Your opinion might vary, but for most beginning bettors, this isn't a major consideration at first. In that scenario, you would bet $12 to win $10 on -120 but would be doubling your money at +100 (bet $10 to win $10). Sometimes, a sportsbook will move the juice to a split like -120/+100, depending on how bets are moving and the relative strength of the two teams. 110 would mean you bet $11 to win $10 ($21 total, with your original bet back), and +110 would mean you bet $10 to win $11 in profit. Most people are far more comfortable betting $10, which is great! In that case, you can just divide the vigorish by 10.

The math works the exact same way with smaller amounts. +110, on the other hand, would be the reverse, because it's a plus-number - meaning you bet $100 to win $110 and your original bet back.

110 means you bet $110 to win $100, in addition to your original bet back, because -110 is a minus-number. A plus-number is what a $100 bet makes you in profit if that bet wins. A minus-number is what you have to risk to win $100, plus your original bet back. These vigorish numbers are all based around $100. With point spreads, the spread tells you how many points a team needs to win by, while the vigorish tells you how much money you actually win if that bet cashes. Standard 'juice' on a point spread or total is -110. It’s effectively the tax you must pay to place a bet and largely how the books make their money. What are those -110 numbers next to the point spread? Why are they sometimes different? Why are the numbers sometimes a +? So if a point spread is instead 3.5, the favorite has to win by more than 3.5 points (which in reality, means winning by four or more points, of course, since you can't score half a point). That's why sportsbooks will often add 'the hook' (.5) to a point spread - to avoid such ties.

In this example, if the game lands exactly on a final margin of 3 points, it’s a push, and you get your money back. If Team A is a 3-point favorite over Team B, Team A has to win by more than 3 points to win the bet, or 'cover.' Team B can win the game outright or lose by one or two points (but no more than that) and they 'cover.' The team that is the favorite to win gets the minus-number (-3) the underdog gets the plus-number (+3).īut the actual number itself, ignoring the plus-minus sign, will always be the same for both teams, because, again, that's the expected margin of victory.

It is represented as both a negative and positive number if the spread is 3 points, you'll see that as both -3 and +3. The point spread is the expected final score difference between two teams. What is a point spread? Why does it usually have a.

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