How to Read Betting Lines

1. How To Explain Betting Lines
2. How To Understand Betting Lines On Football
3. How To Understand Sports Betting Lines
4. How To Understand Hockey Betting Lines

If your sports betting experience consists mostly of office pools during March Madness or a casual wager between you and a friend while you watch the Super Bowl, the transition to serious sports betting means learning how to read betting lines. The biggest difference between making the kind of casual bets mentioned above and placing wagers with online sportsbooks or at brick-and-mortar bookshops is the use of sports betting lines. Casual wagers usually involve each person in the bet picking one team to win, then wagering an equal amount, say $20 or $30. Professional bookmakers, online sports betting exchanges, and sports betting facilities in casinos have a more complex system for offering wagers on sporting events, in part to ensure profit on the part of the book, and in part to present a standardized representation of odds.

Let’s start with the basics: what do sports bettors mean when they talk about a ‘line?’ The word line, in the language of a sportsbook, can refer to either the odds and/or a point spread in any sports contest. Let’s take a look at an imaginary line the way you’d read it off the board sitting in a Vegas sports betting lounge or on the screen at your online book. Let’s imagine a game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. Your book’s NFL betting line might look something like this:

DAL -7.5-110 -405
NYG +7.5-110 +300
56.5 ov-110

We explain how to read and understand sports betting odds. ExplainBettingOdds.com shows you how Vegas betting odds work and we explain the types of betting odds in detail. Sep 11, 2018 Simply put, a moneyline tells you how much you have to wager in order to make a profit of $100. Consider a hypothetical baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. When looking at the moneyline for the game, a bettor will see something like this: Chicago Cubs +120.

What may look like a jumble of words, numbers, and punctuation is actually a precise and easy-to-read breakdown of the various odds and point spread details your book is offering. Here is a breakdown of each unit of information given above. Once you understand each part of the jumbled details above, you’ll be able to read a sports betting line with confidence.

The Point Spread

Obviously, the first three letters on the top two lines of the three-line package of symbols represents a team in the game you’re wagering on; NYG stands for the New York Giants, while DAL stands for the Dallas Cowboys. The number next to each team’s name is known as the spread or the point spread. Wagers on the point spread are among the most popular sports wagers in the world. The reason this wager is popular is that it doesn’t matter which team wins or loses; what matters is the amount of points the teams score, and whether or not the team you place your money on beats the difference in points (the ‘spread’) or not.

Placing a point spread bet means gambling on how much a team will win or lose by. In our above example, the Cowboys are the favorite. How do we know that? The minus symbol in front of the point spread indicates that the bookmaker thinks the final score will have Dallas winning by 7.5 points or more. The underdog, in our example that’s the New York Giants, will always be indicated with a plus sign. If you wager on the Cowboys on the point spread, America’s Team will have to win by at least 8 points for your wager to pay off. Should the Cowboys win by less than 8 points, your bet is lost.

A wager on the Giants on the spread does not mean that New York has to win the game in order for you to win cash. All the G-Men have to do is come within 8 points of the ‘boys, and you’re a winner. You determine a winning or losing point spread by adding or subtracting 7.5 from the final score, depending on which side you laid your bet. If you’re confident that New York will at least come within a touchdown of beating the Cowboys, or beating them outright, then you’d wager on the spread in favor of New York.

A quick word on that annoying half point in the point spread – most lines you’ll come across will use half points, but it’s not standard practice across the board. When you see a line with a full number instead of a number with a half point, your wager could end up as a push. In our example, if the line were 7 instead of 7.5 and the final difference in points was exactly 7, your wager is returned to you, and neither you nor the book makes money.

What’s the function of the second number in the line?

