How do American Sports Betting Odds Work?

American Odds

❓How to read spreads
💡How to read money lines
📈How to read over/unders
✅Conclusion

American sports betting has exploded in growth ever since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of individual states being able to legalize it in 2018. Sports betting has grown to over 30 states allowing it in some form. Business is booming and it’s only going to grow even more from here in the United States. Not everyone understands the terminology, so here is an explanation and refresher on how it works across the board.

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How to read spreads in sports betting

On the surface, spreads seem very complicated to understand, especially to someone who has never wagered on sports in the United States. However, the basics of it are relatively easy to understand.

First, spreads are signified by a (-) or (+) sign and the minus symbol is for favorites, while the plus symbol is for underdogs. If a wager is placed on the favorite, they then need to win by the number listed, while if one is placed on the underdog they need to stay within that specific number, regardless of if they win or lose.

For example, if the Dallas Cowboys are favored by 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles, it will show as -3, while it will as +3 for the Cowboys. When placing wagers in this example, the Eagles must win by 3 or more points, while the Cowboys can lose the game, but just need to stay within the 3 points, and if they won the game that would mean they easily covered too.

Spreads are widely considered to be the best and most popular bet in all of sports. This is based on the idea that it’s the bet with the best return on investment. It also allows people to place wagers on underdogs with less risk than an outright pick, especially if the prevailing thought behind a pick is that the “public” believes a certain game will be close.

How to read money lines and how they compare to spreads

Money line bets are probably the easiest bets for anyone to understand when it comes to sports betting. The basic idea is that you are betting on which team will win the game outright. Money line bets can be the bets that present the most risk because on the surface it seems like a 50/50 bet, but based on other factors like spreads, money line odds can be very high based on the matchup between underdogs and favorites.

While spread odds usually stay between -105 and -115, with -110 being the most common, money line odds vary more.

Underdog odds are signified by the plus (+) sign, while favorites are signified by minus (-) odds.

Money line bets are based strictly on the outcome, which is why they differ from spread bets the most because there’s no wiggle room with them. Spread bets are more popular because they don’t have as much risk, but money line bets usually offer the best pay-days IF they hit.

The give and take between money line bets and spread bets is based on risk and value. There is almost always more value with a money line bet, especially on the underdog, but there is more risk. Money line bets offer less risk in a close matchup, for example, if the spread is between 3 points down to a 0.5-point, the money line odds become more close to the spread odds because oddsmakers are banking on a close game and those bet types can become interchangeable.

How to read over/unders and how they compare to spreads and money lines

The last big aspect of sports betting in the United States is betting on the total points scored in any game. The way it works is that oddsmakers set the total of a game and then bettors can wager money on over the amount of total points or under the amount.

To be clear, it is the total amount of points scored between BOTH teams matched up in the game.

For example, in an NFL game, if the total is set at 50.5, then the combined amount of points needed to hit 51 or more points for the over to hit, while the under can hit with any total of 50 or below.

The biggest difference between an over/under bet and a money line or spread bet is that bettors are not taking a side on either team and instead can be rooting for or against both teams to score or not score.

Betting on the over in points is widely seen as one of the most fun bets anyone can make, mainly because the rooting interest is on offense for each team and that would make any given game very entertaining.

On the other hand, betting on the under for total points is always seen as a “gross” bet to make because for any given game, bettors can be rooting against both teams, which makes the experience less fun overall and why it is an unpopular bet to make.

Conclusion

In the United States, sports betting has taken off and is not slowing down anytime soon. The most popular bets people make are on the spread, the money line, and the over/under. These will be a part of any sport in the United States too, from football to soccer and everything in between.

There are more aspects to sports betting like betting on individual players, which is called a prop bet, but the basics are spread, money line, and over/under and they are the main terms you need to know before diving into the sports betting world.