Board 8 > I don't understand spread betting (sports)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or anything for that matter. Arent you just making it a coin flip and reducing the odds to 50%?

That's the point
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KingButz posted...

That's the point

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Why would anyone who follows sports do this?

I suppose I could understand people who dont understand sports doing this, like silly girls trying to get guys attention by saying they bet on sports, but there is no appeal for people who actually know sports.

The character battle spread betting topic does a good job of simplifying the explanation.

Instead of betting on "this side will win and this side will lose", you're betting on "the point difference between the winner and loser will be above or below this given range".
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Moonroof posted...

Why would anyone who follows sports do this?

Because if it's just "Pick who wins" the returns may be very low if you're picking the favorite.

Like say you see Link (-5000) vs. Tanner. You'd be picking just the winner, no spreads. But that (-5000) means you'd need to bet 5000 to win just 100. It's a safe bet, but it has extremely low returns.

Spreads try to even it out by handicapping one side so the returns can be greater.
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it's not usually fun to bet straight up if the odds are really wide, like 4:1 or something - the payout sucks and it's a predictable match

betting on a spread offers you a better payout and a more interesting decision, and it gives you reason to watch an otherwise foregone conclusion

and yes, it makes it more accessible to casuals
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Right, but that given range is the expected difference. You might as well bet on the color of a randomly drawn card. I guess it adds appeal to watching the game/match you ordinarily wouldnt be interested in, if nothing else.

Moonroof posted...

Right, but that given range is the expected difference. You might as well bet on the color of a randomly drawn card. I guess it adds appeal to watching the game/match you ordinarily wouldnt be interested in, if nothing else.

Predicting the winner of a game is a lot different than predicting the exact score. Anything can happen within an individual game even if the favorite team wins no matter what.
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it effects the payout

if you bet without spread and the favorite is something like (-500) then you would need to bet $500 to get $100 back in profit

but if you bet the spread and cover you would only need to bet like $110 to get $100 profit
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Well I was referring to the sports bets where team A is favored to win by a spread of X points. I understand that it doesnt matter which team wins and that what matters is by how much. Its an added layer of difficulty meant to decrease ones chances of winning.

Moonroof posted...

Its an added layer of difficulty meant to decrease ones chances of winning.

...Yes. That's why it's a bet. Higher risk, higher reward.

It sounds like you do understand it.
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ScareChan posted...

it effects the payout

if you bet without spread and the favorite is something like (-500) then you would need to bet $500 to get $100 back in profit

but if you bet the spread and cover you would only need to bet like $110 to get $100 profit

So in this case, the lower chance of winning (spread) is offset by the lowered required bet amount. That makes sense.

Moonroof posted...

Its an added layer of difficulty meant to decrease ones chances of winning.

Yes, and by decreasing the chances of winning, you increase the payout if you're right.
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The part that was lost on me wasnt the higher payout.

Welll it works both ways

in my example if you bet a heavy favorite $100 and you just bet them to win, you could make $10 profit, but with the spread you would get almost equal money back. It doesnt effect how much you need to bet just the rate of return on the money you are betting

Like for example the Patriots tonight were favored by 14 points. They were for sure going to win. If you were confident they would win by more than the 14 points you would take the spread to get the higher return on investment. If you lack confidence you would take the Money Line, which just means the team has to win without the spread
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There are other bets too called Parlay, which means you make 2 or more bets at a time.

For this example you would take something like the patriots -14 and their overs (say its 40 for example). Instead of betting $10 on just one or the other, you have to win both bets and instead of just straight value its both values plus a multiplier (I think its like 1.5?)

so in example
$10 spread win - $10 back
$10 Over win- $10 win
$10 Parlay spread and over win- $35 win

And then there is another layer called Teaser

it takes Parlay bets and gives you bonus points

so if you had to win by 14 now its win by 8
if it had to be over 40 now its over 36

but this is a reduced rate which I think takes out the initial thing and goes straight multiplier. So if you bet $10 and hit this 2 part teaser you get like $20 back

very loose examples but it gets the point across
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This is basically to explain that spread is there to not just even the 'coin flip' like you said, but create another layer for vegas and other betting to try and make money. You have lower risk, higher reward, but its more easy for you to lose and them to make money
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I think you guys are getting too lost in the weeds here. For our purposes, here's why spread betting exists:

Betting on whether or not Luigi can beat Edgeworth is not interesting

Betting on whether or not Luigi can get 75% on Edgeworth is interesting

that's really all there is to it

And as far as sports goes, betting on Alabama winning is boring, but betting on whether or not they can cover 14 points against LSU or whatever is interesting

Well tc didnt seem to understand the concept at all so was trying to explain it to where they would understand it

if just talking about the contest then yeah, I would think its interesting for xstats and seeing if you have a pulse on the site
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