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Sports Odds Explained

How to read College Football Las Vegas Odds

Get the latest sports betting odds for NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA football and NCAA basketball, including spread, money line and over/under. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below. American Style Sports Betting Odds Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”.

Similar to our Money Line and 1st Half Odds, every matchup is listed in order of Rotation and those numbers are preceded by the Date and Time of the College Football game.

The rotation for college football games typically lists them by scheduled starting time, which can lead to some confusion since the number will remain the same even if the games wind up changing due to television networks often shifting around action to present more attractive matchups. Home teams are listed at the bottom and will therefore be your even-numbered squad.

The numbers next to the teams are called Spreads or Point-Spreads.

Favorites are the teams laying points, which is represented by a minus (-) sign. The team in the Underdog role is getting points, which is represented by the plus (+) symbol that you wouldn’t see on the board but would be represented next team onto you betting ticket or slip. You can add the spread to your team’s final score and have that edge throughout the game.

If there is no favorite or underdog, the line is called pick’em and is represented by (PK). Winner takes it. The amount of points a team is favored by is set by oddsmakers on Sunday afternoons and that figure fluctuates throughout the week based on the amount of money coming in on bets.

Opposite from the spread you’ll find the Total, which represents what oddsmakers believe will be the combined number of points scored between the teams. That number also increases or decreases based on bets coming in on the Over or Under.

How to Bet College Football Las Vegas Odds

The key to wagering successfully in college football spread betting is to decide early how many points you’re willing to lay with Favorites and to get in at the lowest possible spot.

If you’re going to back the Underdog, make sure you’re getting the most points possible entering the game. The skill in this often requires you to forecast how a game will be wagered since we often see opening lines bet up over the course of the week due to the majority of the money coming in on the favorite.

Of course, getting in too early can often backfire if a better number appears over the course of the week or if injuries that are typically not announced until coaches give status reports on Monday press conferences dramatically alter expectations. There’s also a big rush on betting action just before the kickoff of any game, which means you may be best off waiting until kickoff approaches to get the right number.

Take the 2019 college football Big 12 matchup between Texas-West Virginia as a prime example. The Longhorns opened as an 11.5-point favorite and won 42-31 after the Mountaineers scored the game’s final touchdown with :48 left. West Virginia backers who got in early prevailed on that score, while Texas bettors who guessed wrong and got in too early caught a “bad beat.” Those who waited and laid only 10.5 points still cashed. Get in at the best number!

College Football Opening Line

Opening Lines in college football are typically set on Sunday afternoons in the current week and you usually see immediate action cause line movement. The Spread is based on a rough projection of a score for every matchup, although oddsmakers have a good idea of what side the betting public will want to bet and usually saddles that team with an additional point or three. The same goes for the Total, which projects the combined number of points expected in a contest.

These numbers are based on simulations that take a number of statistical factors into account in addition to baking in injuries, a homefield advantage that is typically worth three points and any other potential edges. Teams coming off bye weeks are usually given an edge thanks to increased preparation time and fresher bodies. Teams coming in on short rest or that have to travel out of their element typically find themselves penalized in a point spread.

UCLA at Cincinnati (-4)

In the above example, UCLA was made a four-point underdog against Cincinnati in the 2019 season opener for both. The betting public jumped on the team from the higher-regarded conference, perhaps believing that the West-Coast team heading more than halfway across the country was being penalized too harshly and the line closed at 2.5 points. Cincinnati prevailed 24-14. The opening line of 4 was accurate in calling for a larger margin of victory than the closing line, which is where the ‘opener’ ultimately ends up.

VI Consensus College Football Line

When looking at the numbers over the course of the week, you’ll see constant line movement on our odds and matchup pages. All of the betting properties we track create their own lines and we display and track all of their movements in the VegasInsider.com Consensus Line. At any given point in the week, from when the line opens until just before kickoff, you’ll see different numbers representing the current lines. Those may vary from one another since properties offer up their own lines, so VI’s Consensus Line represents the one that appears most commonly.

The Total is also available on the VI Consensus line and similarly consists of the current betting line which most frequently among our list of Las Vegas and Global sportsbooks. For an example, in the most recent National Championship between LSU and Clemson, there was significant line fluctuation throughout the two-week lead up. LSU was laying 5.5 to 6 points in multiple locations as the favorite. The battle of Tigers ended with LSU blowing out Clemson 42-25, covering the spread handily.

