Common Sport Betting Odds Formats Demystified - Understanding Point Spreads, Totals And Money Line

By Author: Groshan Fabiola
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As every responsible and adept bettor in the online betting scene will tell you, the key to successful sports betting is no other than knowledge. While numerous other aspects have an impact on fruitful betting as well (proper money management or following a proven system, to name only a few), the very foundation of sports betting is undoubtedly the element of knowledge.

While making knowledgeable sport bets can mean many things, one thing is certain: it always involves accounting for the movement of the sport lines and shopping for the best sport betting lines in the industry. A good understanding of sport betting odds helps you come up with accurate assessments when shopping for suitable sport bet options, and allows you to move quickly, before the odds change.

As you may probably already know, sport betting odds typically follow a numerical format, irrespective of the system that is used or the kind of sportsbook that displays them. This is because bookmakers need to compress the information they provide in a limited amount of space using a universally accepted code.

Sport betting odds are displayed ...
... differently depending on their type. However, the most common sport odds variations you will likely encounter in your sports betting ventures are fractional, decimal, and money line. The odds fluctuate with the type of sport they are linked to, and the more you learn about the probabilities of an event happening in a match, the better you will become at fructifying the information displayed on the betting boards of Internet sportsbooks. With practice, reading and interpreting the odds should become second nature to you, and you should have no problem assessing the likeliness of your win or determining the edge the house has on a sport bet, irrespective of its type.

To become familiar with the way sport betting odds are displayed in the sportsbooks, take a look at the following examples.

102 Team A +200

103 Team B -5 10 -150

First, the numbers to the left (102 and 103) are sport bet registration numbers used for disambiguation and conversion purposes when bets are being processed. Team A and Team B are the names of the teams involved in the sporting event; with some formats, their presence on the betting board isn't mandatory.

Point spreads are also commonly referred to as point line bets. In the example shown above, Team B is considered favorite (the - sign next to the team's name suggests this) and is projected to win over Team A by a margin of 5 points. Therefore, in this case you can place two different kinds of bets:

1. Team B wins by at least 6 points
2. Team A wins or loses by 4 or less points.

Total bets denote a variety of wagers that are placed against the total amount of points scored in a game. The bettor can choose to bet either over or under the total number of points established by the sportsbook.

Money line wagers require you to predict the winner. Taking the same example above as reference, a $100 bet on Team A will earn you $200. However, to win $100 on Team B, you need to invest $150. This is due to Team B being perceived as favorite, which automatically leads to lower odds and forces bookmakers to have bettors pay more for that bet. There is no one-fit-all approach to money line bets, and the decisions you make with this category of wagers depend on your handicapping skills, level of experience in the business and sometimes, even momentary inspiration.

For more resources about Sport Bet or about Sport Betting Odds or even about Sport Betting Lines, please review these links.