What Does The Point Spread Mean?

In sports betting, the point spread is a number set by oddsmakers to level the playing field between two teams and drive betting action on both sides. The spread relates directly to the margin of victory in any given game, as the favorite must win by that amount to “cover the spread.”

While most sports have point spread betting available for most matchups, it’s most common to bet against the spread (ATS) in higher-scoring sports like football and basketball, while lower-scoring sports – like baseball, soccer and hockey – are more commonly associated with moneyline betting.

When looking at matchups that have point spreads, you’ll typically see a positive number attached to one team and a negative number attached to the other.

Let’s use the NFL as an example:

• Pittsburgh Steelers +6.5 (-110)
• Kansas City Chiefs -6.5 (-110)

Let’s start by explaining the “+” and “-” symbols that precede 6.5. You will see both symbols when looking at any point spread matchup, with the “-” denoting the favorite and the “+” signifying the underdog.

In this example, the Chiefs are the favorite, with -6.5 suggesting that the betting market believes Kansas City is 6.5 points better than Pittsburgh in this particular matchup. A point spread bet on the Chiefs -6.5 means you need them to defeat the Steelers by at least seven points to win your bet.

If KC wins by six points or fewer — or loses the game outright — Pittsburgh would “cover the spread,” and Steelers bettors would get paid.

Here are some pros and cons of spread betting.

Pros

• Generally have better betting line value than the moneyline
• It can add more value to parlay wagers
• Can have higher maximum bet limits
• Adds excitement to games with a clear better team against a worse team

Cons

• Assessing a wager could take more time
• The winning team in real life doesn’t necessarily win the wager

While the spread accounts for the strengths and weaknesses of each team, the moneyline removes all of that.

The moneyline wager is picking which team will win outright, with no strings attached.

While picking a moneyline team may be easier, the conversation around bet value is necessary.

We can all conclude that the Baltimore Ravens are incredibly likely to beat the Carolina Panthers. However, the moneyline in a bet like that could have a -500 line for the Ravens. This would mean that you’d need to wager a hefty sum of $500 to profit $100.

The spread counteracts that value disparity but introduces an additional variable.

Say the Ravens are 9.5-point favorites. You may conclude that the Ravens will win, but will they win by 10 points or more?

Generally, a point spread betting line will almost always be roughly -110.

So, you can bet on the Ravens to win outright at -500 ($500 to win $100), or you can assess the situation, and whichever side you think will cover the spread will get you $100 on a $110 wager.

Now, there are times when betting on the moneyline makes more sense. That said, there are different strategies for different sports, such as the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA, which we’ll cover below.

By now, you might be wondering what the “-110” figure that’s attached to both teams means.

This is called the “juice,” or vigorish, and is how sportsbooks are able to turn a profit when offering point spread betting. For every bet you make against the spread, you will have to pay the “juice” associated with that bet – which, in most cases, is -110.

So what does that mean in practice? Just like with moneyline betting, these odds show how much you’d need to bet to win $100. So, in the case of -110 odds, you’d need to bet $110 to win $100, or $11 to win $10.

Odds vary on point spread bets from sport to sport, with lower-scoring sports like baseball and soccer far exceeding a price of -110 to place a wager against the spread. However, when dealing with football and basketball point spreads, you most often will see both sides of the line dealing at -110 odds.

This is why winning 50% of your wagers typically isn’t good enough to turn a profit in sports betting, as you need to factor in the juice as well. You should budget when betting against the spread, knowing you’ll essentially be paying an extra 10% on most of your wagers.

Point spreads have a lot of nuances, so learning to read them can give you a leg up in your betting strategy. So let’s cover what goes into reading point spreads.

For consistency, we’ll continue using our Steelers-Chiefs example. Here’s what we know:

• The Chiefs are the clear favorite, expected to beat Pittsburgh by roughly a touchdown.
• Those who bet Kansas City understand their team is theoretically starting the game trailing 6.5-0
• Those who bet the Steelers are hoping that, by the time the game ends, the Chiefs will not have made up that 6.5-point difference

It can help to think of point spreads as “phantom points.” Once the game is over, you apply the phantom points to the final score to see if your wager is a winner or loser.

