Most newspapers and online sports betting sites publish the line on a football or basketball game simply as a single number. In our example we will use Chicago against New York in which Chicago is favored by 4 points versus New York. Some bettors refer to this as the favorite laying 4 points, and the underdog getting 4 points. The spread is typically displayed in the following format:
- Chicago -4
- New York +4
Read through each line item to ensure you've been credited for all transactions and that nothing new has been added. Flip to the first page of the closing disclosure. The final cash to close figure should be identical to the one on this page. This is how you calculate the money line - if there is a plus sign '+' in front of the number, the number shows how much money you will win for every $100 you wager, if your bet is a winner. For example, if the Denver Broncos win the game, you will win $145 for every $100 wagered, i.e. If you bet $200 you will win $290. An option chain has two sections: calls and puts. A call option gives the right to buy a stock while a put gives the right to sell a stock. The price of an options contract is called the premium. How to Read a Balance Sheet. A balance sheet is composed of rows and columns that list a company's assets and liabilities, and money owned by shareholders. One column lists the category of assets and liabilities, and one lists the total amount for each of those categories. It may even have two years' worth of information.
By betting the spread, a sports bettor wagers on the amount of points a team is projected to win or lose by. In the example above, -/+4 is the spread. Since the spread is 4, Chicago must win by 5 or more points to win the bet, while New York can lose by 3 or fewer points to win the bet. If Chicago wins by exactly 4, then the bet is a push and no one wins or loses money.
Often there is a number to the side of the spread, such as Chicago -4 (-110). This is to show how much extra money a bettor must risk on their wager.
The (-110) important for calculating payouts and break-even percentages. Since it is -110, we must bet 1.10 to win 1.00, so for each $1 we want to win, we have to risk $1.10. For example, a sports bettor must risk $11 to win $10, $55 to win $50, $110 to win $100, $1100 to win $1,000 and so forth. If the line is a single number, like in the first example, -110 is simply assumed As you may have noticed, bettors are risking 10% more than they can possibly win from their wager.
There’s a technical term for this extra fee: vigorish. The vigorish, also known as “vig” or “juice”, gives sportsbooks a mathematical advantage, commonly referred to as the house hedge. You have likely seen similar fees for casino games. This how sportsbooks make a profit. Since sportsbooks charge a fee, sports bettors winning only 50% of their bets will likely end up losing money in the long term. Taking into account the vigorish, you need to win not half of your bets but at least 52.4% to break even on traditionally-juiced lines (-110).
A common misconception is that, because of this fee, sportsbooks stand to make 10% from the total amount of money bet, also known as the handle. For clarity’s sake, the commission charged to sports bettors is actually 5%. Remember, there is action on each side of a betting line. Say the betting handle on New York vs. Chicago is $1100, divided evenly between the two teams. With $550 to win $500 wagered on Chicago -4 (-110) and $550 to win $500 on New York +4 (-110), the sportsbook will profit $50 off this game, or 5%, so long as Chicago does not win by exactly four points. In the case of a push, all money wagered on the spread will be returned to bettors.
While -110 is typical for spreads and totals, in the era of online sports betting, competition among legal US sportbooks often leads to better deals for customers. One no longer needs to risk an extra 10% on every wager. Some US sportsbooks will run promotions where sports bettors only have to risk an extra 5% on most games instead of 10%. In this case, the line would look like:
- Chicago -4 (-105)
- New York +4 (-105)
One would only risk $105 to win $100 a wager on Chicago winning by 5 or more points. If you win, you still win $100, but if you lose you’ll only lose $105 instead of $110. It may seem like a small difference, but that extra $5 can add up over the course of a season.
Sometimes the line will be displayed as a rather larger number to the side of the point spread. Let us look at an example where you would need to wager $120 in order to win $100:
- Chicago -4 (-120)
- New York +4 (-100)
In this case, the bookmaker is getting a lot of action on Chicago. The bookmaker has two choices. Option A) they move the spread to Chicago -4.5/New York +4.5, or B) if they like the current spread, they can stick with Chicago -4 and move the “juice” instead, hence -120.
Now bettors will risk $120 to win $100 on Chicago -4. On the other hand, those wagering on New York +4 will only risk $100 to win $100 (even money). This is how the bookmaker incentives bettors to wager on New York and balance their sportsbook’s betting handle.