The second number in our example (-110 for both teams) tells you how much you have to wager in order to win $100. It’s an easy way to calculate how much you’ll win if your bet pays off, presented in units of $100 at a time for simplicity’s sake. Most of the time, these two numbers will be the same, because oddsmakers want to set lines so that they get as much action on the underdog as on the favorite, guaranteeing them a profit. If a book gets a single bet of $110 (by a customer hoping to win $100) on the Cowboys and a single bet of $110 on the Giants, it will have taken in $220, but will only have to pay back $210 to whichever customer wins the bet. That’s a guaranteed profit of $10, and since sportsbooks take far more than a single bet in either direction, they stand to earn that seemingly small amount of profit many times over. The $10 difference between what you wager and what you win is known as juice or vig in the sports betting industry, and it’s the way books earn their bread and butter.

What does the last number in the line mean?

The last number in the top two rows of our sports line example is known as the money line. If you’re not interested in betting on the point spread, you can wager on a team to win outright. The plus sign next to the underdog (in our case, the Giants) indicates how much money you’ll earn for every $100 you bet on the money line. Conversely, the minus sign next to the favorite’s line tells you how much you have to wager in order to win $100. In our example, a $100 wager on the Giants earns you $300 should they pull off the upset, while a bet of $405 on the Cowboys will net you an extra $100. Representing odds in units of $100 makes placing different size bets easy; if you want to bet $10 on the Giants, you stand to earn $30 if they win, while a $40.50 bet on the Cowboys will net you an additional $10.

What does the bottom row of numbers and letters mean?

The final line of information in our example line is the over-under. Wagers placed on the over-under have nothing to do with which team wins or the difference between the points they score, but rather the combined number of points both teams will score in the game.
The first number (56.5 in our sample line) is the book’s predicted total score, while the second number (110 in our Giants/Cowboys rivalry game) is how much a punter has to bet in order to win $100. If you were to bet the over-under on this game, you’ll have to decide whether you think the combined score of both teams will be higher or lower than the number put up by the book. Let’s say you bet the over, assuming the game will be a shootout between two talented offenses, you’re hoping that the final score will be anything that totals 57 or more. It could be Dallas 54, New York 3, or any other point combination that adds up to 57 or more and your bet will win. Betting the under means that the two teams cannot score more than 56 points combined, or else you lose your bet.

Reading sports betting lines becomes easier with practice and experience with different sporting events. What looks like a jumble of letters and numbers actually gives a lot of information in a tiny amount of space. Different sports have different types of wagers available, such as the run line in baseball or the puck line in hockey, both of which replace the money line found in our football example. The more experience you have watching and gambling on different sports, the faster you’ll be able to read betting lines.

How To Explain Betting Lines

For the novice sports bettor, understanding how sports betting odds work can be one of the most confusing sets of numbers you've ever dealt with. For those who have just started betting on sports, to know how the odds work is of key importance for a profitable and enjoyable betting experience. We are here to give you an overview of the basic styles of betting odds, how you can read the different formats, and how to use them to your favor.

While you may still be confused at the end, the only way you are going to learn how to play with odds is by adapting the appropriate information and utilizing it firsthand. To this degree, we have found various sports betting sites where you can utilize these options to the fullest extent. And, if you ever have any questions, please drop us a line at webmaster@explainbettingodds.com where we can answer all of your questions through email.

Different Types Of Betting Odds Explained

Quick Explanation Of How To Read Sports Betting Odds

• Point Spread - If A Football Team Is -7, Then That Team Must Win By 8 Points To Win The Bet.
• Over / Under ' AKA The Total' - If An Over / Under Is 42 In A Football Game, The Combined Total Amount Of Points Both Teams Must Score Needs To Be Over 43 Points To Win The Wager.
• Moneyline Betting Odds - If The Money Line Has “Team A” at -150 Betting Odds Against The Colts, I Must Bet $150 To Win $100 And If Team A Wins, Then I Would Win My Bet.There are three forms of regular betting odds that you will see at every sportsbook that you visit, whether online or in person. These are the ones that you see right off the bat and the ones that really matter when you are betting on sports. If nothing else, you have probably heard them talked about by either your friends or TV broadcast on ESPN or other channels.

