All You Need To Know About Sports Betting Odds
Most of the college football lines are just like NFL lines, and the bowl game odds offer some of the best action of the year. All three of these sports betting odds are essentially different methods of giving the bettor the same information. From NFL betting to horse racing wagers and everything in-between, knowing how to read odds for betting is key to knowing how much to bet to win a certain amount of profit. In sports betting, each team is assigned odds — assigned by a sportsbook — that represent the likelihood of its winning the game. In a betting line between two teams, the team expected to win is called the favorite. If you decide to bet Duke, who is listed as the favorite, which has a higher implied probability of winning the game according to the bookmaker, one would need to bet $760 to win $100.
The simplest example would be parlaying a favored, high-scoring team’s moneyline with the over on the game’s total. If the team performs well, they will likely score many points, which in turn increases their chances of winning the game. Just like in a moneyline bet, this number indicates what the payout will be in the case of a win.
The only difference between a teaser and a pleaser bet is that the sportsbook is able to apply the points of variance to the line as opposed to the bettor. Also, just like a parlay and a teaser, all facets of the pleaser must win, or the entire bet fails. If the legal sportsbook were to grant a 6 point allowance for this teaser, then the points could be applied anywhere to the bettors’ liking – all on one spread or a point here or there.
While legal sportsbooks in the US offer betting lines for many of the same events, the sports betting odds can vary significantly. Each sportsbook employs its own team of “bookmakers,” or people who set the odds. A variety of factors can swing the odds, and online sportsbooks update the betting lines accordingly with up-to-the-minute accuracy.
If you put $380 on San Francisco and $100 on Detroit, you would get back your original $480 no matter which team won if Detroit was +380 instead of +290. Notice the “gap” between the two numbers in San Francisco vs. Detroit. For example, San Francisco is -380 while Detroit is +290, instead of Detroit being +380. That difference in the numbers represents the vigorish, commonly called the vig or the “juice” – what the bookmaker charges for accepting your action.
If one side on a game is being bet more heavily, the bookie must move the number in order to attract interest on the other side in order to balance action. Betting against the spread – In the sports betting industry the acronym ATS is used to label a team’s record when betting against the spread. And, conversely, a team could be losing a lot of games but playing in a lot of close games as underdogs and have a good ATS record going.