• Odds Meaning Betting
• Sports Betting 101: What Is An Over/under?
• Betting 101: What Is Over Under Sports Betting?
• Under 2.5 Meaning In Betting
• Over Under Betting Meaning
• Sports Betting Terms: Gambling 101 Glossary

Unlike a point spread bet in which you are aligning yourself with one team, you’re betting on both teams – either their offenses or the defenses – when betting the over/under. Sports books set over/under scores on games based upon numerous factors. In the NFL, most over/under scores are set in the low-to-mid 40s.

An over–under or over/under (O/U) bet is a wager in which a sportsbook will predict a number for a statistic in a given game (usually the combined score of the two teams), and bettors wager that the actual number in the game will be either higher or lower than that number. For example, in Super Bowl XXXIX, most Las Vegas casinos set the over–under for the score of the game at 46.0. Before a game begins betting over or under the total points scored is usually a -110 wager. Bettors will wager $110 to win $100 for a pre-game totals bet. If bettors wager a lot more on one side of the total, the moneyline might change before the actual point total moves. At a certain point, the sportsbook will reset the total and the moneyline. The standard (and often implied) number is –110, meaning a successful bet of $110 would net $100 profit. This is the “juice” or “vigorish” (aka “vig”) for the house or sportsbook.

Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.

Sports Betting Odds Explained

Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.

American Style Sports Betting Odds

Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:

American Odds

• Matchup Odds
• New England Patriots +120
• Pittsburgh Steelers -140

The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.

The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.

The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.

A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.

Examples:

A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.

Examples:

Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.

In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).

The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.

Ready To Start Betting?MyBookie and BetNow are my two favorite sportsbooks and make betting very easy. You will also get a Free Money Bonus at each sportsbook if you follow either link above.

Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds

Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:

Odds Meaning Betting

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.

Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.

Points Betting is a unique sports betting option available only at PointsBet Sportsbook (currently in New Jersey and Iowa). This kind of point spread wager is based on the margin of victory or loss and can be very volatile, depending on how much risk a bettor wants to take on a game.

During the first week of the 2019 NFL season, one bettor decided to take a massive leap into Points Betting. One massive bet on the Ravens gave a lot of exposure to this relatively new form of point spread betting.

🚨BIG POINTSBETTING BET ALERT🚨

A client has placed a PointsBetting wager of $30,000 per point for the Ravens (-6) v. the Dolphins on Sunday! ⬇️

-Max Win/Loss: $600,000 👀 pic.twitter.com/akPHG3Xcvt

— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) September 6, 2019

This Points Betting wager was for $30,000 per point on the Baltimore Ravens -6 at Miami Dolphins. Unlike a point spread wager, the margin of victory in the game dictates how much the bettor wins or loses. The size of the win in this bet depended on the final score of the game. The Ravens covered and defeated the Dolphins 59-10.

The risk in this wager was capped at $600,000 for the bettor and PointsBet. Thanks to the unique wager and 49 point margin of victory, the bettor won $600,000. If this was a traditional -110 wager the bettor would have won $27,272.73. At the same time, this bettor could have also lost $600,000 if the result was reversed.

Points betting

Points Betting is a unique way to wager on sports that’s unique to PointsBet Sportsbook. Betting on point spreads with a -110 moneyline isn’t for everyone. The traditional wager can seem boring since there’s a fixed win or loss. Every point or yard in a football game could change how much is won or lost.

Sports Betting 101: What Is An Over/under?

A Points Betting wager allows a bettor to win or lose based on the outcome of the wager. The excitement of not knowing the potential amount of a win (or loss) can be exhilarating. Whether the wager is based on a point spread, total, or player prop, the wager isn’t known until the end of the game.

Betting 101: What Is Over Under Sports Betting?

Point spread points betting

Points Betting is different depending on the type of wager placed. Here’s how a point spread wager would differ depending on the final score:

• If a wager wins by one (1) point, a bettor would win 1x the original wager.
• If a wager wins by two (2) points, a bettor would win 2x the original wager.
• When a wager wins by wins by 10 points, a bettor would win 10x the original wager.

The same Points Betting multiplier rules apply if the wager loses by those points. If a bettor is on the wrong side of the wager they will lose the same amount.

The Ravens game versus the Dolphins had different parameters since the maximum win or loss was set at $600,000. The bettor had a 20x limit on their $30,000 Points Betting wager. This game was the largest payout in the short history of PointsBet operating in the US.

Points betting other markets

Points Bet offers more wagering markets than many US sportsbooks. Including alternative game odds and player props, there are often more than 200 ways to wager on games at PointsBet. There are also Points Betting options for player or game prop bets.

Under 2.5 Meaning In Betting

This is where Points betting really becomes a wagering opportunity that’s different from any other sportsbook. Here are some examples of individual Points Betting opportunities for football games:

Over Under Betting Meaning

• Receiving yards: How many yards will Antonio Brown have versus the Dolphins?
• Fantasy Points: How many points will Odell Beckham Jr. score versus the Jets?
• Rushing yards: How many yards will Ezekiel Elliott have against the Redskins?

PointsBet will set a number and the person making the Points Bet will choose how much to risk above or below. The win or loss will be determined based on the final results of each player.

Points betting market limits

Points Betting wagers can get out of control quickly as noted in the Ravens game versus the Dolphins. All Points Betting markets have a cap on the maximum win and maximum loss. This is different for each type of Points Betting scenario and is displayed on the bet slip.

Sports Betting Terms: Gambling 101 Glossary

The limits allow bettors to see potential winnings or losses. Predicting sports outcomes isn’t easy or everyone would be a winner. Sometimes games have unexpected results. While a huge win is great, a huge loss can hurt a bettor beyond the wallet. The Points Betting market limits allow the bettor to see the potential loss and protect themselves by keeping a wager within budget.