1. Covers Betting Site
2. What Does Cover The Spread Mean In Betting
3. Cover The Spread Betting Against
4. Cover The Spread Betting Week 9
5. Cover The Spread Betting Sites
6. Cover The Spread Betting

I have to admit, I’m one of those sports fans who if I don’t know what something means, I have no shame in asking. Except when it comes to things that I should technically “already know”.

Online & Vegas sports betting odds & lines, betting news & picks for 2021. Covers the most trusted source of sports betting information since 1995. Sometimes when one team is stronger than another, too many people would bet on the same team if the choice were just to pick who wins. This is a big problem for sports books (the companies where people place sports bets), since ideally a portion o.

That is the problem that I continuously run into the problem of when I hear the terms “cover the spread” or “I’ll take the points”. I do what a lot of girls do, shake my head and smile to give off the perception that “yeah she knows what she’s talking about”.

1. Oct 11, 2014 A team can only “cover” when a point spread line is available to bet on. Depending on if you bet the favorite or underdog, covering the spread could mean winning by a certain margin or losing.
2. Simply put, covering the spread is the goal of every bettor who has placed a point spread bet. This SI Gambling 101 feature explains what it takes to cover the spread. What is a Point Spread?
3. “Cover the spread” means that a favourite wins an event with the handicap taken into account or the underdog wins with additional points. The spread goes beyond classifying a team as the favourite or the underdog and assigns a numerical value to the perceived difference between teams.

Many girls feel somewhat afraid to ask questions when it comes to sports.

Usually they are laughed at for not knowing things that seem very simple to the avid sports fan. Avid fans seem to forget that you could spend dozens of years learning about so many rules, stats and the history of each sport and still not know everything.

But that’s also what makes sports so much fun to watch and learn.

I decided instead of asking someone what “covering the spread” means, I would just take the simple route: When it doubt, Google it. And I’m pretty sure, the search engine won’t be laughing at me!

Read on to find out what a point spread, covering the spread, against the spread and over/under mean….

The “spread” is the difference in points scored by opposing teams in an athletic competition. The spread is also known as “the line” or “morning line”. This provides the basis for wagering : points may be “given” or “taken” to equalize a bet, or bets may be made that the difference will be larger or smaller than the estimate.

In simpler terms its when one team is the favorite over the other… so the spread is how many points the favorite has to beat the underdog by.

The spread is the difference in points between the two teams when the game is over. It’s what oddsmakers come up with to determine the winner and margin of victory of a game.

For example: the Lakers are the favorite over the Spurs by 5 points. So the Lakers must beat the Spurs by 5 points to cover the spread. This is how it will be written out in a Sportsbook

Lakers -5
Spurs +5

If one team is minus, then the other team is plus of the same number, so really you only need to see one of the numbers, to know the other.

If the line on the Lakers was -5.5 instead of -5, you would have to bet 6 (and have the Lakers win by that much) in order to collect on a bet. If you bet just the -5 then some betting sites would at least give you your money back or a credit towards future use.

A bet where you try to determine which team will cover the spread; not necessarily which team will win. It’s also known as ATS.

Covers Betting Site

Over/Under means the odds-makers picked the most likely total combined score of both teams. For example in an NFL game with the Jaguars vs Dallas the over/under is 37. You can either bet on either “over” or “under”. Over, is if the two scores added up at the end, total to over 37. Under is if when you add them together, they’re less than 37. If the total is 37, it’s a tie, or “push” again.

If your anything like me and math is not your strongest suit, you will have to read that a couple dozen times to fully understand it. It took a while to find a clear answer on these questions but saved a lot of time from pretending to understand and trying not to look confused if someone were to explain this to me in person.

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Most sporting events have a perceived favorite, so applying a spread to the game is the bookmakers’ way of creating an even playing field. This is most often seen when betting on the NFL. When you bet “against the spread,” it’s not enough for the favorite to win the game; now, they have to win by more than a specified amount (the spread) in order for them to “cover the spread.”

As we explained with moneyline betting, a negative number (-) indicates the favorite and a positive number (+) indicates the underdog.

ATS (Against the Spread) Betting: Case Study

As you can see, New England is the favorite in this game by 7.5 points, since they have the negative number. You will often see half-points attached to the spread to avoid “pushes,” or ties for the newbies. As we covered in our how to read odds guide, games with half-point spreads are said to contain a “hook.”

In this circumstance, favored New England is said to be “laying” 7.5 points. This means you subtract 7.5 points from their total score when the game concludes. If they still have more points than the Chiefs, then they “covered.” Therefore, the Patriots will have to win the game by at least 8 points for you to win your bet.

While New England is “laying” 7.5 points, Kansas City is “getting” 7.5 points. This means you add 7.5 points to their total score when the game concludes. If, after doing so, they have more points than the Patriots, then they “covered.” So, in order to win your bet, the Chiefs just cannot lose the game by 8 points or more. For example, if the Chiefs only lose by 3 points, you would win if you bet on Kansas City.

Here are a couple of mock outcomes, with the team who covered the spread in bold.

• Kansas City 21 – New England 24
• Kansas City 17 – New England 25
• Kansas City 3 – New England 41
• Kansas City 30 – New England 27

What Can Change the Spread?

The spreads in football games are subject to change based on where the money is going and weekly injury reports. If Tom Brady is hit by the Madden Curse before the season even starts and is unable to suit up, you’ll see the spread decrease, likely landing around New England -3.5.

What Does Cover The Spread Mean In Betting

Calculating Payouts Against the Spread

Now you may have noticed in the chart above that there is a three-digit number next to each spread, which looks an awful lot like a moneyline. It is, in essence. Those negative numbers (-110 in this case) indicate how much you have to bet in order to win $100. (Sportsbooks still take their cut when you’re betting against the spread.)

Generally, you will see “even bets,” meaning the payout is the same no matter who you bet on. But that’s not always the case, as you’ll see in the chart for our next example.

If the result of this game is Seattle 21 – Green Bay 28, would you win if you bet on Seattle to cover?

(NO! They lost by more than three points.)

Do Other Sports Have Spread Betting Options?

Cover The Spread Betting Against

Betting against the spread on the NFL is undoubtedly the most popular form of spread betting, but there are other options.

You will also see point spreads in hockey, baseball, and soccer. They are referred to in different terms, but they refer to the same principle of operation as the spread.

In hockey, the spread is called apuck line; in baseball, it is a run line; and in soccer, it is a goal line.

Cover The Spread Betting Week 9

Puck lines and run lines are almost always fixed at 1.5.

Learn the Basics of Sports Betting

Cover The Spread Betting Sites

Want to learn more about the basics of betting on sports? Educate yourself with sports betting 101.

Cover The Spread Betting