If you bet on the Steelers, you’d add 6.5 to their final point total. If you bet on the Chiefs, you’d subtract 6.5 from their point total. Here are a few hypothetical outcomes and how the point spread is factored in:

• Steelers win, 30-27: Steelers cover the spread. In fact, they didn’t even need the phantom points — they won outright, which in betting parlance is called an “upset.”
• Chiefs win, 30-24: Chiefs win the game, but Pittsburgh covers the spread because its margin of defeat was within 6.5 points.
• Chiefs win, 28-14: Chiefs win and cover the spread, as the 14-point victory margin easily exceeds the 6.5-point spread.

As the second example above clearly shows, if you wager on an underdog — again, the team with the “+” symbol — that team doesn’t have to win the game on the scoreboard for you to win your bet.

This is one reason why many professional bettors tend to target underdogs, in addition to the public’s tendency to bet on the favorite regardless of the point spread.

A team “covers the spread” if it wins by a final margin larger than the point spread or, in the case of an underdog, loses by fewer points than the spread (or wins outright).

In the scenario above, that means the Chiefs beat the Steelers by seven points or more, or the Steelers beat the Chiefs by any margin OR lose by fewer than seven points.

Whichever result happens, that team has “covered the spread.” This is also referred to as “beating the number” or “winning against the spread (ATS).”

No matter if you’re betting on the favorite or the underdog, your goal is the same: you want your team to cover the spread. When that happens, you win your bet. When it doesn’t happen, you lose.

Does a Team Have to Win to Cover the Spread?

No, the only thing that matters when betting against the spread is whether your side wins or loses by a certain amount.

If you bet the favorite, they need to win by more than the point spread to cover.

If you bet the underdog, they can still cover the spread without winning the game if they lose by a margin less than the point spread.

In the simplest terms, a negative spread indicates the favorite, which is the side expected to win the matchup.

A negative point spread really means the team has some work to do. For a negative spread bet to hit, the team has to beat its opponent by a margin greater than the point spread.

What Does a -7 Spread Mean?

For example, a spread of -7 means that team needs to win by eight points or more in order to cover, as shown here:

• Chicago Bulls -7
• New York Knicks +7

To cover the spread, Chicago must defeat New York by eight or more points. Here are two final scores and the related point spread results:

• Bulls win, 108-100: Chicago covers
• Bulls win, 100-99: New York covers

If the Bulls lose the game or win by fewer than seven points, they fail to cover the spread (meaning Knicks bettors cash their wager).

What if Chicago wins by exactly seven points? It’s called a “push,” and all bets are refunded (no winner, no loser). We’ll go into more detail about pushes (i.e., ties) in a later section.

What Does -3 Mean in Betting?

A -3 spread is one of the most common betting lines you see in football, especially in the NFL. The reason: It’s the most common margin of victory.

When betting a -3 spread — also known as betting a “3-point favorite” — you will subtract three points from that team’s score at the end of the game to determine if you cashed your bet. If the team is still ahead after those points are subtracted, they cover the spread.

Here’s an example of a three-point spread for an NFL game:

• New York Jets -3
• New York Giants +3

Here, the Jets would need to beat the Giants by four or more points to cover. Some possible outcomes:

• Jets win, 27-14: Giants cover
• Jets win, 14-10: Giants cover
• Jets win, 30-28: Giants cover

What Does a -4 Spread Mean?

A point spread of -4 means the favorite needs to win by five points or more to cover. Example:

• Golden State Warriors -4
• Brooklyn Nets +4

A bet on Golden State -4 means you can only win if Golden State defeats Brooklyn by five or more points. Some possible outcomes:

• Warriors win, 130-122: Warriors cover
• Warriors win, 110-108: Nets cover
• Warriors win, 104-100: Push (neither team covers)

What Does a -2 Spread Mean in Football?

It means dollar signs should appear in your eyes like in old Saturday morning cartoons.

But there’s a reason bettors might flock to a -2 spread in football: 2-point margins of victory are exceedingly rare in football.

When betting on point spreads in football, consider the most common victory margins: Because of the way football scoring plays are calculated — 3 points for a field goal, 6 points for a touchdown, 7 points for a touchdown and extra point, 14 points for two touchdowns and two extra points — many victory margins land on these exact numbers (which is why they’re called “key numbers” in football betting).

Do some football games end with the favorite winning by exactly one or two points? Of course. But it’s rare. So when betting a -2 spread, if your team simply wins, you’ll win your bet more often than not.

A positive point spread number indicates that team is the underdog. Though the underdog may be expected to lose, that doesn’t always happen. And even if the underdog does lose, the point spread gives it the opportunity to cover.

Once again, as long as an underdog loses by a margin that’s less than the point spread, it covers the spread.

