The main basketball bets
Point spread (handicap)
5 min
The point spread — called the handicap in much of the world — bets on the margin of victory, not just the winner. It's the headline market for basketball.
How it works
The favourite is given a handicap: they must win by more than a set number. The underdog gets the same number as a head start.
- Favourite −7.5: they must win by 8 or more for your bet to win.
- Underdog +7.5: they win the bet if they lose by 7 or fewer or win outright.
The half-point (the ".5", or "hook") guarantees there's no tie. When the line is a whole number and the result lands exactly on it, the bet is a push and your stake is returned.
Why basketball uses big spreads
Compared to low-scoring sports, basketball games produce lots of points and wide margins — double-digit final gaps are routine. So spreads are large (often 5 to 15+ points) where a sport like soccer rarely passes a goal or two. A bigger spread isn't "more confident" in some special way; it just reflects how far apart two basketball teams can finish.
Why people bet it
Because both sides are priced near even money (often 1.91 each), the spread turns a boring mismatch into a real question: not "who wins?" but "by how much?". That's a more interesting bet and the reason the spread, not the moneyline, is the most popular basketball market.