Soccer Spread Betting Explained

• Understanding Soccer Odds
• Football Spread Betting Explained

Soccer point spread betting is when you are betting on whether a team will win or lose by a certain number of goals. It is an increasingly popular form of betting and is gaining ground in the soccer betting market. It allows to equalize uneven teams and to get more people to bet on underdogs. Similarly, it helps to create a market for both sides of the wager: the underdogs and the favorites. In a way, it combines both money lines and over/under bets. The best way is to demonstrate with a few examples.

Point Spread Examples

* Please see illustration below to help understand point spread bets, text explanation follows.

Let us say Brazil is playing against USA in the World Cup. Brazil, as one of the most successful teams in the history of World Cup tournaments will likely be a favorite against USA, which has not done as notoriously well in international competitions. In this case most of the people will likely vote for Brazil. Even with an adjusted money line that will give a big payoff to people who bet the underdog, a sportsbook might see little action on an underdog, USA. A point spread could solve that problem. Using a 2-goal spread, the odds might look like this:

• USA +2.5 (2.0)
• Brazil -2.5 (1.5)

Soccer Betting Odds Explained – Understanding Meanings, Tips & Strategies for Odds in Betting (2021) By Ben Gibson. Last modified: 31st May 2020. In soccer, a money line takes the place of a point-spread but there is a twist. Bettors will always have the option of playing a favorite or an underdog, but you can also bet that the game will end in a draw, which is a tie. Barcelona -145 Manchester United +400. Live soccer betting explained Interest in sports betting continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The evolving legal landscape only helps in that regard, as does the fact that folks can bet online and via sports betting apps safely. Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple 'win or lose' outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting. A spread is a range of outcomes and the bet is whether the outcome will be above or below the spread.

If you are betting on Brazil, then Brazil has to win by more than 2 goals for you to win. Thus, if the score is 3-0 for Brazil, then you would win since it is higher than the point spread of 2.5. This way, if you bet $100 on Brazil, you will win $150 total (see Online Soccer Money Line Betting for more details on how to calculate the lines).

If you are betting on USA, then USA has to lose by 2 or less goals, or win. Hence, if the final score is 1-0 for Brazil, then USA would have lost by less than 2 goals and your bet wins. If you bet $100 on USA, then you will get $200 in total.

Understanding Soccer Odds

As we have explained in several other occasions, the 0.5 is used to eliminate a possibility of a draw and a “no-action”. If the 0.5 was not included and if the spread is exactly 2 goals, then there is a change that no side of the sportsbook or bettor would win, and the book would have to return the bets. A lot of bettors and sportsbooks do not like that so the 0.5 is normally utilized.

Soccer Point Spread Betting Strategies and Tips

Football Spread Betting Explained

One good tip we can give you is that it might be better to bet on a point spread as late as possible. You might actually get better spreads this way. This is because a sportsbook might originally post a spread based upon what the experts say, but over time that spread will actually be adjusted to even out the betting money.

Another reason to get in late on a point spread is because you will have a better idea on the lineup of the players of the teams. For example, you might get some updated news on who is injured, how the coach gets along with his team and what to expect (a good example is the French team on the 2010 World Cup, where the coach and team was not getting along, and you could see the results on their matches, unfortunately).

Avoid Big Decisive Matches

Another soccer point spread betting strategy and tip to consider is to avoid big competitive decisive matches. For example, it is a FIFA World Cup Final; the two teams are very strong and should do their best to win. If one of the teams is losing, the players will likely keep on fighting, even risking injuries and exhaustion. On the other hand, if it is just a qualifier first round game and one of the teams is losing 2-0, then the players on a losing team might save their energy for the next match.

We can give examples as much as possible, but there is nothing better than learning first hand, than experiencing the thrill of the game with a few bets on the side, so if you are up for it, you should definitely make your soccer point spread bet now!

Understanding the different types of betting options is crucial when you’re getting a start as a first-time sports bettor.

The Point Spread: Betting the spread

For those new to sports betting, the point spread is the simplest, most straightforward approach to placing wagers.

Sports books set a predetermined margin of points on a game and a team must win – or not lose – by that set number. That’s why you’ll often hear people say the team won, but they “didn’t cover the spread” so their bet still came up short.

It’s not a matter of a team winning or losing like in a moneyline bet.

For a favorite: The favorite must win by more than the point spread.For an underdog: The underdog must outright win OR lose by fewer than the point spread.

Sports books aren’t in the business of predicting who will win or lose games. Their goal is setting a pre-game point spread with the intention to generate an equal amount of betting action/volume on both sides of the ledger – as much total money being bet on the favorite as on the underdog.

The vast majority of point spread wagers are made on football and basketball because of the proliferation of points that are scored in comparison to sports like baseball and hockey, where 1-0 or 2-1 games aren’t that out of the question or out of the norm. There’s one every night.

For example, the New England Patriots are playing the New York Jets and New England is a 9½-point favorite. Bettors typically have to spend $110 or so to win $100 with sports books, known as “the house edge/advantage.” With a point spread bet, simply having a team win the game isn’t the key. The critical factor to betting a point spread is how much a team wins or loses by. If a wager is placed on New England – “laying” the 9½ points – the Patriots need to win the game by 10 or more points for that bet to pay off. If New England wins 28-20, those betting on the Jets plus 9½ points (points added to their final total) win the bet.

The same general rules apply for basketball and are quite easy to follow because of the inherent simplicity of the bet. When it comes to betting sports like baseball and hockey, the standard bets are made on the “money line” – an established number for both teams to win the game outright.

What makes point spread bets attractive are the fluid nature of each game – it’s a reality show that, when done right, is inexplicable. Games change on one play and momentum is a thing. But, when it comes to point spread betting, you know where you stand at every moment.

For those just starting out, the simplest form of gambling is betting the spread because it’s the easiest to explain and understand, which explains why it is the most popular form of sports wagering.