what the gambling terminology means when they say Straight, The Spread, and the Over plus or Minus a certain number?
In: Economics
Straight [up] – simply the winner. Miami 108 – Boston 106, Miami won straight up.
The Spread is an adjustment to the final score to account for perceived differences between teams. If Boston were a 2.5 point underdog (spreads often use half point adjustments to avoid ties or “pushes”), Boston gets a bonus at the end of the game, and a bet on Boston against the spread wins (Boston 108.5 – Miami 108). A bet on Miami against the spread would lose, because Miami didn’t “cover” (win by enough to exceed) the spread.
Over/under or Total looks at the point total in a game. If our hypothetical had a total of 205.5, then a bet on the Over wins (the total combined points exceeded 205.5).
Straight – bet on who wins the game, that’s it.
The spread – a 5 point spread means you bet on whether the favored team will win by at least 5. If they lose the game or they win by 1-4 points you lose the bet.
Over/under – bet on whether the combined score of both teams be over or under a certain number. In football it might be 42, in basketball 200 or something.
The previous 2 comments are wrong about what Straight betting means. What they’re describing is a “Moneyline” bet: the team you bet on wins, you win. All a “straight” bet means is that it’s by itself and not combined with anything. It’s the opposite of a “parlay”.
Source: work at a sportsbook.
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