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).
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