For new bettors, sports betting can sometimes seem like a different language, with money lines, spreads, arbitrage, juice, ‘vig’, and other terms that sound more confusing than they really are! I’ve put together this guide to ease some of the confusion.
Spread: The spread is the point advantage which is given to the weaker team, or ‘underdog’, when they’re expected to lose by a certain number of points. These make even bets possible for the bookmaker. An example of betting against a spread is, say, a 12-10 bet. If you bet $12, you will win $10 – meaning you’ll get $22 in total, if your team covers the spread.
‘Covering the spread’ means winning the game with the score modified by the spread. If your team has a spread of -6, then they’d have to win by at least 7 points to cover.
Juice / Vig: These terms describe the difference between the amount you bet and the amount you win. If the ‘vig’ is 10%, then you need to bet $110 to win $100.
Arbitrage: I’ve made a post explaining arbitrage in detail, but to recap, arbitrage is the practice of betting with more than one bookmaker, on opposing outcomes – so no matter what happens, you make a profit.
Money line: Money lines are used in sports betting to describe odds – a line of +110 means that you bet $100 to win $110, while a line of -110 means you have to bet $110 to win $100. Underdogs usually see positive numbers, while favourites get the negative numbers.