The point spread is commonly known as just the “spread,” and is the number chosen by sportsbooks that they believe will encourage an equal number of people to wager on the underdog and the favorite. The negative value (-7.5) means the team is favored by 7.5 points.

What is Against the Spread (ATS)?

One of the most popular types of sports betting is betting against the point spread also known as ATS. The point spread is a number aka the “betting line” set by bookmakers at the sportsbook which is intended to even the playing field between two teams and give a reason for bettors to bet on either side of the game. The betting Favorite is considered the better team and listed with a Minus (-) sign while the Underdog is listed with a Plus (+) sign. A bettor wins his bet on the “Favorite” if the team wins the game by more points then the “spread or line”, the opposite is true for the “Underdog” where the bettor wins if the team loses by less then the spread or wins the game outright! There are two types of spread betting, the first is betting with the spread and the second is betting against the spread.

• About: TheSpread.com is the largest sports betting news site in the United States. We provide point spread news, odds, statistics and information to over 175 countries around the world each year. Our coverage includes all North American College and Professional Sports as well as entertainment, political and proposition wagering news.
• Spread bets are one of the most common across NBA betting online. A spread bet intends to “level the playing field,” so to speak. When a bookmaker offers you a bet on who will win an NBA game, the teams are never perfectly matched.
• Basketball Point Spreads Point Spread betting is basically betting by how much a certain team will win or lose. The whole concept of point spreads is based on the principle of underdogs and favorites.
• Point spreads are common in the NFL. NBA Point Spreads and NCAA Lines Reviewed After point spreads are established, you can then look at the moneyline bet. This is generally correlated to the point spread except it shows how money you can win based on your wager.

Betting With The Spread

When you bet with the spread it means you are taking the favorite to win and cover the spread. For example in the NFL the Dallas Cowboys are Favored at -3 over the Philadelphia Eagles. Taking the Dallas Cowboys -3 means you are betting with the spread and want the Cowboys to win by MORE then 3 points.

Las Vegas Nba Point Spread

Betting against the spread means you are taking the Underdog and the points in a game. To win you want the “underdog” to either win the game outright OR lose by less then the “Point Spread” you are given. A example of this we will use the following. The New England Patriots -7 vs NY Jets +7. In this example we are taking the underdog the NY Jets and +7 points. In order for us to win our bet one of two things must happen. First the Jets win the game OR the Jets lose the game but the final score has the Jets losing by LESS then 7 points. Should the final score be exactly 7 points this is a push and your bet is refunded.

What is ATS in Betting?

ATS is short for Against The Spread! Its a term used to track how well one team does against the spread meaning their won/loss record based on the spread rather then their regular wins and losses.

You get your original bet back plus your winnings. For example if you bet $110 to win $100 you would receive $210 back.

What if the result of the point spread bet is a loss?

You lose your entire original bet. For example if you bet $110 to win $100 you would lose $110.

This is considered a “push” and you are refunded your original bet back. For example if you bet $110 to win $100 you would get the $110 back.

How do you bet against the spread?

This is called a straight bet. A straight bet is the most common type of bet for betting on the NFL, NBA, College Football & Basketball. It uses the the point spread: When betting a straight bet you are betting on the team to “cover the spread the point spread”. Referring to our examples above you are either Betting with the spread or Betting against the spread.

This is same as betting against the spread however it may be used in NFL Pickem type pools rather the placing a straight bet.

Here are some wagering examples of bets Against the Spread

NFL – Football:

Team: NY Giants -7

Team: Dallas Cowboys +7

Final Score: NY Giants 28 – Dallas Cowboys 20

If you took the NY Giants as your pick at the sportsbook against the spread you would have won your bet! 28-7=21 Final score against the Spread is 21-20 Giants win!

NBA – Basketball

Team: Golden State Warriors -10

Nba Point Spreads Today

Team: Denver Nuggets +10

Final Score: Golden State 99 – Denver 90

If you took the Golden State Warriors as your pick at the sportsbook against the spread you would have lost your bet! 99-10=891 Final score against the Spread is 89-90 Denver Wins and covers against the spread, you would have needed to take the Nuggets +10 to win this bet ATS at a Vegas Sportsbook.

Other Information:

ATS in sports betting means – Against the Spread. Most sports bettors and handicappers use the acronym when referring to a teams won loss record against the spread AKA ATS.

Related Topics In Our Sports Betting Guide:

If you need the NBA betting odds explained to you so that you know that you are making the right bets, this is the page for you. The staff at ExplainBettingOdds.com loves to bet on the NBA and we are happy to help others understand how the betting lines work. The NBA plays 82 games during the regular season, plus a rather lengthy postseason. These all present a number of opportunities to bet on the NBA. Oddsmakers and online sportsbooks form a ton of NBA betting lines throughout the course of the season. And there are even odds up when the season is not in play. With the accessibility of betting odds for sports at bettor's fingertips, thanks to online sportsbooks and the wide use of the Internet, sports betting has really taken off. The NBA is one of the most popular sports in the world, with basketball being played all over. So it only makes sense that the NBA would be one of the leaders when it comes to oddsmakers forming lines. Here on this page, it is our goal to inform you about the basic betting lines you will see for NBA games, and throughout the course of the NBA Season. This way, you can go into an online sportsbook equipped with the knowledge about what they are offering, and whether you think it is a good line to take advantage of with a wager.

NBA Point Spreads Explained

For every game on the NBA schedule, oddsmakers will install what is known as a point spread. A point spread establishes a favorite in the game, which is the team predicted to win, and an underdog in the game, which is the team predicted to lose. But not every point spread is the same. Oddsmakers might think that one favorite is bigger than another. They will install a spread according to how much the favorite should win by, where the favorite will have to give points away. And while the favorite gives points away, the underdog receives the points. This essentially evens the hypothetical playing field, as in real life the teams obviously do not give or take points from each other. This is only done for betting the spread purposes. Once the spread is set, a wager can be made on either team covering that line. For the favorite, it's a bet to win by more than the spread. For the underdog, it's to lose by less than the number, or win the game outright.

