Home-field advantage is a huge factor in the point spread. For example, if the Kansas Chiefs play the Denver Broncos at home, the Chiefs would likely be favored by However, if the game were in Denver, the Chiefs would be favored by about 4.

The impact of home-field advantage depends on the team playing with it — some teams do not have as favorable a crowd or atmosphere as others. Denver, for example, is a particularly tough place to play, given the altitude.

There are other factors like injury status, current form and overall talent in the game. For example, a team might have a good record but had won numerous close games, so they might not be as good against the spread.

This statistic is also worth keeping an eye on. More types of sports bets remain worth taking into consideration. A push is when the final result of the game lands precisely on the number of the spread. For example, if I bet on the Toronto Raptors -4 over the Orlando Magic and the Raptors win by four, I would push my bet, which means that my money is refunded and the bet ends in a tie.

Games with halves in their point spreads, like the Dallas Cowboys The favorite is the team projected to win the game. They are assigned a point spread with a minus symbol - in front of the number, such as Pittsburgh Steelers If you were to bet on the Steelers to cover the spread in this instance, Pittsburgh would need to win by seven or more points for you to win your bet.

The underdog is the team that is projected to lose the game. In this case, the Panthers would need to lose by five points or fewer or win outright for you to win your bet. Be sure to learn how to bet on sports before wagering.

When examining point spread markets for NFL picks , you need to remember key numbers. A touchdown, for example, is worth seven points, while a field goal is worth three points. The key numbers are three, seven, and ten points.

The difference between a 2. If a home team is favored by But, at the same time, be careful with high spreads in the NBA.

Betting on a favorite of 10 or more points can come back to bite you in the NBA, as teams tend to send in their subs when up double-digits in the fourth quarter, which can allow the opponent to cut down the lead — resulting in something called a back-door cover.

These exist in the NFL as well. In NHL, MLB and soccer, tread lightly with spreads. However, it could be profitable since you get some solid value on the favorites. I prefer betting on the spread in MLB than NHL or soccer because baseball teams usually win by more than one run.

Point spreads involve a winning margin. If you bet on a favorite, they need to win by more than the assigned spread. For example, if a spread is If you bet on an underdog, they can lose by fewer than the assigned spread or win outright for you to win.

Moneylines just require your team to win the game outright — the winning margin does not matter in this type of bet. Each team will be assigned a moneyline based on their projected probability of winning the game. It is better to choose moneyline in MLB, NHL, and soccer when taking favorites because the price is too high in the NFL or NBA.

Point spread bets are good because they allow you to take heavily favored teams without incurring the financial risk involved.

If you were to bet on them to win on the moneyline, you would likely be risking seven times your original bet. In this case, you can take them to win by more than 10 points and only have to pay a price. Another reason to consider spread betting is that you can take an underdog without worrying about that team winning the game.

Point spreads allow bettors some options when deciding on who to take in a particular game. One negative of point spreads is that it can be difficult for a team to win by the assigned margin.

Another negative is how difficult it is to choose the point spread in hockey or soccer correctly. Frank Ammirante is a Senior Sports Writer at The Game Day. Previously, he wrote for 4for4 Football and RotoBaller.

Frank is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writer's Association while maintaining an active presence within the community. He has competed in industry contests like the Scott Fish Bowl, The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational, and more.

Frank will be making his debut in Tout Wars this year. While it can be a little confusing, we're going to try and explain everything you need to know about point spreads and how to be successful betting on them.

In simple terms, a point spread in sports betting is a wager on the margin by which the favorite team must win a matchup. If the team has a minus sign, that means they're the favorite and they'll have to win by the specified number or more for you to win your bet. If the team has a plus, that means they're the underdog and they'll have to either win the game or lose by less than the specified number for you to win.

The easiest way to control the point spread is to pay attention to the days leading up to the game. Not only will you be able to see any important information pop up, like injuries, but you'll also be able to see who the favorite the team that is most likely to win is and who isn't.

In addition, being able to watch the line move will give you an idea of which team you should bet on and when you should bet. If you aren't really sure how things will turn out, it's a good idea to avoid betting altogether until the next game.

The entire process of betting can be simplified by using an online sportsbook. To begin, either create an account or log in to your existing one.

Next, simply choose the sport you want to bet on and go to that page. You'll then see all of the lines and games for the upcoming days. The next thing you'll do is decide whether you want to bet on the favorite or the underdog. Once you know, go ahead and click on that team. From there, decide how much you want to bet and place it.

