A +5 spread means the underdog team needs to lose by fewer than 5 points. +5 is a good number for football betting because it makes up for a field goal and a few stray points. It can still be applied to other sports to great effect. You might find it frequently in basketball betting, too.
Betting odds and lines from a sportsbook can be confusing at first, but they aren't that hard to understand. In order to help you understand betting odds, we will use +1.5 as an example. When you see a +1.5 in front of a team's name, that means that they are 1.5-point underdogs in that matchup.
Now, let's use an example of a team that is a 6.5 point underdog, or +6.5. For the underdog to win the point spread bet, they can either win or lose by less than 6.5 points. If the underdog team wins by 30 points or loses by less than 6.5, then the outcome is the same.
Money line betting is simply wagering on the contest based on a given price rather than a point spread. The team wagered on has to win the game outright, regardless of the score. The minus sign (e.g.-130) always indicates the favorite and the amount you must bet to win $100.
By betting on the spread, you wager on whether you think that Team 1 will win by more than 8.5 points (so 9 points or more). Conversely, if you wanted to bet on Team 2 +8.5, you are wagering that Team 2 will either win or only lose by fewer than 8.5 points (so 8 points or fewer).
By betting on the spread, you wager on whether you think that Team 1 will win by more than 8.5 points (so 9 points or more). Conversely, if you wanted to bet on Team 2 +8.5, you are wagering that Team 2 will either win or only lose by fewer than 8.5 points (so 8 points or fewer).
By betting on the spread, you wager on whether you think that Team 1 will win by more than 8.5 points (so 9 points or more). Conversely, if you wanted to bet on Team 2 +8.5, you are wagering that Team 2 will either win or only lose by fewer than 8.5 points (so 8 points or fewer).
A 9.5-point spread means that one team is getting +9.5, and the other is getting -9.5. The team getting +9.5 wins the bet if they win the game, or they lose by nine points or less. On the other side, the team with -9.5 only has a chance to win the bet if they win by 10 points or more.