NBA Quarter Betting Odds Explained

There are also what are known as quarter betting lines for the NBA. These operate just like point spreads for the whole game, only broken up into the 12 minute quarters. These Lines are obviously much closer than the overall game line, but wagers are made on teams covering the spreads.

Explanation Of How To Read 1st Half NBA Odds

A first half wager is made on the betting line which is installed for the first half of play only. This line will most likely be cut in half from the overall game line, or right around there. The bet is made on which team will cover by the time the first half is over. Once it gets to half time, this betting line is over and the rest of the game has no effect on this outcome.

NBA Moneylines Explained

Betting the moneyline is another form of a straight wager. Though instead of a point spread, the moneyline bet is placed on the team to win the game straight up, with no spread involved. If you think the Magic will beat the Hawks, bet on Orlando without a point spread. Sounds pretty easy right? Well it definitely is an easy wager to make. However, because of the fact that it is technically easier to win a bet on the moneyline, the payouts are a lot different. You will have to risk a lot more on a favorite to win versus an underdog, and the profit is not very high. However, a bet on the underdog on the moneyline could be very profitable, because their chances of winning the game straight up are less.

NBA Over / Unders + Game Totals Explained

The third part of the basic game lines installed for every matchup is betting on the Over / Under odds. Here, oddsmakers set down a total for the combined score that the two teams will put up in the game. The bet is then made on the actual total for the game going over or under that mark. You simply add up the total of the two teams score, and then compare it to what you bet and see if you won. Payouts for this bet are right around even money.

NBA Team Props

NBA Team prop betting odds are formulated for the match ups throughout the course of the season, but can also be odds formed relating to the season. As for the games, NBA team props can cover a range of topics. An example of an NBA team prop might be, 'which team will score 20 points first?' This bet is then placed, and the team that reaches 20 points first will win. From there, the rest of the game doesn't relate to this wager. Think of NBA Team props are smaller wagers within the game, though as far as money placed on these props it can be just as much as a point spread wager on the game.

NBA Player Props

NBA Player props are bets formed on players based on their performances in a game or on the season as a whole. As for the game player props, they can be a number of different things, usually revolving around points scored, rebounds, steals, assists and other stats accumulated for a game. The bets will be on the over or under for a player's statistics. For example, the total number of points that LeBron James will score against the Celtics on any given night. The bet will be made on James scoring more or less than the installed line.

How Live Betting NBA Odds Work

Live betting is a lot of fun for the NBA. With a number of games each week, live betting during the NBA season can be quite active as well. Not every online sportsbook offers live betting, but the majority of them do. When it comes to the NBA, live betting can feature a bunch of different lines, including alternate game spreads, team props, and player props. Online sportsbooks will list which games are available to bet live, and which games are on the schedule coming up.

NBA Championship Futures Odds Explained

From the moment that the NBA championship from the previous year is won, NBA Championship futures odds for the upcoming season are formed. These odds are formed on the teams betting lines to win the championship. They stay up all season long, going into and through the regular season where we could see a lot of changes depending on the performances of teams.

Bovada Sportsbook - Best Sports Betting Site For NBA

There are no problems when signing up for an account with Bovada. There are plenty of games offered here and most of the time. When you have sports like the NBA on your site, it only makes more fans sign up for an account. There are so many different prop bets there for players to bet on that the features here are always filled with plenty of players. There are features like live betting and mobile betting which means there will be more players that will get involved in making a lot of money. This is for the most part the place to go and the reason is simply because of how much money you can win! Winning money is the goal and win players win big, this brings other players to join Bovada as well!

SportsBetting Sportsbook - NBA Bets On SportsBetting

People always try to figure out what is the best place to place their bets and capitalize big on games. SportsBetting is the best without question. There are so many sports for players to bet on and NBA sticks out as one of the better ones. This is why all of the players like to use SportsBetting because, with all the games that are played, players have many bets on SportsBetting that could change their life. The mobile betting feature and the live betting feature sticks out as one of the few options that players can get and make money on. Sportsbetting has all the games and player prop bets and combination bets for players so this only means big dollar bills for players with a SportsBetting account.

BetOnline Sportsbook - BetOnline Number One With NBA Bets

This is where all the players come in and see that NBA games are on BetOnline and they can place their best bets on site. Most of the time players know that when they want to play big, they choose the best banking method, which BetOnline has many of, and then look at the odds and prop bets that are here for players to check out. More money is the plan for bettors when placing wagers when they get the chance to win big on BetOnline, they take advantage of that and play big from time to time on these NBA games. There are also bonuses that are on BetOnline so most of the time soon as a player signs in to their account, all these see is promotions and bonuses that could change the amount they play or what bets they place. BetOnline has it all.

MyBookie Sportsbook - NBA Bets On MyBookie Top Tier

MyBookie is known for a lot of things and the main they are known for is players making money. The reason for this is because of all the sports that are here for players to make money off of. The variety of games and the sports on MyBookie is just one thing that players tell other players which is why they bring in other players to MyBookie. There is no reason for players to be bored on MyBookie because of all the sports on this site including the NBA which is one of the most important popular sports out there for fans. The games turn very fast so that is one reason why MyBookie has the live betting feature here as well for players to use as a betting option as well. With the mobile betting feature here as well, the number one thing that players won't have a problem with is placing their bets when they leave their house. NBA season is long so make sure to have a MyBookie account so money can flow every night!