How to Read a Sports Betting Line

Lots of people bet on sports, but most do it very casually with a friend, with each participant taking one team and wagering the same amount of money. Professional bookkeepers and casinos have more elaborate systems. Imagine wanting to bet on a game between the Giants and Steelers and seeing this:

NYG +11.5-110 +375
PIT -11.5-110 -480
56.5 ov-110

What on Earth does that mean? Here's an explanation:

The Spread

The first number next to each team (NYG = Giants, PIT = Steelers) is called the "spread." The most popular type of bet is betting on the spread. When you do that, you're not just betting that one team will win or lose, but how much they'll win or lose by. In this case, the Steelers are the favorite (the favorite will always have a minus sign in front of its number and the underdog a plus sign), and the spread is 11.5. If you bet on the Steelers on the spread, the Steelers have to win by at least 12 for you to win your bet. If they win by less than 12, you lose your bet. On the other hand, if you bet on the Giants on the spread, the Giants don't necessarily have to win, just come within 11 points, for you to win your bet. Another way to think of it is to take the action implied by the number (add 11.5 or subtract 11.5) to the final score before determining the winner or loser.

The second number is how much you have to bet to win $100. These numbers are more often than not the same. Here's why: Oddsmakers try to set the lines so that as much money is bet on the favorite as on the underdog. This guarantees a profit. If they get one bet of $110 on the favorite and one bet of $110 on the underdog, they've received $220, but only have to return $210 to whoever won their bet. They make a profit of $10.

The half point appears in most lines but not all. Some lines use a full number. If you bet on the spread on a full number and the game ends with exactly that scoring differential, it's a push - you neither make money nor lose money.

The Money Line

The last number in the top two rows is called the money line. When betting on the money line, you do not have a points spread but are betting on one team to win outright. The plus sign next to the underdog means that you can earn that much money by betting $100. The minus sign next to the favorite means you have to bet that much money to win $100. In the above scenario, a $100 bet on the Giants earns you $375 if the Giants win. A $480 bet on the Steelers earns you $100 if the Steelers win.

The Over-Under

The bottom row is the over-under. If you bet the over-under, you are not betting on either team to win, but on the final score of the game. The first number represents the predicted total score, and the second is how much you have to bet to win $100. In this case, you bet that the combined score of both teams will either be higher or lower than the proposed number. In this case, if you bet over, and the final score is 27-26, you would lose your bet, since the total is 53. A final score of 35-26 would win you the bet.