Handicapping 101
Understanding The Betting or Tote Board
Hope this helps my newer members who've made many requests.
(My "professional" subscribers already have a thorough understanding.)
Reading a football tote board to make your bets.
ID Team F.L. M.L. Total
509 Patriots + 4 + 180 42
510 Seahawks - 4 -200 42
What Everything Means:
a) 509/510 are the numbers (these change weekly) assigned to teams you may want to bet.
b) The Favored Line (F.L.):
The Seahawks are favored by 4 points, signified by the minus sign.
You win, if their margin of victory is 5 points or greater.
The result is called a push if they win by 4 points.
There is no profit or loss with a push.
c) The Money Line (M.L.):
For simplicity purposes, at -200, the Seahawks are 1-2 favorites.
You can bet on them to just win, without needing to cover the point spread.
A $100 wager would gross $50.
Your payout would be $150 ($100 bet + $50 win)
The Patriots are +180.
If you bet $100 on them to win, you would gross $180.
d) The Total:
This is the number set for total points scored in the entire game.
An under-wager means you are betting that less than 42 points will be scored.
The converse is true of the over-bet; you win if the total is greater than 42 points.
e) "Laying the points” (or the Seahawks -4):
This means you like Seattle to win by 5 or more.
f) “Covering the spread”
g) "Taking the points” (or the Patriots +4):
Your Payouts:
There are many ways to place bets on a game.
Let’s keep this simple and assume average takeouts of 10%.
a) If wagering at a sports book or casino you need to risk your bet plus the 10%.
To wager $100, you risk or pay the sports book $110.
b) If you’re wagering at a different venue (like maybe the corner bookmaker), who often advance credit, you might wager $100 to win $100.
Note that the example in (b) can vary depending on sources.
Composite Bets:
Parlays are a combination of wagers, including multiple team sides or totals.
All bets are grouped into a single wager.
All teams selected must win. One loss and the entire bet loses.
Finance 101:
Greater Risk = Greater Reward
But Also
Greater Risk = Diminished Rate of Conversion
Please note this advice from a previous newsletter:
I usually recommend, especially for beginners, to avoid parlays.
Arguments can be made for 2 or 3 team combinations.
The math involving 4 or more teams is prohibitive.
So that's a basic primer to get you started.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to reach out.
I'm here to help.
Best regards, John