What Does a +3.5 Spread Mean?

A spread of +3.5 means a team must win outright or lose by fewer than four points to cover the spread. A +3.5 spread is particularly enticing in football because, as noted earlier, 3-point victory margins are extremely common.

An example of a +3.5 spread:

• New England Patriots +3.5
• Miami Dolphins -3.5

Betting on the Patriots means you think they can pull out a victory (called an “upset”) or lose by a margin of exactly one, two or three points. Let’s say the final score is Miami 30, New England 27. The Patriots would narrowly cover the +3.5 spread, and you’d win your bet.

Many bettors like to target spreads with the “hook” – the extra 0.5 points attached to a key number like 3 – because of the likelihood of any matchup landing on a key number. That makes +3.5 a particularly attractive number to bet for an underdog against the spread.

What Does a +7 Spread Mean?

If you see a +7 spread in football, you could be looking at a great betting opportunity. Think of it as getting an extra full touchdown — in other words, a 7-point underdog starts with a 7-0 lead before the game even starts.

Always consider other options, too. Backing a team that’s +7 could make for a great straight bet, and you also could consider putting it in a teaser parlay. Teasers allow you to boost the point spread, so in this case, +7 could become +13 (6-point teaser) or +14 (7-point teaser).

What Does a +1.5 Spread Mean?

In football and basketball, a 1.5-point spread often suggests that two teams are fairly evenly matched and that either has a solid chance to win the game outright.

Because one-point margins are uncommon in those sports, many bettors prefer to bet the moneyline for the underdog at better odds, or even bet the favorite on the moneyline at a similar (but worse) price to avoid losing on a one-point final margin.

That said, there’s no “right” answer as to whether the spread or moneyline is the right bet in these cases. That logic only applies to higher-scoring sports like football and basketball for spread betting.

Sports like baseball and hockey are completely different.

Why? Because a whole lot of baseball and hockey games end with one team winning by precisely one run/goal.

In baseball, the point spread is called the “runline,” while in hockey it’s called the “puckline”. An NHL or MLB team covers a +1.5 puckline or runline by either winning the game outright or losing by a margin of one, while the favorite must win by multiple goals/runs to cover.

These spreads tend to come “juiced” at much higher (or lower) than -110 odds, which makes sense: many games end with a margin of exactly one, but the gap between two competing teams can vary widely. So you may see one team favored by 1.5 goals/runs with a juice of -150 if they’re a sizable favorite to win big, or even a price of -1.5 (+200) if oddsmakers are expecting a close final result.

Back to football and basketball: If you’re thinking about betting a +1.5 underdog at -110 odds, it might make more sense to just bet that underdog on the moneyline, where you’d likely get odds around +110 or +115. This can give you a little more “bang for the buck” than betting an underdog on a small point spread, assuming that team wins outright.

Remember, though: some games do result in a one-point win for the favorite, so it’s always important to consider what you’re risking before deciding whether to bet the point spread or moneyline.

What Does a Spread of +2.5 Mean?

A +2.5 spread means the underdog will need to win outright or lose by one or two points to cover. Similar to what we explained in the previous section, a spread of +2.5 in football and basketball indicates a matchup of two fairly evenly matched squads.

Example:

• Milwaukee Bucks +2.5
• Philadelphia 76ers -2.5

Betting the Bucks at +2.5 might make sense if you believe Milwaukee and Philadelphia will play a tight, back-and-forth game that comes down to the wire. After all, basketball games can be nail-biting affairs, especially when two of the league’s best teams are involved.

So it’s not out of the question that the Sixers would win by one or two points. If that happened, Milwaukee would cover the point 2.5-point spread.

As with other small spreads, it’s important to consider the matchup and do your research. Ask yourself questions like:

Is there better value in backing an underdog on the moneyline rather than a small point spread?

In basketball, is one team a much better free-throw shooting team than the other (which is crucial in a close game)?

In football, are both field-goal kickers accurate, or is one better than the other? With a point spread of three points or less, who wins and loses — both on the field and at the betting window — often comes down to a last-second field goal attempt.

What Does +5 Mean on a Point Spread?

A +5 spread means the underdog team needs to lose by fewer than five points.

Betting a team at +5 can be a good number for football because it covers a loss by the key numbers of three and four, which tend to be among the most common outcomes in football.

This can also be true for sports like basketball, as those extra five points are worth two full possessions at the end of a game, even if your side loses outright.

