First of all, “Point Spread” is defined as a number placed on an event for wagering purposes and is often expressed in terms of the + and -.

• The 'extra' that they charge you to bet on 'A' and the amount they shortchange you when you bet on 'B' is the bookies 'take'. It's the reason the bookie NEVER loses. It's also the reason why only 1% of people placing bets on sports can do so profitably. Good luck, but whether you win or lose, sports betting is a losing proposition.
• Sep 22, 2020 When you see the minus sign in sports betting, your first thought should be “favorite”. This sign will always be found next to the event that is likely to happen. Considering the event is likely to happen, the minus sign is associated with bets that will not pay back the amount that was wagered.
• Jul 08, 2019 In the world of sports betting, a money line bet is simply betting on which team you expect to win. It doesn’t have anything to do with a spread. You may also see a money line bet listed as “Money Line” or “ML” in different spaces.

It means in sports betting that one side must spot on the other side as a means of night play for both the favorite and the underdog.

What do the + and - mean in sports betting? There are multiple meanings. The most common meaning, particularly in American football and basketball, is a point spread.

In most cases the money-line is also attached to the same event so that one can simply wager on either the favorite or the underdog without winning.

Get in the habit of having local sports talk shows on the radio when you are commuting or working at home on your phone, know when the local nightly sports show comes on Television in your city, pay special attention to the local newspaper’s sports section every morning for coffee or breakfast.

The goal is to learn as much knowledge as you can through the week and before the game, know who is coming back from injury or who is getting a nagging knee or ankle injury that can slow them down, know if there is any “cluster” injury along the offensive or defensive lines that can affect the upcoming game, ask if your local team is playing at home and if there is something we can do.

Plus, and minus odds work can make an otherwise inconsistent game interesting. It could make an exciting end of the final minutes of a lop-sided tie.

When you are a fan of a team that is having a tough season, then betting point spreads will turn any of the team’s multiple defeats into mini victories for you and carry the magic back to a reconstruction season.

Football players analyze any part of a game looking for an element that the odds-maker might have overlooked when setting the spread that may mean a difference in covering the spread or not.

No matter whether you bet point spreads, it is always important to never bet more than you can expect to lose. Betting on spreads can make games more enjoyable, but only if you bet responsibly.

The point of the matter is that you have a wealth of information at your fingertips about local colleges and professional teams in your field and, in most situations, you can access this information before the majority of the betting public knows about it and you can use it to your benefit, by no way can I suggest that I ignore the rest of the league teams and do not know what it is.

“Wait, why does this NFL team have a -235 next to its name? What’s with New England Patriots (-15) vs. Miami Dolphins (+15)? Help! HEEEELPPPP!”

If that sounds like you, we’re here to assist you. If you’ve stared at a board at a sportsbook or just seen spreads and moneylines on the Internet and been utterly confused, don’t worry. It’s not just you. Those numbers can be confounding.

But hopefully, once you’re done reading this, you’ll completely understand how they work. As you prepare to dive into the world of sports betting, here’s a breakdown of how the lines work, starting with …

Spreads

It would be really easy to bet on a game if you could put money on a heavy favorite to win.

That’s where point spreads come in. Let’s look at an example:

Philadelphia Eagles (-4.5)

New York Giants (+4.5)

In this case, you can bet on either two outcomes: you can put money on the Eagles to win the game by 4.5 points OR MORE, which makes them the favorites. Or you can bet that the Giants will either win or lose by LESS THAN 4.5 points. They’re the underdogs.

Now, sometimes the spread “moves” during the days leading up to the game. Perhaps the Eagles’ spread ends up being -3.5 (in which they must win by 3.5 points or more to give you a victory in your bet). Your bet all depends on whichever spread you bet on, whether it was when the Eagles were favored by 4.5 or 3.5 points.

If you ever see “PK” or “pick” next to a team, it means there’s no spread and you can bet on who will win, no matter what the score is.

Moneylines

Betting Lines Explained

Let’s take that same example above but use moneylines:

Philadelphia Eagles (-200)

New York Giants (+150)

The team with a minus symbol is the favorite, and the number is how much money you would need to bet to win $100. In this case, you would have to bet $200 on the Eagles in order to win an additional $100.

The Giants are the underdogs. If they’re +150, that means you could bet $100 to win $150.

Note that you can bet any amount you want, but those numbers are always calculated and posted the same way, either in how much money you would need to wager to win $100 or how much money you could win by wagering $100.

Odds

If you’re betting on something like the team who will win the Super Bowl in the future, you might see it look like this:

How To Read Betting Odds

New England Patriots — 3/1

Baltimore Ravens — 5/1

Kansas City Chiefs — 8/1

If you were betting on the Patriots and their 3/1 odds, you would win $3 for every $1 you spend. So if you bet $50 on the Pats and they ended up winning the Super Bowl, you’d win $150 (plus your original wager) back.

Sports Betting Minus Means 20

Good luck!