Table of Contents

• Oddschecker
• Easy Odds
• Odds Shark
• Oddspedia
• Oddsportal

The beauty of sports is that when you are enjoying the fast-paced action, you can also log on to the internet and bet on the outcome. And considering the vast online sportsbook on the internet, punters can bet on their favorite event no matter the country or the time it is being played. However, getting a tidy profit from sports betting is easier said than done, especially if you don’t understand the basics of online betting.

But since finding value is a secret ingredient to making good cash from sports betting, as a player you need to find sites that give you the best odds. And while there are plenty of legitimate and reliable online betting sites, there are others that are unsafe. Therefore, punters must do due diligence on the platforms they are betting on to ensure that they don’t lose their hard-earned cash to fraudulent betting websites. Before you decide to place a bet, make sure you compare the odds offered by different platforms. If you want to make a kill from sports betting, here are some of the best sports websites to get odds.

Related: How to Build a Sports Betting App with Python

Oddschecker

Oddschecker is not only one of the oldest, but the most popular odds comparison website. This platform helps you to compare odds offering from various bookmakers from around the world. The first thing you see when you log on to this site is the variety of sports they cover. The major ones include horse racing, football, golf, and greyhounds. Other events covered on this site include ice hockey, rowing and table tennis.

Pros

• The site boasts direct links to major sportsbooks around the globe
• Odds offered on this platform are free.
• The site has a dedicated Oddschecker app for mobile users
• The site is neatly laid out with various categories differentiated from each other using distinct colors

Cons

• The site contains a lot of information which can be overwhelming to beginners

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Easy Odds

Besides offering odds comparison for various bookmakers, this site provides additional information such as links to free bets, betting tips, and bonus offers and promotions. This platform boasts a unique dropping odds feature, a tool that helps you spot events where the market is moving faster. When you sign up as a member on this platform, you will be able to see lots of sure bets and set up alerts to be notified when odds reach a particular level. Games covered include football, rugby, horseracing, darts, cricket and much more.

Pros

• Features a tab that shows dropping odds
• Provides more sporting information besides the odds
• Ability to link directly to various bookies

Cons

• Their wide range of features makes navigation on the website a little challenging

Odds Shark

Odd Shark is one of the global authorities when it comes to the provision of online sports betting odds and other gaming paraphernalia. Whether you are looking for consensus data on soccer/football, hockey or basketball, this is your one-stop destination for top-notch odd comparison. It features odds from various sportsbooks including the United States’ best online sportsbook, Bovada. This site covers odds for a vast array of sports including NFL, NBA, soccer, golf, boxing, NHL, and WNBA among others.

Pros

• Boasts an extensive list of sports odds
• Offers more than sports odds
• Features live bet odds from renowned sportsbooks

Cons

• Offers more sports news than odds

Oddspedia

Oddspedia provides value to players by offering the most comprehensive and reliable sports odds comparison. The site boasts unparalleled sports coverage and displays odds for various competitions from all over the world. The site helps bettors to improve their winning chances by providing detailed odds and guaranteeing the quality of bookmakers displayed on the platform. Sports covered on this website include football, baseball, tennis, ice hockey, volleyball, American football, and handball among others.

Pros

• Betting odds are updated after 20 seconds
• Features dropping odds tool that can be intuitive for finding excellent betting opportunities
• Also boasts a ton of other sports resources such as live scores, sports news and more

Cons

• Limited direct links to many bookmakers

Oddsportal

Oddsportal is another fantastic website where punters can compare sports odds from more than 60 of the major bookmakers. The site comes with outstanding tools such as the dropping odds and blocked odds to help you follow current market trends, as well as the in-play odds for in-play bets. Some of the games featured on this website include football (soccer), basketball, tennis, handball, American football, hockey, and volleyball, among others.

Pros

• Registering on this site allows you to customize your bookmakers, select your preferred sports, odds format, betting market type, and time zone.
• Odds are updated after 15 minutes
• Boasts a crisp and user-friendly websites

Cons

• Contains too many details that can overwhelm first-time bettors

Summary: Best Websites for Sports Odds