But in football betting, +5 is the range we start to favor point spreads and stop considering the moneyline in many cases. A five-point spread shows a fair deal of confidence in the team it’s attached to, so betting on the underdog at +5 gives you a solid edge and some scoring wiggle room.

As we already noted a few times, point spread bets can (and often do) end in ties. Called a “push,” this can only happen when a point spread is a whole number (i.e., +3, -7, +10, -14), since games obviously can’t end with a half-point margin.

If a spread includes a half-point — what’s known as a “hook” in betting lingo — there will always be a winning side and a losing side for betting purposes.

Example:

• Dallas Cowboys -8
• New Orleans Saints +8

If Dallas won the game or 45-37 or 31-23 or 22-14 — any result where the result is a Cowboys victory by exactly 8 points — neither team would cover the spread. In this scenario, everyone who bet on the spread (either side) would get a refund equal to their wager. Nobody wins any money, and nobody loses any money.

Now, if you add a half-point to the above example — Cowboys -8.5 / Saints +8.5 — there cannot be a push. If the Cowboys win by exactly nine points, they cover the spread by that half-point; if Dallas wins by exactly eight points, the Saints cover the spread by a half-point.

NFL

The key spread number in the NFL is -3 or anything less than that. When you see a -3 line, this is typically for when two teams are relatively equal in stature, but this could account for home-field advantage.

When you see a spread less than three, it may be better value, depending on which side you want to wager, to bet the moneyline.

According to Sports Insights, the chances of winning an NFL game by less than three points is minimal.

MLB

The point spread in the MLB is known as the “runline.” Unlike the NFL, the runline will always be 1.5 on each side. The betting line will almost always be different than -110, as 1.5 runs in a baseball game can be substantial.

Also, with the runline of 1.5 being so static, the “favorite” may not be the best candidate for that -1.5 runline.

NHL

The NHL also has an alternate term for the points spread—the puckline. Like MLB betting, the standard puckline is also 1.5. This makes sense, as MLB and NHL scores are far more synonymous than the NFL or the NBA.

NBA

As the NHL and MLB are more similar to one another final score-wise, the NBA and NFL are more on par.

However, the similarity isn’t the final score but rather the margin of victory. NBA games can have high point totals, but you’ll find that the spreads are more “in the ballpark” with the NFL.

It’s more common to find “larger” spread numbers in the NBA, but the betting line of -110 is something you should often expect to see.

It’s not uncommon for point spreads to move up and down—and it can happen multiple times in the span of hours or even minutes. This “line movement” tends to occur most frequently the closer you get to game time.

Why do sportsbooks make these adjustments? There are numerous reasons, but here are the three most common:

Lopsided betting action: A sportsbook’s ultimate goal is to have the same amount of money bet on both sides of every game/event (thus limiting the book’s financial liability).

So let’s say a bunch of five-figure wagers come in on a 4-point underdog, and the other side (4-point favorite) has only received a few hundred dollars in bets. In this case, the book might adjust the point spread to -3.5/+3.5 or even -3/+3 to balance out the action (that is, attract more money on the favorite and less on the underdog).

Injuries/suspensions/trades/rest: When news breaks that a key player won’t be suiting up—the quarterback in football; the starting pitcher or best hitter in baseball; the top player in basketball; the goalie in hockey—you can be sure oddsmakers will adjust the point spread. How much depends on the missing player’s worth to his/her team.

Weather: Obviously, this pertains to outdoor sports only, but inclement weather—wind, rain, snow, etc.—can lead to a point spread shift. That said, poor weather more often leads to line moves with totals (i.e., the Over/Under) than spreads.

You can absolutely win money when betting the spread. However, there are a couple of easy strategies you can deploy immediately to assist in winning cash.

Lines Shopping

If you’re in a state where multiple sportsbooks are available, we recommend looking to see if any offer better value for you, depending on the wager you intend to make.

Whether getting a better betting line or adding 0.5 or a whole point to a spread, this can be a way to find the most attractive bet for you.

Look Toward Alternate Spreads

Alternate line wagers may not be available at all sportsbooks, but it is something to consider. With this type of bet, you can bet on a different spread with the betting line value reflecting that change. You may sacrifice some betting line value for that added point or two.

Leverage Bonus Offers

All online sportsbooks will have some form of a bonus or promotion offer.

Whether it’s no-deposit bonuses, deposit bonuses, free bets, “risk-free” bets or something similar, you can leverage these to explore wagers that you might not have otherwise considered. Some promos are tied to specific bets.