Who determines the spreads in sports betting?

Q) I was just wondering who studies all these numbers...it's quite interesting.

A) There is a professional line service which provides both offshore books and Las Vegas sportsbooks with the "opening line." It is called Las Vegas Sports Consultants, or commonly LVSC. For many of the people that work there, their entire job is to determine accurate lines from games. They determine these lines by using sophisticated software programs, psychology, injury reports, and other information to determine power rankings. The power rankings tell them what the score should be on a neutral field, and then they take into account the home field advantage, weather, whether the game is at night or during the day, and other information like that. From there, it gets even more interesting. Let's say the sportsbook receives the LVSC lines and they say Patriots are a 2 point favorite over Indianapolis. Well, the sportsbook knows everybody is going to bet on the Patriots, so why let them do it at -2 points? They'll bet it just the same at 3.5 points. So the books often manipulate the "mathematical" professional lines provided by the LVSC based upon their knowledge of bettors. I believe the line provided by the LVSC for Indianapolis versus the Patriots was 2 points. This turned out to be almost exactly accurate . The books opened the line at 3.5 points, and it was almost immediately bet up to 4.5 points. From there it went as high as 6, before the smart money came in late and brought it back down to 4.5. I could go on for another long while about the importance of the number 3 in sports betting, but that's a whole different issue. Sports betting is a very fascinating enterprise :)

dont you think that all sports cover betting spreads?

Q) like in football there is a penalty on every play and micheal jordan calls that we got use to or in baseball ball and strike calls always favors the better team

A) Yes, all sports do have betting spreads or point spreads but when one team covers the spread the other team can not cover. For example if one team is favored by 5 points (-5), a common spread in basketball, then the opposite team would get 5 points (+5). lets call the favored team Green and the underdog Blue. If the score was Green 100 to Blue 96. then the people who bet on Blue would win there bet and the people who bet on Green would lose. (96 + 5 = 101). Green 100 to Blue 94. Green wins Green 100 to Blue 95. No bets win they all push which means you get your original bet amount back.

Sports Betting?

Q) I recently bet on the patriots vs. bengals game, i put my bet in on sunday night, the spread was 8 pts for the patriots. I looked at site the bookie goes through and this morning the spread for the game was 9 pts. So my question is: Is my bet locked at the 8 pt spread, or is my bet now at a 9 pt spread?

A) Whatever spread you bet on when you made your bet, thats the spread you keep. I got the pats @ 7.5 about 20 minutes ago here in Vegas. Where are you betting thats your getting such a high rip-off spread ?

Sports Betting, would you take these bets?

Q) Pittsburg over Cleveland (4 1/2, different than most lines of 10 this week). I figure Pittsburg should cover Cleveland by AT LEAST a touchdown. New Orleans vs. St.Louis over/under 46, I'd take over because Brees has been playing well and both their defenses are bad. The spread is 11 1/2, not sure about that. Tennessee vs. Jacksonville over/under 40. I think I'd take the under. And what about Seattle San Francisco? Over/Under is 40 and Seattle is favored by 10.

A) I'd rather take Dallas -1.5 or Buffalo -3.

Sports Betting, would you take these bets?

Q) Pittsburg over Cleveland (4 1/2, different than most lines of 10 this week). I figure Pittsburg should cover Cleveland by AT LEAST a touchdown. New Orleans vs. St.Louis over/under 46, I'd take over because Brees has been playing well and both their defenses are bad. The spread is 11 1/2, not sure about that. Tennessee vs. Jacksonville over/under 40. I think I'd take the under. And what about Seattle San Francisco? Over/Under is 40 and Seattle is favored by 10.

A) I'd rather take Dallas -1.5 or Buffalo -3.

When you bet on sports, what happens when you exactly meet the spread (instead of covering it)?

Q) If the spread is 1 and the final result yields exactly a difference of 1, does the bookie win?

A) Alright it's already been answered but nobody quite answered it correctly. This happens quite frequently, and it is called a "push" - all bets are refunded. This famously happened in a Superbowl a few years back where pretty much everyone in the casinos had to wait back in line again to get their money refunded.

How do casinos and "bookies" make money on sports betting?

Q) Do they take a cut of the bets and winnings, or do you really double your money on a winning bet? If you really do double your money, how does the casino make money? Do they just hope people make bad bets? They do their best to come up with spreads to make the same number of people bet both ways, so don't they end up not making any money?

A) They definitely have the upper hand because if you win, you may decide to bet it all on the next week/game. They can afford to keep betting against you until you are either broke or go home. This is true in all forms of casino gambling however, not just sports gambling. In sports betting, there are two formats, both designed to give the house the edge. One you already mentioned, the spread. Have you even noticed though that the spread changes over time? This is because the number of people voting one way or the other changes, and the bookies slide the spread one way or the other to encourage the bets one way or another. If you place a bet with a spread, your bet remains the same, but future bets will have a different spread. Let's say for example you bet $x that team a will win and they are favored to win by 2, which means the spread is -2 against you. If the majority of people start betting on the same team as you, the spread may increase and those new betters will see -3, -4 or more, making it harder for them to win of course. On the contrary, if many begin to vote on the underdog, you will see the spread decrease, or even switch over. The entire system is designed to ensure that more betters end up on the losing side than on the winning. If successful, any betters that win are actually just sharing the money with the house that was lost by the majority, the losing bets. Of course this doesn't always work, but so long as it usually works, the house makes a bundle. The other system is odds betting, which is pretty self explanatory as to how the house ends up on top.

Ends and outs of betting on sports (legally of course)?

Q) I am going to Vegas soon and I am interested in putting some wagers down for a few of the football games in the casino with a few of my buddies. Can anyone give me a good overview of how it all works, like overs and unders, covering the spread, odds, etc.? I really am not 100% sure of the ends and outs of betting on sports games and knowledge is power (and sometimes money) so your help would be appreciated. And yes, I am over 21.

A) here you are http://www.sportsbettingchamp.com/?hop=johnsura

how do moneyline and over/unders work in sports betting?

Q) i know how football spreads work but how do moneyline's work in other sports like baseball & the over/unders i'd be glad to see an example

A) In Baseball.. Lets say the Yankees are playing the devil rays. A normal mismatch right? The yankees would probably be favored around -200/+180 on a normal night. So if you bet to win 100$ on the yanks, you would lose 200 if they lost. And if you bet 100 for the rays to win, you would win 180 if they won. Over under in the game might be 10.5.. So if you pick the under.. you normally would risk 110 for every 100 you bet on it.

How does sports betting work?

Q) Particularly football and baseball. I'm curious as to how spreads are determined and how to read them.

A) The spread is determined in Las Vegas for pretty much all sports. As far as reading the spread or lines it goes like this: for football say New York is playing New England and the line reads like this New England -7. What this means is that if you bet on New England you are betting that New England will win by more than 7 points. If they win by exactly 7 points then it is a push on nobody wins. If you bet on New York, you are saying that New York won't lose be 7 or more or even win outright. Also, in betting on football there is what is called an over/under. A number is set such as 38 for the NY/NE game. You can bet that both teams will combine to scores more than 38 or less than 38. Betting on baseball is a little different. A baseball line might read like this: San Francisco -140 San Diego +120. If you decide to bet on San Francisco since they are favored (all teams that are favored have a minus next to the name) you need to put $140 in order to win $100. So at the sportsbook in Las Vegas you go up and place $140 on SF. If they win you get your $140 back plus the $100 you won. If you decided to bet on SD, you just bet $100. If SD wins then you win your $120. Also, you can bet on the over/under for baseball as well. It is a little confusing but I hope it helps.