Our Rules/ Straight Bets including Sides, Totals and Moneylines

Straight bets are the most common type of sports bet at QuickSilver Sports and are a single bet on the outcome of a game. They can generally be broken down into three types;

  • Side or Point Spread
  • Total or Over/Under
  • Moneyline
Side or Point Spread

When two teams of varying strengths play, sports books offer a ‘point spread’ on the ‘side’ or team. The point spread is the number of points that the favoured team is expected to win by. The point spread will then be added to one team's score to determine which side won the bet (which might be different from who actually won the game).

For example if the New England Patriots are playing the Miami Dolphins and New England is favoured to beat Miami by 7 points, that means that if you pick New England to win, they have to win by more than 7 points for you to win your bet.

If they win by less than 7 points or lose the game, you lose your bet. If they win by exactly 7 points (the point spread), the result is a tie for betting purposes and your original bet is refunded.

Alternatively if you pick Miami to win, they must either win the game or you can still win your bet if Miami lose by less than the point spread of 7 points. If they lose by exactly 7 points, the result is a tie for betting purposes and your original bet is refunded.

The favourite is indicated by a minus sign and the underdog by a plus sign. If the teams are evenly matched and there is no point spread, the teams will be displayed as PK or 0, which means the point spread is zero.

The result of the game for betting purposes is determined by taking the actual score and subtracting points from the favourite’s score or adding points to the underdog's score. For our example, New England would be -7 or Miami would be +7. In other words, we would subtract 7 points from the Patriots final score or add 7 points to the Dolphins final score to determine the winner for betting purposes.

Total or Over/Under

A bet on the total is a wager on the total number of points scored in the game by both teams combined. You can bet on whether the actual number of total points scored is over or under the line posted. The total points scored include points scored in overtime unless otherwise noted.

Moneyline

Baseball betting and some other sports events are handled a little differently than football, basketball and hockey. Oddsmakers don't set a point spread for baseball games. Instead, they set a moneyline. The moneyline gives the odds that one team will simply beat another.

The easiest way to understand a moneyline is to think of it as an indication of the amount you need to bet to win $100 (or 100 of whatever currency you are betting in) or the amount you will win if you bet $100.

Money lines are expressed with a negative number, say -110, or a positive number, say +110. A negative money line number indicates what you must wager to win $100, and a positive money line number indicates what you will win if you wager $100.

If you bet $110 on a team with a money line of -110, and they win, you will win $100 (plus return of your original $110 bet). If you bet $100 on a team with a money line of +110, and they win, you will win $110 (plus return of the original $100 bet). Unlike point spread bets, the teams do not have to win by any particular number of points.

It should be remembered that you do not have to bet an amount equal to the money line number. You can bet more or less and the payoff simply becomes a proportional amount. For example, if you bet $10.50 on a money line of -105, and your bet wins, you will win $10. If you bet $50 on a money line of +110, and win, you will win $55.

 

A money line is the odds or payout amount expressed as a number on it’s own, or with a point spread. Just as –110 is laying 110 to win 100, so then at a –140 money line, the player would be laying 140 to win a 100. When the player has a positive money line such as +110 he then would know that he is laying 100 to win 110 or at a +140 money line, the player is laying 100 to win 140. The money line is also used in conjunction with a point spread such as with the Puck line in hockey where you see –1/2 a goal and –140. In this case the player is giving up ½ a goal and is laying 140 to win 100. This hybrid line can also be used in baseball with the run line or in shading odds such as in the over/under. When the player sees an over in baseball at 9 ½ - 130 he knows that going over will cost 130 to win 100 instead of the usual 110 to win 100.