The online sports gambling landscape is filled with weird and wonderful markets. As a new gambler, it can be challenging to understand all the options available to you. Even experienced bettors struggle at times. Today, we highlight one of the most underused but useful sportsbook markets: betting against the spread. 

What is betting against the spread, how do you use this market on your laptop and smartphone, and which major professional sports can you bet on today? We cover those questions and more in this article.

If you’re looking for the best and most reliable online gambling tutorials, information, and advice, Whop has you covered. Our resident sportsbook expert, Frank Monkhouse, calls on his industry experience to keep you up to speed.

What is Betting Against the Spread?

When gambling on popular sports competitions, including the NFL, NBA, Australian Rules Football, soccer, and ice hockey, you can bet against the spread. But what does that term mean?

It may sound complicated, but like many sportsbook markets, it’s not nearly as tricky as it seems. In its simplest form, betting against the spread is a wager on a sports team to perform better than a predetermined margin known as the points spread, which is decided by gambling traders.

Betparx

Bookies set the points spread to help level the playing field between two in a supposed uncompetitive match, ensuring there’s always a worthwhile bet with decent odds attached. You’ll often see such uneven games in College Football and in cup soccer competitions where there’s a red-hot favorite and an underdog with little chance of winning. The spread handicaps the favorite, challenging you to predict how well they’ll win or if the match will be closer than the traders predict.

Check any respected betting website or app and visit the spread betting page. You’ll notice the point spread is shown as positive and negative numbers. The pre-match favorite carries the negative spread, meaning they must win by a margin that’s greater than the spread for your bet to land. The opponent starts with a positive number, and they must lose by fewer points than the spread or win the game for you to secure a profit. In short, betting against the spread increases your chances of landing a return by making every fixture competitive.

Below is a quick example. Don’t worry; we’ll provide two more in-depth examples later in this article.

Team A (-7.5): This is the favorite, and they must win by 8 points or more to cover the spread.

Team B (+7.5): This is the underdog, and they must either win the game outright or lose by fewer than 8 points to cover the spread.

If you like the sound of betting against the spread, sometimes referred to on gambling apps as ATS, I’m delighted to report the market is available on a long list of sports. In any sports fixture where there are two or more outcomes, the top bookies will offer against the spread markets and odds. 

You’ll even find a similar market in horse racing events where you predict how many lengths the starting price favorite will win by. Traders select a distance, such as over or under 3.5 lengths, and you’ll have your say.

Let’s now look at some of the most popular sports for betting against the spread.

Sports

National Football League (NFL) fixtures attract thousands of bets against the spread each season and it’s the most popular competition for this market. The structure of a game, frequency of scoring, and the home-field advantage are well-suited to against the spread markets. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is another major draw for bettors, as games often produce lots of points, fast scoring, and frantic play. Bet on the favorite to win or aim for better odds by backing them to cover the spread.

Betting apps offer several against the spread markets on games from the National Hockey League (NHL). Just like the competitions above, NHL fixtures are fast-paced and unpredictable, with teams playing every few days throughout the season. Log in to your chosen sportsbook and click the Major League Baseball (MLB) tab for more exciting opportunities to bet against the spread every week.

You can bet against the spread on many other sports, but those mentioned in this section of our article are best suited to the market and will, I’m sure, give you maximum enjoyment while keeping things simple.

How to Place an Against the Spread Bet

Now that you understand against the spread betting and the most popular sports for this market, I’ll explain how to place an against the spread bet. I’ll keep things as simple and easy-to-follow as possible here, using examples from the NFL and NBA. 

You can follow the advice in this section of my article to place a bet against the spread in most popular sports, and the process is the same for each of the leading bookmakers. 

Placing a bet

First, you must register an account or sign in to your online betting account with a bookmaker that’s legal and licensed to trade in your region. Registration takes just a few minutes to complete, and you’ll qualify for the bookmaker’s new customer promotion. If you already have an account, simply add your username and password to log in.

Once you’re into your account, browse the sports navigation bar to view all available sports and click the one that catches your eye. Select the competition and the fixture that interests you the most to view a long list of available betting markets.

Scroll to the against the spread betting option and click the odds attached to a selection to add it to your bet slip. Input your desired stake, check everything is to your liking, including the potential returns, and click to confirm the wager. Your bet is now live, and a cash-out value will appear.

Against the Spread Bet Examples

Example of ATS Betting in the NFL

To help make betting against the spread even easier, I’ll now provide two in-depth examples. I use one game from the NFL and one from the NBA, but the same process applies to all sports, competitions, and fixtures.