How To Read And Understand MoneyLine Betting Odds

First there are the moneyline betting odds , which is the bet on who will win the event outright with no point spreads or other variables. You simply pick the team you think will win and place the bet. However, without using the odds, the payouts are usually much different then they would be with the odds in place.

When betting on the moneyline, the favorite will always have a negative symbol in front of the number and the underdog will always have a plus sign in front of it (an example is -150 favorite or +150 for the underdog).

How To Read The Point Spreads

Next, we come to what may be the most common type of sports betting odds, which is the point spread. They put point spreads up for all of the main sports such as football, basketball, hockey, baseball, and others. This is called 'The Spread' and it basically tells you which team is favored and by how much. When betting the spread, you are betting that a team will win by a certain number of points, runs, or whatever. Here is an example to help you understand point spreads in football.

If you are Betting The Point Spread On 'Team A' in Football - Favored by -6 - This means 'Team A' must beat the other team by 7 points or more to win the bet.

If You Are Betting The Point Spread On 'Team B' in Football Game - Underdog that is getting +6 points - This means as long as 'Team B' does not lose by 7 or more points, then you will win the bet. If Team A wins, but only by 3 points, then you will still win and get paid.

How To Read The Over / Under Betting Odds

There is also the total score or the over/under, and this line lets you bet on whether or not the total score between all competitors will go above or below a predetermined amount. You simply look at what the Over / Under is and then bet on which you think it will be. There are over and under betting odds for pretty much every sport including baseball, football, hockey, UFC, Basketball, Horse racing, and much more.

The over/under betting odds, or the totals, work differently for each sport. If the number is 42 in a football game and you bet the over, you would need 43 points total between the two teams. In baseball betting, it is the number of runs scored that sets the total. The UFC over/under betting odds are which round the fight will end. Hockey totals are how many goals will be scored between both teams.

How To Understand Betting Lines On Football

With the spread and the total, you will occasionally see that the odds are distributed with 'half points,' which are in place to prevent a 'push,' or no one winning or losing the bets. As long as there is a winner or loser, the sportsbooks will make their money on the juice and be happy.

What To Know About Vegas Betting Odds

The truth of the matter is that Vegas pretty much sets all of the sports betting odds for the entire world. All of the world’s leading experts work for the big casino companies in Las Vegas, and all of them work together to set the odds for different sports. Anytime you hear someone asking or talking about Vegas odds, they are simply talking about the odds and nothing specifically related to Vegas. All of the online sportsbooks use services that simply use the Vegas odds as a starting point for events. Then their own systems will adjust the spread depending on how people are betting at their sportsbook. Ultimately a sportsbook wants 50% of the bets on each side of a game so that they can simply make money on the juice.

Exotic Betting Odds Explained

Exotic bets are there to make for a more entertaining betting experience, but they work somewhat differently compared to the straight bets. But, the original point spread is still used in all these bets no matter how you look at it.

Parlays are essentially a combination of two or more bets into one, such as three teams winning their respective matches. These parlays are usually a long shot since so many teams have to win, but in the end, they are also some of the highest paying games. You can pick teams to cover the point spread, over or unders, or moneylines in a parlay and sometimes you can mix in different sports.

Pleasers are some of the highest paying bets, as they take the spread and then subtract points, making it harder to succeed. Then you also have to combine them into another bet of the same type in order to win. The payouts are huge, but it is not likely that these will come in unless you have the utmost luck or some sort of inside knowledge.

Teaser bets bets are the exact opposite, in that you can adjust the spread to be more favorable, thus lowering your payout but increasing your chances of winning. Either way, these are some of the more exciting ways for you to wager.

There are also 'If-Bets', which allow you to combine two bets. The first bet has to win for the second bet to have action. If the first bet fails, the second bet doesn't come through. If you win the first bet, you can then use the winnings on the second bet, essentially building your bankroll.

