ELI5. How do they numbers in sports betting work. I get Oilers +1.5, but what does+160 mean?
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+1.5 is an example of a **spread**. This means that one team is an underdog by that number of points. So if you see Oilers +1.5, it means that they’re slightly more likely to lose the game than their opponents, so the bet is spread so that even if the other team wins, a bet on the Oilers will win if the score is within 1.5 points (so basically 1 point difference, 2 would go to the other team). Spread bets are typically even money if you’re betting casually with friends, or they’ll often be around 10% below even money if you’re doing it with a sportsbook (that 10% difference is called the vig; it’s the house edge for profit).
+160 is an example of ***odds betting.*** With this, there’s no spread, instead the odds change to incentivize people to bet. It’s always in a ratio to 100 – so if you see +160, it means that your bet of $100 would earn you $160 in winnings – you’re betting on an underdog, so you’ll get rewarded more. A negative number like -160 switches the direction – you’d have to bet $160 to win $100, because you’re betting on the more favored side. So in those bets, there’s typically no points spread, it’s win or lose, and the actual payout is adjusted to compensate.
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