What does it mean to “bet against the spread”? Learn ATS bets quickly

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Massachusetts sports betting is set to launch on Friday, March 10, 2023, at 10:00 am EST.

With the excitement building and many new bettors looking to make their first legal sports bets this week, we’re covering one of the most common ways to bet on sports here.

Almost all North American sports will include some version of a spread in their wagering options at Massachusetts online sportsbooks. What is a spread and how do you bet it is what we’ll cover here.

Nearly every game offered for wagering will include a spread or point spread option.

The spread is a handicap assigned to a team by oddsmakers for that particular game. This is done to essentially level the playing field from a betting standpoint. If we look in the NBA for example, obviously the Boston Celtics are the far superior team in a matchup between one of the league’s lower-ranked teams like say the Portland Trail Blazers.

You can bet on either team to simply win the game by any amount of points on what is called the moneyline, in predicting a straight-up winner. However, because Boston is the much better team and is very likely to just win the game, you will win very little profit on your wager if you simply bet the Celtics to win. But, a wager on the Trail Blazers for the same amount would return an unlikely, albeit larger profit.

This is where the spread comes into play. Oddsmakers will assign the Celtics as a favorite by a certain amount of points. For their recent game this week on Wednesday when the Celtics were hosting the Trail Blazers, that spread was set at 10 points. Boston was a 10-point favorite, while Portland was a 10-point underdog.

Now that you know what the spread in sports betting is and how they’re created, let’s look at an example of how to bet on the spread in sports betting. This can also be referred to as betting “ATS”, as in ‘against the spread”.

What this means is if you had wagered on Boston on the spread as a 10-point favorite, they would’ve needed to win by 11 or more points for you to win your wager. Had they won by less than ten points or lost the game outright, your wager would have lost. Had Boston won by exactly 10 points, you would have neither won nor lost. The wager would have been a “push” or essentially a tie, resulting in your bet being refunded.

The opposite though is also true had you chosen to bet on Portland. Betting the Trail Blazers as 10-point underdogs means you would win so long as they didn’t lose by more than nine points. Had they lost by exactly ten points, you’d get a refund. Had they lost by more than ten points, you obviously would have lost.

Because Boston was assigned this larger number or spread to win by, the odds are longer or will pay out more in your favor. They will typically be -110 for either team on this spread wager. You can see this displayed in the screenshot below from DraftKings Sportsbook from the NBA odds available on Wednesday. They were -490 odds under moneyline column to just win the game by any amount of points. We can find this bet under the NBA tab and then under the “Game Lines” section.

As mentioned, the odds on a spread wager are typically -110. This means that if you make a $100 bet and you win, you would receive $191. Of that, $100 is your original wager and $91 would be profit. Essentially you have a chance at a 91-percent return on investment (ROI).

The difference between your wager amount and the profit (the $9) is called the vig or vigorous (or even the juice), that the sportsbook charges for taking your wager.

If you’re looking for a full $100 return, you would need to wager $110, to receive back $210 if your wager wins ($110 being your original wager, and $100 being profit). This is just a basic example and obviously, you can wager more or less than $100 when placing a bet once Massachusetts online sports betting launches Friday.

So let’s look at one more example with a screenshot from making an actual $10 bet on the spread from that Portland vs. Boston NBA game.

Below you can see we’ve chosen to make a $10 bet on the Celtics to cover the 10-point spread. That $10 wager will return a payout of $19.09, with $9.09 being your profit. Once you’ve clicked on “Boston -10″ in the spread column, that bet moves to your betslip which is seen at the bottom of this screenshot.

When making your legal Massachusetts sports bets, you’ll see a spread offered for most sports. NBA basketball and NFL football will be the most common sports with a spread offer. However, similarly, NHL hockey offers a puck line, MLB offers a run line and soccer wagering will also have a spread or handicap betting market depending on your USA betting site of choice.

Be sure to sign up at a few of the newest legalized Massachusetts online sportsbooks, to get the top promotions and to be able to shop around for the best odds and point spreads for your favorite sports.

If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org to speak with a trained specialist to receive support. Specialists are available 24/7. Services are available in multiple languages and are free and confidential.

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