Spread betting works by allowing the sportsbooks to make two teams that are unbalanced to be more balanced. They do this by taking points from the favored team and giving points to the underdog, which will be labeled by either a plus or minus.

The minus means the team is the favorite and they have to win by more than the number specified. The plus means the team is the underdog and they have to either win or lose by less than the specified number. When you see a team with odds or , , etc. it means they are the favorite to win the matchup and cover the spread.

If oddsmakers set the line at 6. Leverage means that you'll only need to use a little bit of capital in order to open a larger position. In simple terms, this means you can put down a small deposit to open your position instead of having to pay a large amount. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that both profits and losses are much bigger because everything is determined by using the full trade value instead of the smaller deposit that you originally put down.

So, for instance, if the spread for two NFL teams is 6. There are three main features of spread betting, which are the point spread, the favorite, and the underdog. Keep reading to see a more in-depth explanation of these below. The spread is the difference between Team A and Team B.

The bigger the spread is, the bigger the underdog will be. Every sport and game are different, so make sure you know how to read multiple point spread bet types. The favorite is the team that a sportsbook thinks will win.

They use many things to figure this out, including how many people have bet on the team, how they've been doing during the season, how many players have been injured, and which team has home-field advantage. The underdog is the team that isn't as popular and has a lower chance of winning.

They are the team that has the plus sign in front and they usually lose more games than the favorite. With that said, though, there's nothing that says they can't come out on top.

The simple reason for this is because the sportsbook has the right to shift the odds and spread whenever they want. You have to remember they'll want to try and come out even, so they'll shift the odds and spread more toward their favor. This is something you want to watch because you never know when it'll change.

If possible, try and check the lines multiple times a day to ensure you're staying up-to-date on exactly what's going on. There are a few instances when it's a good idea to bet on a point spread. The first is when both teams are relatively equal because there's a higher chance that you can win your bet.

Another instance is if you're trying to get a larger return. These bets can give a great payout, but they can also cause you to lose a nice chunk of change. The final instance is when you know what you're doing and completely understand spread betting because placing a bet when you aren't sure what you're doing can lead to losing quite a bit of money.

Sometimes, an extra half-point or full point could mean the difference between winning and losing your bet. The easiest way to do this is to watch the lines leading up to the game and decide if you want to bet now, later, or not at all. Remember, though, once you place your bet, you're locked in and can't change it.

Try to make your own spreads and calculate before looking at the lines. All you do is take the games you think you'll be interested in betting on and put down what you think the spread will be.

Once you have everything down, you'll be able to look at the actual lines and see how far off you were. Simply put, if you see that the lines are equal or more in your favor, place your bet! If you're planning on betting on the underdog, you should wait until a few days before the game.

As it gets closer, more people in the general public are going to be placing bets and the amounts will go up. Try to wait as long as possible before placing your bet. If you see a lot of movement earlier in the week, that's probably because of bettors that have a lot of money on the line.

This is a good way to see where you should put your money. Let's say you place a bet on Team A to win. If you see that everything is moving more in your favor, don't be afraid to double down and place another bet. Even though point spreads are used across multiple sports, they're all read pretty much the same way.

The only difference is how they score. For example, basketball would be points and hockey would be goals. The great thing is that there are multiple tools that you can employ to manage your risk. For starters, you'll want to make sure you know the market you're betting on because it's never a good idea to go in blind.

You'll also want to make sure you have earnings reports to ensure you know where your wins and losses are. A Moneyline bet is a wager on whether a team will win a game or event. In a moneyline bet, the bettor predicts that a team will win outright.

To better illustrate the concept of moneyline betting, let's say the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing the Montreal Canadiens in an NHL matchup. The Maple Leafs are the favorite to win, so they have a negative moneyline, say Run line betting is the baseball equivalent of point spread betting.

A run line bet allows bettors to wager on the margin of victory or loss between two baseball teams. Run line bets are a way to level the playing field between the favorite and the underdog in a baseball game.

The run line, usually set at 1. If you love sports betting, you need a good sportsbook. But how do you choose one? There are many factors to consider, such as odds, markets, payouts, and features.

To make it easier for you, we've put together a list of the top sportsbooks to bet at. These are the best of the best, trusted by millions of bettors worldwide. Draftkings Sportsbook offers one of the most customer-centric sports betting experiences in the industry.

They have a user-friendly platform that allows users to wager on online sporting events, fantasy sports, casino games, and more. DraftKings offers odds and betting markets for various sports, such as NFL, NBA, UFC, PGA, and College Football.