As seen on the predicitions portion of my site, the point spreads are up for week 1. Is anyone on this message board interested in that, and if so, do you see anything you like? I definitely do, but I'd like to hear some feedback.
Ok, lets take Detroit at Chicago as an example. The line is Bears by 3½. When betting, you don't pick which teams win, you have to decide whether a team will cover the point spread or not. What I mean is, if you bet on Chicago, they have to win by more than 3½ for you to win money, since the line is 3½. If Chicago wins 21-20, you lose because they didn't win by more than 3½.
Conversely, if you bet on Detroit, they have to win or lose by less than 3½. In my 21-20 example, if you bet on Detroit, you win. If Detroit loses 24-20, you lose.
I hope that helped. The lines for every game are available under Predicitions.
A ½ is there for a reason. Think about it. What's the difference between Bears by 3 and Bears by 3½? If Chicago wins 24-21, no matter who you bet on, you don't win. This is called a push. If you bet, say $50, you lose 10% of it but get the rest back. So, you lose $5 in a push. However, if you bet on the Bears to win by more than 3½ and they win 24-21, you lose all of your $50.
Okay: This is the line. Detroit at Chicago. Chicago by 3.
Say you want to bet money on the game... You like Chicago. So, you bet $50.
If Chicago wins, say, 27-17, you win $50. If they lose, you lose $50.
Here's the catch. Since the line says "Chicago by 3", they have to win by more than 3 for you to win money...
If Chicago wins 24-20, you still win $50. If they win 24-23, you lose $50 because they did not win by more than 3 (that's what the line was).
If Chicago wins 24-21, they only won by 3. That's what the line was. So, its basically a tie, or a push. In that case, you get your money back minus 10%. So, $50-$5 = $45.
I don't make up the lines. That's what Vegas does. What about the game: Arizona at St. Louis? If it was only St. Louis by 1, everyone would bet on St. Louis. That's why the line on that game is St. Louis by 9. If you bet on the Rams, they have to win by more than 9.
Okay now that you get it, do you like any teams with the point spread? For example, I like the Cardinals in the Rams by 9 game. I think the Cards will either win or lose by less than 9.
I didn't project anything yet. Sorry, I didn't explain. Those projected lines aren't what I thought the scores would be, they are what I thought Vegas would make the lines. I think that's pretty useful in sports betting. About a week before the opener, I'll post my detailed game predictions.