Green Bay Packers (-4.5) vs. Minnesota Vikings (+4.5)

In the above example, the Green Bay Packers are the pre-game betting favorites, and the bookie has given them a points spread of 4.5. Their opponents, the Minnesota Vikings, are the underdogs and have a positive points spread of 4.5. 

If you bet on the Packers, they must win by five points or more for you to land the bet. If the Packers win by four points or fewer, or if they suffer defeat, your bet loses, and the bookie keeps your stake. 

If you bet on the Vikings, they must either win the game outright or lose by four points or fewer for your wager to be a success.

Suppose the game ended with this result: Packers 28-24 Vikings. Green Bay won by four points, which is less than the 4.5 spread. If you bet Green Bay to cover the spread, your wager is a loser. But if you bet Minnesota, the bookie will pay winnings into your account.

Example of ATS Betting in the NBA

Let’s now turn our attention to betting against the spread in an NBA fixture.

Los Angeles Lakers (-7.5) vs. Phoenix Suns (+7.5)

Here, the Los Angeles Lakers are the pre-match gambling favorites, and they start with -7.5 points on the spread. The Phoenix Suns are the underdogs and have a 7.5-point advantage on the spread.

If you bet on the Lakers, they must win by eight points or more for you to land a profit. If you bet on the Suns, they must win the game or lose it by fewer than eight points.

For this example, suppose the final score was Lakers 102-95 Suns.

The Lakers won the game but did so by a seven-point margin, which is fewer than the 7.5-point spread. If you backed the Lakers on the spread, your bet’s a loser. If you backed the Suns, your bet is a winner, as they lost the game but stayed within that 7.5-point cushion.

How to Calculate Your Returns

Understanding how to calculate your returns when gambling on sports is important, and it’s not simply about counting your winnings. Betting professionals accurately calculate their returns as it helps them choose the perfect stake to give themselves the best chance of making a profit with the least risk possible. But how do you calculate the returns when betting against the spread? Once again, it’s much easier than you might think.

Let’s say you place a $100 bet on a points spread market with odds of -110. You’ll find that’s a typical price when betting on the spread. If you bet $100 at -110 odds and win, you would win $90.91 in profit, plus your original $100 stake, for a total payout of $190.91.

Here’s the calculation for a $100 bet at odds of -110. You can use this formula to calculate returns on any bet from any market, regardless of the stake and odds.

Profit = (100/Odds) x stake

Therefore, profit = 100/110 x 100 = $90.91.

How to Cash out When Betting Against the Spread

The cash-out feature has revolutionized sports gambling, making a profit more achievable. When you place a wager against the spread, you’ll often see a cash-out value added to your bet slip. In most cases, the cash-out will be identical to your stake but will rise and fall depending on how well your pick performs. 

Cashing out is quick, easy and accurate. It’s available on your desktop or smartphone. I’ll now explain in a few easy steps how to cash out a bet against the spread.

  1. Log in to your betting account and click on the member's area.
  2. Select open or unsettled bets.
  3. Find your chosen bet and click to view any cash-out amount.
  4. Track the cash-out.
  5. Click cash-out and confirm to end the bet.
  6. The funds are automatically transferred to your account balance.

What Happens if a Fixture is Cancelled?

If you have gambled against the spread on a sportsbook fixture and that event is postponed or cancelled, most bookmakers will simply void your bet and refund the stake back to your player account in cash. 

Some sportsbooks may have a 24-hour period for the fixture to be rearranged and played, but this is rare. You can contact the customer service team via Live Chat to check on the status of your bets.

The leading betting apps offer promotions and bonuses to customers, which you can use to bet against the spread in many sports.

Promotions

The most generous promotions are reserved for new customers and are known as welcome bonuses. These come in many different shapes and sizes but are often deposit-matched free bets. These deals match your first deposit and stake as a free bet. If you open an account, deposit $100 and gamble on a qualifying sportsbook market, you’ll bank $100 in bet credits to use against the spread or on other popular markets.

Other popular promotions available at bookies include enhanced odds, cashback, profit boosts, extra places each way, risk-free bets and more. Click the promotions page of your chosen betting app to view today’s deals.

All gambling promotions have terms and conditions attached and you must read the small print to fully understand how the offer works and what’s expected of you as a customer. 

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You now know everything worth knowing about the online sports betting market against the spread. I hope you found my article helpful and are now in a position to go and try betting against the spread on your favorite sports and competitions, including the NFL and NBA. 

Which predictions are best when gambling against the spread? Whop has an impressive list of communities, tools, and resources designed to make you a more successful gambler. 

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