Betting on football might be intimidating to new sports bettors. Thankfully, ZenSports makes it easy to place wagers and find all the info you need to make informed football bets.

New users will earn an unlimited 5% cash back on all the football bets, as well as other sports, that are placed in the first 15 days of signing up. In addition, you can earn more cash from referrals to give your account a boost. Take control of your betting potential today with ZenSports.

How Do Spreads Work?

Spreads are an interesting name for a bet. But how do they work and how much can you earn from them?

“The spread” is a term used for point spreads set by bookmakers to balance the playing field for teams with varying levels of skill. They place attention on how much a given team wins or loses.

Essentially, it acts as a handicap and allows fair comparisons and enhances the excitement of sports betting by leveling the playing field among teams with differing abilities. This betting type is one of the most popular options in the NFL and college football, but has also gained popularity in other sports leagues such as the NBA and NCAA basketball betting.

The opening spread bet for Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals favored the Rams, set at -3.5. Below is how the spread would have looked, before incoming bets changed the odds.

Los Angeles Rams: -3.5 (-110)

Cincinnati Bengals: +3.5 (-110)

Now, using this example from the Super Bowl, you can see how this stacks up for bettors below.

Handicap

Based on the season, the oddsmakers predicted a tight game between two teams and gave a 3.5-point handicap to even out the betting. “Hook” is a term used to avoid ties in major sports competitions by adding 0.5 to handicaps.

If a team scores the exact number for a spread and 0.5 is not added to it, the bet will be considered a “push”. If that is the case, all bets are returned and neither the sportsbook or bettor are losers. Below you can see how that applies to favorites and underdogs.

Favorite

According to the oddsmakers, Los Angeles was favored to win this match, as indicated by their -3.5 handicap. This means they are expected to win by at least three or more points, but they must win by four points at a minimum for this spread bet to be successful. If they only win by three points, the bet would be a loss, which actually happened since they won the game 23-20.

Underdog

Since oddsmakers favored the Rams to win, it positioned the Bengals as the less likely to win, making them the underdogs with a +3.5 handicap. This means the Bengals are anticipated to lose, but close to three points.

To win a point spread bet with the Bengals, they must either win the game outright or lose by precisely three points. If their loss margin is four points or greater, the point spread bet would not pay out. Since they lost by exactly three points in the Super Bowl, this bet paid out to those that chose their spread.

Vig

With sports betting, sportsbooks provide odds called the “vig” or “juice” for slang, which represents the cost of making the bet. Looking at the Super Bowl example, the sportsbook had a vig of -110 for both teams. This indicates that a bettor has to bet $110 to potentially take home $100 if the point spread bet plays out correctly, plus your original stake is returned back to you.

Covering

Covering the spread in football betting is a phrase used for when a team does exactly as the bet indicated and the favorite wins. In the example above, the Rams did not cover the spread because they only won by three points and the spread was set at -3.5.

What is Betting Against the Spread?

Betting against the spread is a phrase that means you are going against the favorites in the spread bet. You are backing the underdogs to either win the game or take the points and lose within the margin given.

Before making a point spread bet on Tennessee football with ZenSports, you need to understand why teams might cover and how the odds could change. Below are areas of interest that you should look over.

Who will cover?

The options are fairly simple in a football point spread bet. You simply choose to back the favorites or side with the underdogs to potentially win or lose within the margin of points.

However, it is important that you consider the amount of research available to come to an educated conclusion. Sportsbooks get their ideas for the spread from information too, so do not be afraid to do some digging yourself.

Why do spreads change?

Point spreads lines and odds will change, so the earlier you place the bet the better. There are a variety of factors that influence a line to move, such as:

• One team is earning more volume in bets than the other
• More money is flowing to one team versus the other
• Latest news indicates weather issues, injuries, etc. 

How to read the odds?

A minus (-) sign in front of a bet makes it the favorite. To earn $100, you need to wager the exact dollar amount. As shown above, a -110 means you must wager $110 to earn $100 if the bet pays out. The same goes for a -237 moneyline wager and so on, you must wager $237 to earn $100 for your winning bet.

If you see a plus (+) sign in front of a number, this is considered the underdog. For example, you could see a +115. For every $100 you wager on this, you will earn back $115 plus your original stake if the bet comes true.

What Determines a Point Spread?

Oddsmakers will analyze the two football teams at hand for a point spread. They will look over their own method of calculating what is an appropriate spread, but you can generally see where their heads are at by looking at:

• Recent or current trends heading into game
• Game location, home team or on the road
• Recent injuries or coaching changes
• Inclement weather or harsh wind

How Much Can You Win with ZenSports?

How much you win when placing a point spread bet will be determined by a few factors. These include the total amount of money you are wagering and the current price of the odds when you went to place your bets.

In addition, you can also earn more by referring your friends or others to ZenSports. These bonuses will stack up for six months and you will earn 3% of the total betting volume from them.

Photo Credit: Bet_Noire, iStock