You might find one sportsbook with Chicago -4 (-120) and Chicago -4 (-110) at a different sportsbook. This is why it’s so important for sports bettors to shop for the best lines across the US sports betting industry. The best way to shop lines is to use our odds comparison tools, which you can find for NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and NHL.
In general most bookmakers apply the principle that the difference between betting on the favorite and the underdo is 20 cents. So if the favorite is -115 then the dog is -105. If the favorite is -125, then the dog is +105. And if the favorite is -110, then the dog is -110.
The same principle applies to wagers on the point total (Over/Under) of the game. If the game total is O41 (-120), U41 (-100) then a $120 wager on the over will win $100 while $100 on the Under will win $100. If the line simply states 41, then you are risking 1.10 to win 1.0 whether your bet is on the over or the under. Again, you can minimize the difference between the over and under and favorites and underdogs by using our odds comparison tools to shop lines.
A Moneyline bet is a wager on the outcome of the game regardless of the point spread. So if you bet the moneyline, you are betting on a team to win the game straight up (or outright). Moneyline wagering is more popular for MLB, NHL, golf matchups and combat sports such as the UFC and boxing, but you can also find moneylines for football and basketball. The usual display for a moneyline wager is as follows:
- X Team/Player -200
- Y Team/Player +170
As you can see, the spread disappeared. Now the number to the side of Team/Player is the moneyline. The moneyline is fluid, fluctuating based on the matchup and the amount of money being bet on each side. In this particular example, a sports bettor must risk $200 to win $100 (2-to-1) if they’re betting on the favorite to win the game. One may bet $200 to win $100, $150 to win $75, $10 to win $5 and so forth. The bottom line is the same, one has to risk twice as much as they want to win.
A $100 wager on the underdog will net the sports bettor $170 if the underdog pulls off the outright upset. One may bet $100 to win $170, $200 to win $340, etc. The bottom line is the same, a bet on the underdog results in a +170% ROI if the underdog wins.
This principle is universal for moneylines, regardless of the team or sport. If Tiger Woods is -180 vs. Phil Mickelson +160, golf bettors must risk 1.80 to win 1.00 on Tiger. Those betting on Phil will risk 1.00 to win 1.60
If you’re new to sports betting, we hope this page helped answer some important questions. We also have a parlay calculator for your convenience, along with the odds comparison tools mentioned above. Be sure to use all of our sports betting tools and tips to help save you time and money at legal US sportsbooks.
Note: Lines and scores highlighted in blue signify an update within the last ten minutes.
How NFL Odds, Lines, Point Spreads and Totals Work
When you wager on NFL football it’s important that you understand clearly and concisely how to read odds and how they work. This is basic information that you must know in order to make informed bets.
You’ll need to know how the rotation number, point spread, moneyline and over/under are used and what each means. Each of these terms may be called by another name. The rotation number if often referred to as the number or the rotation mark, moneyline becomes line, point spread is called the spread, and over/under becomes the total. When you come down to it, these are the major terms that can be lumped under the heading odds.
Bookmakers use odds to even out the bets, getting gamblers to wager on both sides of the line by leveling the playing field. Although there is overall parity in the NFL, there are teams that are haves and others that are have-nots. Indianapolis is still superior to Cincinnati but when they play each other the bookies have to get about half of the bettors to put cash on the Bengals. This covers the sportsbooks ensuring they’ll make a decent amount of cash on just about every game.
When you read NFL odds, you’ll first see the date and time of the game on the left and then immediately to the right, there will be two numbers with the name of each team next to one of each numbers. That number is called the rotation number.
Rotation numbers are standard from sportsbook to sportsbook. The number becomes a way to refer to the game and team without mentioning the teams name. It’s a sort of shorthand. Also, the rotation number allows each book to list the games in the same order—numerically. It is, in essence, a way to keep all of the games that are posted each day and throughout the week organized. That makes it easy for the bettor and the bookie.
As an example, let’s consider a matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals. In our scenario, the Bengals are the home team, which means they will be listed last and the Colts, as the visitors, will be on the odds slip first. If Indy’s rotation number is 101, then Cincy’s rotation mark would be 102. When you place a bet live at a Vegas sportsbook or over the phone, you would say the number of the team on which you want to wager and not the name.
| Date/Time | Rotation Number | Team | Point Spread | MoneyLine | Total |
| Sep 15 | 101 | Indianapolis | -10.5 | -380 | 37.5 |
| 1:00 | 102 | Cincinnati | +10.5 | +255 | 37.5 |
To the right of the team’s name are the different types of odds. Usually the spread will be first. You may then see the moneyline (although some books list these on another slip) and then, finally, the over/under. Thus, all of the basic bets are in one place, allowing for easy access.
