What Is Spread Betting At PointsBet

Mike McDermott on June 18, 2023

When PASPA was overturned in Murphy v. NCAA in May 2018, the sports betting industry changed forever. Not only did it pave the way for legalized sports betting outside of Nevada and the states that were grandfathered into PASPA, but it also created an opportunity for new sportsbook operators to enter the United States market.

An opportunity for a revolutionary sportsbook like the Australia-based PointsBet Sportsbook.

PointsBet has “fixed odds” betting, which is the industry standard of betting the line with the vig taken into account. When people talk about betting odds, they are talking about fixed odds, which are available at every sportsbook in the industry and are the default setting for sportsbooks.

PointsBet takes it one step further.

What is spread betting or “PointsBetting” at PointsBet Sportsbook?

Spread betting also referred to as PointsBetting is something exclusive to PointsBet it offers a higher-risk, higher-reward way to bet on sports in which every point matters. The more your bet covers the spread the more you win, while the more you are wrong the more you can lose.

Let’s consider the fixed odds “spread” for a football game. Maybe the New York Giants are playing the Dallas Cowboys with a total of 45 and a spread of Cowboys -3. With fixed odds betting, you bet over 45 or under 45 and Cowboys -3 or Giants +3. Those are your options on that game for a fixed odds bet on the side or total.

With spread betting aka PointsBetting, the total of 45 and the line of -3 are only a starting point for your bet. If you decide to go with the spread betting/PointsBetting option, you will still bet against the total of 45 or the line of -3, but your payout increases with each point above that line the game finishes.

Here are some possible winning and losing outcomes:

Cowboys win 37-31 and you have a spread bet on Cowboys -3 for $10. With spread betting, your winnings are multiplied based on the amount the team wins by. In this example the Cowboys won by 6, you would win $10 x 3 (points over the line of -3) and get a $30 payout!
Cowboys win 45-31 a spread bet on Cowboys -3 for $10. In this example the Cowboys won by 12, you would win $10 x 9 (points over the line of -3) and get a $90 payout!

Seems too good to be true, right? Here’s the catch, let’s take a peak;

Cowboys win 31-30 and you have a spread bet on Cowboys -3 for $10. With spread betting, your losses are also multiplied based on the amount the team loses by. In this example the Cowboys won by 1, you would lose $10 x 2 (points below the line of -3) and suffer a $20 loss!
Cowboys lose 31-24 a spread bet on Cowboys -3 for $10. In this example, the Cowboys lost by 7, plus the line, you would lose $10 x 10 (points below the line of -3) and suffer a $100 loss!

**Note – its important to know you can limit your win/loss threshold on these bets which is outlined below

Spread betting at PointsBet is a question of confidence. How badly do you think the line is off? How confident are you that you can pick the right side of a side or total?

PointsBetting is all about risk and reward. You are taking a much bigger risk with your bet, but you have the opportunity at a much greater reward. All spread betting wagers have a cap on the high end and the low end, so you can only win a certain amount or lose a certain amount.

PointsBetting Threshold Protection

You can also set your own thresholds with spread betting using something called a Withheld Level. If you want your maximum win or maximum loss to be 20x your bet amount, you are able to do that. It does limit your winning potential, but it also limits how much you can lose on a game and it is entirely up to you.

PointsBet is legal in 14 states, find out if your in a legal Pointsbet state now so you can take advantage of the spread betting option in all three of those states.

If you sign up using the bonus code ATS2000, up to $2000 in free bets will be available to you upon your first deposit. Find out how the bonus bets work at PointsBet. PointsBetting, or spread betting, isn’t the only unique bet type at PointsBet. In fact, they have over 500 different ways to bet certain games between the different styles of betting and the different props that are offered.

As a trailblazer in this new frontier of legalized sports betting in the United States, you would be crazy not have an account at PointsBet.