The point spread is one of the most popular sports betting options when it comes to betting on college football and the NFL. A point spread is a figure set by the oddsmakers that really serves as a margin of victory. The team you bet on has to ‘cover’ or beat that margin for you to win your bet. Spread bets pay close to even money minus the sports books juice. However, the favorite must win by at least the number of games he is laying via the spread. And the underdog can win less games but it must be by less than the number of games he is getting in order for your bet to win.

Sports betting requires you to learn and know a lot of things that you otherwise didn’t know. From choosing the top betting sites to learning the basic mechanics of sports betting, you need to understand a lot of new things like odds, wagers, etc. Moreover, once you get into it, you will further come across more unknown stuff. For example, there are tonnes of different methods to display odds.

One of the classic ways to do so is via plus (+) and minus (-). This blog will explain what these two symbols signify in the betting world and how they are important. Now, + and – could either refer to point spreads or betting odds in sports betting. Read on to find out more!

Plus (+) And Minus (-) Symbols in Point Spread

Minus Spread Betting Odds

In case of the point spread, minus or “-” indicates the favourite. On the other hand, the plus or “+” is to indicate the underdog. Let’s try to understand this better with an example. For example, suppose you place a wager on the Dallas Cowboys as a -7 to beat the Green Bay Packers as a +7. This means that Cowboys are your favourite and the Packers have been marked as the underdog.

Now, if the Cowboys win over 7 points, then you will win the bet. Likewise, if the Packers loses by any score less than 7 points, then you win your bet.

Plus (+) and Minus (-) Symbols in Odds

Firstly, what is meant by odds in sports betting? Odds play a key role in deciding many important factors in sports betting. These essentially, calculate the payout to be received from the winning wagers and tell us the chances of a wager to win. Now, odds are represented in terms of money and these are called Moneyline odds.

Betting Spread Explained Minus Or Plus

If you see an odd with a – symbol preceding it, for example, -200, then that is said to be odds on. Similarly, the ones with a + preceding them are known as odds against. Now, $100 is taken as the standard. Odds on or a minus (-) indicates that the amount needs to be wagered if you want to win $100. For example, -150 odds means that your stake needs to be $150 if you want to win $100.

What Does Minus Spread Mean

Don’t get confused here because you won’t be losing anything. Upon winning, you will earn $100 in addition to your initial stake, i.e. $150. So, your total earning will stand at $250. On the other hand, odds against or a plus (+) symbol tells you how much you’ll win against a successful $100 wager. So, +200 implies that you will win $200 if your wager is successful.

Conclusion

That was all about plus and minus symbols in sports betting from our end. Knowing about ‘+’ and ‘–’ in betting is important because you will be dealing with these all the time. If you don’t understand what these are, then you’ll feel very much lost while actually taking part in sports betting. Reading this blog will help you gain a clear understanding of the meaning of ‘+’ and ‘-’ in sports betting.