What Does Price Mean In Sports Betting and Wagering?

by Doc's Sports - 10/11/2014

Nothing in this world is free. Everything we want costs money to get and now days the actual value of money has decreased which in turn has made products more expensive. Sometimes it’s so dramatic that the comparison between today and your parents/grandparent’s younger days is unbelievable. We’ve all heard the famous line (some of you reading this may even tell your kids this from time to time) “back in my day, we could get a pop and a bag of chips for .10 cents”. In today’s world, .10 cent candies cost more than .10 cents. Everything has a price tag and it is no different in sports betting. To bet a team, you must be willing to pay the price tag associate with the line and since the line is one of the most important factors to consider when placing a bet, finding the right price is crucial to your bankroll.

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What does Price Mean?

When it comes to sports betting, the term “price” refers to how much it will cost to make a particular bet. The price is associated with every wager type including money line, runline, puckline, prop bets, the point spread, the total and anything else you can think of. If you were to make a bet with a friend, the price would likely be even-money or +100. This means that regardless of the amount that’s bet, the winner would double their money immediately.

Sportsbook Point Spread Prices

Sportsbooks don’t operate on a strictly even-money business model. If they did, they would never be able to make any money over the long term, unless they had a significant edge over the betting public. Instead, sportsbooks charge a premium for your average lines.

The most common price associated with betting a particular team on the point spread is -110. This means that you have to bet $110 in order to profit $100 should your bet win. If you want to profit $200, you would need to bet $220 and this scale continuously grows higher with each wager. The reason -110 is the most common price, is that as long as they have balance on both sides of the coin, the extra $10 ensures books a profit per bet without any risk to them.

However, the price is subject to change and isn’t always -110. It can be different by .10 or .20 cents depending on the action the sportsbook anticipates. For popular lines, the prices could be anywhere from -115 upwards of -140. For the less popular lines, it is not uncommon to see a +110 line. This is the case when sportsbooks need to attract money on a particular side, thus offering up a better return on your investment.

Sportsbook Money Line and Total Prices

When looking at the price tags associated with money line bets, the prices are much different than those of point spread lines. The majority of the time you will have a favorite and underdog, much like the point spread, but return on investment is much lower or higher depending on which side you take. For example, if the Washington Nationals were taking on the Philadelphia Phillies, the Nationals will likely have a price of -240, with the Phillies checking in at +180. This tells the bettor that the Nationals are very strong favorites to win the game outright. However, in order to profit $100 on them, you would need to risk $240. If you decide to bet on the Phillies, you would profit $180 for every $100 you bet on them should they win.

If you are a totals bettor, the general rule of thumb is all prices are lined at -110. If the sportsbooks anticipate more action than normal, they have two options; move the line up or down by half a point, or increase the price the bettor needs to pay.

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Start:	November 21, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
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What Does Price Mean In Sports Betting and Wagering?

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