Different Formats Of Betting Odds

How To Read American Betting Odds

American odds have become incredibly commonplace, despite the fact that they are not as easy to read as other formats. As an example, American Odds read like this:

Odds To Win Super Bowl:

How To Understand Sports Betting Lines

• Team A: -150
• Team B: +200
• Team C: +600
• Team D: +1000

With American odds, the number represented is how much you have to bet to win $100. If the number is preceded with a '+' sign, then you would risk less than $100 to win a wager worth $100. And, the opposite is true when the number is preceded with a '-' where the bettor would have to risk more than $100 just to win $100 of the wager.

In the example above, you can see that Team A has the lowest number of the group and are considered to be the favorite to win this bet. If you wagered on Team A to win the Super Bowl and they end up winning, you are going to need to risk more than $100 to win $100 as indicated by the '-' symbol preceding the payouts. In this particular example, a bettor would need to wager $150 to win $100.

On the opposite side of that, the other 3 teams in contention all pay better than 1 to 1 odds (risk less than $100 to win $100). Team B is at +200: risk $50 to win $100. Team C is at +600: risk $16.67 to win $100. Team D is at +1000: risk $10 to win $100.

These can be a little bit confusing but if you just pay attention to the + or - symbol then you should not have any issues. And, with a little bit of manipulation, you can see how these odds will pay if the wager ends up being a winner and that is what we're all here for... to win.

How To Read Fractional Odds

How To Understand Hockey Betting Lines

Fractional betting odds are the easiest to understand. Just about every single sportsbook that caters to Americans has the option available for fractional odds. And, while they may seem daunting at first, you don't really need to understand complex fractions in order to utilize these odds. Let's look at an example:

Odds To Win Fight:

• Fighter A: 4/7
• Fighter B: 3/2

In order to best understand these lines, you first need to look at the ratio to 1. In the example above, 4/7 odds is less than 1 and the opposite can be said for the other side as 3/2 is more than 1. Once you have determined this, you can figure out the favorite.

To figure out which side is favored, you simply need to figure out which is the lower number. In this case, Fighter A is at 4/7 odds which is less than 1 and Fighter B is at 3/2 odds which is more than 1. Fighter A's wager is the clear favorite as it is the lower number.

So, how do you figure out what these pay? Again, we refer back to 4/7 being less than 1, and 3/2 being more than 1.

Anytime fractional odds are displayed at a value of less than 1, the bettor must risk more than they intend to win if the wager is a winner. And, the opposite can be said for if a fractional value is more than 1... that bet will pay more than what is risked.

As we said before, 4/7 odds are less than 1 so in this case, the bettor must risk $7 to win $4 from the wager. Then, 3/2 are more than 1 so when risking $2, the bettor will win $3 off the wager. As you can see, the payouts are in the fractional odds, you just need to know which way they go based on if they represent a value greater than or less than one.

Understanding Betting Odds That Use Decimals

Decimal odds are slightly more confusing than most other types of odds. In fact, we prefer not to use them when we bet but that is just our preference. Regardless, we are going to give you a little insight into these lines, as we want to give you insight about all of the common types of odds available.

If you look into these odds, you will definitely come out a little bit confused unless you are from Europe where these odds are commonly used than American or Fractional odds. The multiplication game is not as straight forward with decimal odds. Let's take a look at another example:

Odds To Be Next President:

• Candidate A: 1.50
• Candidate B: 2.45

When looking at decimal based odds, the same thing applies to them as all the other forms of odds when trying to determine the favorite... whichever is the lowest number is favored. In the example above, the favored candidate is Candidate A at 1.50 however Candidate B is only a little bit behind at 2.45

Figuring out the payouts is where decimal odds can get tricky, but you'll soon learn a little trick that will make these very easy to understand.

The best way to start off look at these odds is to consider them to be monetary amounts based on what you will win if you wager $1 or one euro, one pound, etc... which includes the original wager. Be sure to keep that in mind when looking at the other odds types.