The point spread, which is the most popular type of bet, lists the favored team with a minus sign and a number and the underdog with a plus sign and the same number as the favorite. (If neither team is favored, they will be listed as EVEN or PICK.)
The team that has the minus sign, which is the favorite, has points deducted from its final score, while the dog, with the plus sign, has points added. The favorite must beat the spread, which means they have to win by more than the negative number to pay off. The underdog pays off in two instances—if they win outright or if they lose by less than the spread.
In our scenario, Indianapolis is at -10.5 and Cincinnati at +10.5. If you bet on the Colts at -10.5, which means they are favored, they must win by 11 or more for you to collect on your bet. If you wager on Cincinnati, which is the underdog, your bet pays off if they win the game outright or if they lose by less than 11.
Sometimes with NFL odds you’ll see a spread posted as a whole number. Decimals or fractions are usually utilized to ensure there won’t be a tie. If in our example the spread was reset to 10 with the Colts favored and they win by 10, then the game is considered to be a tie, which in betting terms is called a push. If there is a push all bets are off and the sportsbooks return all wagers back to the bettors.
Many people will say that the odds on a spread bet are even, paying 1:1. But this is not true. The actual odds are 0.90:1. For every dollar bet, you can win 90 cents. When checking out the spread, you’ll usually see a number listed next to each spread. That number, which is your stake, is posted as -110. This number tells you how much you have to bet to win $100. If you put $110 on either team, you stand to win $100. If you bet $11.00, you can win $10.00. Every NFL point spread works this way.
The moneyline is different. First, with the moneyline whichever team wins the game pays out. There’s no giving or taking away of points. How do the bookies even the playing field with the moneyline? They do it by making bettors wager more on the favorite to win less and allowing them to bet less to win more on the dog. The favorite is posted with a minus sign and a number. That number represents the amount of cash that has to be wagered in order to win $100. The underdog, on the other hand, is listed with a plus sign in front of a number. That number shows how much a bettor wins when they bet $100.
Taking the exact same match up and odds above, Indy would be listed at -380 and Cincy at +355. When wagering on the Colts, the favored team, a sports bettor would be required to bet $380 to make $100. If they take the Bengals, who are the underdog, a $100 bet can result in a $355 profit.
By the way, there is a relationship between the spread and the moneyline. The exact relationship can vary a bit depending on the book, but the correlation works in this manner:
How To Read Nfl Money Lines
| Point Spread | Money Line |
| -1 | -120/+100 |
| -2 | -130/+110 |
| -2.5 | -140/+120 |
| -3 | -155/+135 |
| -3.5 | -175/+155 |
| -4 | -200/+170 |
| -4.5 | -220/+180 |
| -5/-5.5 | -240/+190 |
| -6 | -270/+210 |
| -6.5 | -300/+220 |
| -7 | -330/+250 |
| -7.5/-8/-8.5 | -360/+280 |
| -9/-9.5 | -400/+300 |
| -10 | -450/+325 |
How To Read Moneyline And Spread
When considering NFL odds, the last type of basic bet you’ll see listed is the total or over/under. The over/under is a prediction regarding the total number of points that both teams will score. As it is with the spread, the total is usually posted as a fraction or decimal and the stake is the same as it is with the point spread (-110)
How To Read Basketball Money Line
With NFL odds the over/under can vary but usually it’s somewhere between 35 and 47 points. Let’s say in the Colts and Bengals game that the total is posted at 37.5. If Indy scores 27 and Cincy gets 13 points, the total would be at 40 and the over would win. But if the Colts rack up 35, and they shut out the Bengals, the total of 35 would be under.
If, as it is sometimes with the spread, the total is listed as a whole number, the result may be a push. Let’s say the total is 37 and the Colts score 24 and the Bengals 13 for a total of exactly 37 points. If this happens all bets are returned on the push.
If you are able to interpret NFL odds and know what the various terms mean, such as the rotation number, point spread, moneyline and over/under, you’ll have a basic understanding on what you are betting. Prior to wagering make sure you see our NFL odds page, which carries all the latest odds from the top online sportsbooks. Remember that the odds makers are attempting to even the out the bets on each game. The sports bettor has to analyze each game and the odds and make their bets accordingly in order to win cash.