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What Does Spread Mean in Betting

A point spread, or simply a spread, is a way to even the chances of teams by giving one selection a virtual deficit (a handicap) to overcome. It's a tool used by oddsmakers to level the playing field when teams are mismatched in terms of skill and performance. Keep reading to tackle what is a spread in betting and how it works.

Spread in betting explained

Teams and competitions are rarely evenly matched. Thus, it's common for two basketball or football teams to play together, and one is much better than the other. Understandably, if that was the end of the story, all bettors would bet on the better team. But here, the concept of a spread comes in. Spread in betting was invented in the 1940s by Charles K. McNeil to create an active market for both sides of a binary wager, even if the outcome of a given wager from the beginning seems biased towards one side or another. In other words, a spread is an oddsmakers' way of adjusting for discrepancies between two teams and encouraging action on both sides. It's a nod towards the weaker team, when it is matched against a strong one (a so-called favorite). Bookmakers can move point spread to any level to gather the same number of participants on each side of the wager.

Matchups with point spreads have
1 A positive number attached to one team or athlete, meaning that this team is virtually "ahead" already from the start, and
2 A negative number attached to the other team, which implies that it’s "below zero" from the beginning and needs to "get there" by gaining points in the course of the game.

Point spread betting is available for most sports. Yet, it's most often associated with NFL, college football, NBA, and college basketball. The point spread involves the scoring units in each sport (such as points, goals, runs, etc.). It's conceived as a way of creating a playing field as even as possible between the two teams for potential bettors, in the form of a projected margin of victory.

What’s the aim of using a spread in betting?

The three potential outcomes of a point spread bet are win, loss, or push. If a punter wins, a sportsbook will pay them in total amount based on the "price" of the wager, which is most commonly -110. So, a bet for $110 would win $100, or $11 would win $10, etc. Otherwise, there is a "push" when the game result falls precisely on the point spread margin. This situation results in a "voided" or "canceled," which means that bettors get their original wagers returned. Finally, while a loss is a loss, the losing team in a point spread bet may still provide a win for bettors, depending on the score of the sporting event. For example, if Oklahoma (-34.5) beats Kansas 51-21, a 30-point margin means that while Kansas is a heavy loser, it still covers the spread, providing a punter with a victory.

To understand why a spread in betting is so crucial for bookmakers, let's dig into how the betting sector operates.

As explained on several forums, including Arbusers, a bookmaker charges a commission, or vigorish, and acts as the counterpart for each participant. If the total amount wagered on each side is roughly equal, the bookmaker can remain unconcerned with the actual outcome; profits come from the commissions instead. So, the aim of using a spread is to create an equal number of wagers on either side.

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