If Candidate A wins the election, every $1 wagered will win $.50 plus the original $1 wagered which equals $1.50 or 1.50 odds.

Candidate B: every $1 wagered earns $1.45 which equals $2.45 or 2.45 odds.

Now That You Know How To Read Sports Betting Odds

Now that you understand how to read odds, you will then want to see how they are adapted to the different betting lines. With the straight wagers and exotic wagers alike, you will find that these odds are worked into the lines. After you figure out how to read the odds, you will then have to figure out the different types of bets that you can find through most sports betting sites. The different types of bets use odds somewhat differently, but in the end, it is all fairly similar.

We have created special pages that explain how to read the betting odds on a variety of sports. The reason for this is that some sports have betting odds available that others do not. Some sports betting odds can be broken down into a half or quarters while others are just for the entire duration of a match or game. For instance, you cannot really compare the NASCAR or PGA odds with NFL, and vice versa. Each page is crafted specifically for an individual sport making it easier for bettors to learn the ins and outs of betting on whichever sport they choose.

Online Sportsbooks With The Best Sports Betting Odds Available

Now we come to the online sportsbooks + sports betting sites that actually offer the odds we are explaining. There are plenty of betting sites out there, but we have decided to list only those we felt were of the highest level of quality. When personally and individually tested these sportsbooks in order to figure out exactly what they have to offer. In the end, we decided to play with those offering the highest paying odds, the most diverse set of betting types, and a fairly wide range of different sports. Throw in the big bonuses and easy financial transfers and what you get is one of the best sets of betting sites on the Internet.

Bovada Sportsbook - More Betting Odds Than Other Sports Betting Sites

Its already know that Bovada is one of the better online sportsbooks for players to sign up for. The fact that there are so many betting options on this sportsbook makes it known to be a better site as well. Most of the time players look for sites that have the total package which is what Bovada has. Players will flock towards Bovada and one main reason for that is because of the betting odds that are offered to players.

The odds offered on Bovada are her for a player to place big-time bets and make a lot of cash. This makes it very easy for players to pick which bets they want to place. Because of these great betting odds offered, it is known that players are cashing big on parlay bets. More players have a lot got involved in live betting as well because these odds that are here on Bovada are better than other sites they have visited. Because of these betting odds offered, the attention Bovada will get will only increase!

BetOnline Sportsbook - New Bettors Get Bonuses On Every Deposit You Make For Life

There is no doubt that BetOnline has a lot of players that have accounts with them. There are many reasons for that and this list of players will continue to grow and will for the right reason. Even though the age requirement of 18 and older to sign up is one thing that players notice when it comes to BetOnline, the betting odds are something that also grabs a lot of attention as well. These betting odds that are here on the prop bets and are much better than most other online sportsbooks.

Knowing how betting odds work is important and that also will make it easier to understand why BetOnline has the best betting odds for all players. These close odds are what players like and most of the time this will decide what bets they place. With a team being slight underdogs with those odds definitely makes players think if they want to place a bet on those teams and these upsets can end up earning players a lot of extra money! BetOnline odds are very good and makes players consider both sides.

MyBookie Sportsbook - Betting Odds The Best Here On MyBookie

Mybookie is clearly known to be one of the better sites for many players. The number one thing that players check out when they sign up for online sportsbooks is what kind of bets that it offers and there is no doubt that MyBookie has any bet that players can think of. With so many different betting options comes the betting odds as well. The odds here for are taylor made for players. This means that these odds are very good for players because they are close and have players considering to take the upset over the favorite sometimes.

Taking the upset sometimes over the favorite can be the way that players can capitalize big. Something as simple as picking the Miami Heat over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA could be considered because of the close the betting odds could be on MyBookie. The great thing about sports is nothing is guaranteed and upsets are often happening so taking an upset sometimes could be very beneficial on MyBookie. This also goes picking the favorite as well. Slight favored could mean to put a lot more money down and lead players to win more. MyBookie is known for great betting odds.