1.5 spread, the player or doubles partners need to win the match 3-1 or 3-0, and in the -2.5 spread the player or doubles partners need to win the match 3-0. The more difficult scenarios in which the tennis player or doubles partners need to win the match in straight sets will offer far longer odds.

Positive Spreads

Spreads can also be used to back the underdog. In games where there is a clear favourite, but fans want to back the underdog, they can reduce the risk of betting on the underdog by placing a positive spread bet on them. This bet will shorten the betting odds on the team, but it will also increase the chances of the bet winning.

This will work in the opposite way of the negative point spreads, where the underdog receives a point, goal or run addition, and they do not need to necessarily need to win the game for the bet to win.

In basketball, a positive spread of +8.5 will mean that the team needs to make sure they do not lose by more than 8 points for the bet to win. If the team wins the game anyway, the bet pays out. This can be useful for fans who support one team and want to bet on them even when they are the underdogs.

In goal scoring sports like football, positive spreads can be placed on the underdog to improve their chances of winning. Just like the negative spreads, the positive spreads will not have the same large numbers as high scoring games such as basketball, but they will be +1.5, +2.5, +3.5, and so on. The team will need to make sure they do not lose by more than 2, 3 or 4 goals for the bet to pay off. If the team wins the match or the game ends in a draw, the bet will pay out.

Games where the result is decided in runs use the same logic. When there is an underdog team, a positive spread can be set to increase the chances of them winning. In baseball, positive spreads of +1.5 or +2.5 can be set, and a team needs to make sure they do not lose by more than 2 or 3 runs for the bet to win. In the same way as the other sports, if the team wins the game or the game ends in a draw, the bets pay out.

Conclusion

Positive spreads reduce the odds but increase the chance of winning, whereas negative spreads decrease the chance of winning but raise the odd, both of which can be very useful tools for sports fans. They can pick the bet that has the right ratio of odds to risk, and then stake the amount of money they think is worth risking on the bet, and hopefully hit some wins.