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How to Read a Sports Betting Line


Many people bet casually on sports, but if you want to bet more seriously, you'll have to know how to read a line. This article will teach you.


Look at the line. It'll look something like this, with team names and numbers changed.


NYJ -10.5-110 -250

ATL +10.5-110 +310

45.5 ov-110


Determine the favorite and underdog. The favorite will have a minus next to its first number, and the underdog a plus. In this case, the Jets (NYJ) are the favorite and the Falcons (ATL) are the underdog.



Determine the spread. The spread is the first number following both teams. In this case, the spread is 10.5. The most popular type of betting is spread betting. If you bet the favorite on the spread, that team not only has to win, but has to win by at least as many points as the spread. If you bet the underdog on the spread, that team does not necessarily have to win, but come within that many points. In this case, if you bet the Jets on the spread and they won by 6, that would not be enough to cover and you would lose your bet. If you bet the Falcons on the spread and they lost by only 6, you would win, since they came close enough. The number immediately following the spread number is how much a bettor has to bet to win $100.



Determine the money line. The money line is the last number in each of the top two rows - in this case, -250 on the Jets and +310 on the Falcons. If you bet the money line, you are betting on the team to win outright. All your team has to do is win the game to win your bet. The minus sign means you have to bet that much money to win $100. The plus sign means you can win that much money by betting $100. In this case, a $250 bet on the Jets makes a $100 profit if the Jets win, and a $100 bet on the Falcons makes a $310 profit if the Falcons win.



Determine the over-under. It is the first number in the last row. This bet is not placed on either team, but on the score of the game. The bet is whether the combined score of both teams at the end of the game will be higher or lower than that number. You can bet high or low, and if you're right, you win your bet. In this case, the over-under is 45.5, so if you bet over and the game ends 29-17, you would win. The last number in the bottom row is how much you have to bet to win $100 on the over-under.

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