Sports

[QVCkitty1]

Gardenman, I don't know if you know betting, but I follow some guys that make football picks every week. I think I sort of understand point spread , but could you explain the hook ?  I googled it , but I don't get it. TIA.

[gardenman]

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@QVCkitty1 wrote:

Gardenman, I don't know if you know betting, but I follow some guys that make football picks every week. I think I sort of understand point spread , but could you explain the hook ?  I googled it , but I don't get it. TIA.

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I know less about the hook than you do. I don't gamble at all. I just pick games for fun.

[QVCkitty1]

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@gardenman wrote:

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@QVCkitty1 wrote:

Gardenman, I don't know if you know betting, but I follow some guys that make football picks every week. I think I sort of understand point spread , but could you explain the hook ?  I googled it , but I don't get it. TIA.

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I know less about the hook than you do. I don't gamble at all. I just pick games for fun.

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@gardenman , I watch a sports program with three guys who pick games each week as a competition amoung themselves. It's a good thing I don't gamble because it confuses the heck out of me.

[hckynut]

@QVCkitty1 

Betting on football games was/is another of my addictions, and for many years. It took 1 particular weekend of losses, more how I lost than just losing. That is when, like all my other addictions, I quit cold turkey.

No sure what exactly you want to know, but here is the basic of how "points spreads" worked when I quit betting. 

You have Dallas playing Tampa. The bookies are saying Dallas will win by 3 points. So! If you pick Dallas and they win by 3 point? You do not win and you do not lose. It's used to be called a "Push", nobody wins or loses.

Same example say you want to bet to win $100 taking Dallas. You had to put up front $110 to the bookie. Now Dallas has to win by more than 3 points. If they do the bookie owes you $100. But! If they win by only 2 points or lose? Your bookie keeps your $110.

That is what was call "straight action betting", you are betting on only 1 team. Now you can win more if you want to bet on say 3 teams winning, or 2, or I bet once what was called a 7 steamer, and I actually won.

With this, you can bet less $$$, but you have a much less chance of winning. All teams you pick HAVE TO WIN by MORE than the number in the "points spread", to collect your winnings. Heck, $5 may get you $100 on a 3 steamer, or $500 on a 7 teamer.

Now you DO NOT have to pick the winner. You can bet that Tampa WILL NOT LOSE by 3 points. So if Dallas wins by only 2 points? You are THE WINNER.

This is a basic of what "it used to be" when I use to bet football. It may have changed now because it was in the process of changing when I quit. 

An addiction for me? Yes it was, even while I was working/running my Adult Hockey League/going to hockey games, and also refing sometimes, 25 games a week. I studied all the Pro Teams and all the Major College Teams, win/loss records/number of points won or lost etc.

Since I quit I won't even buy a ticket for a charity raffle, to this addict, that is yet another gamble. It's similar to my quitting drinking alcohol, not 1 drop of a alcoholic beverage. I could list my others, but hey! You asked about Point Spreads and football.

Got any specifics, give me a shout out, and I will see if I have an answer.

hckynut 

[QVCkitty1]

@hckynut , Thank you, I listen to the Michael Kay show and each week Michael, Don and Peter compete with each other.I tried to follow, but with no real knowledge of gambling I was lost. Thank you for your explanations. I get confused by the spreads that are half points, such as plus or minus 2.5 for example.

[hckynut]

@QVCkitty1 

Glad to help with my former activity. The plus or minus stuff was just starting when I quit. Placing odds on both teams was done to confuse the ones betting.

The bookies were upping their odds just by doing that because a sharp bookie could explain it away. The ones betting were left scratching their heads. Both teams were given points instead of just Dallas by 3 points. Then they started with the 3.5 points type of odds. 

The day I decided to quit I had bet $110 on 5 different games. I lost every single one them by 1/2(one half) point. The bookies started using the 1/2 points for that reason. Had that half point not been in the teams I bet, instead of losing $550, I would have won $500.

Even when the didn't give each team playing each other a plus(+) or a minus(-), they started using more half point. Instead of Dallas by 3, it would be Dallas by 3 1/2 points.

That is when I knew it was time to quit.

hckynut