A Guide to Point Spread Betting NZ

The home-court advantage in the NBA is real, and history has shown that home teams are more likely to win outright, meaning they are also better sports betting options to back in the point spread market. The same seems to be true in other sports such as American football, where home field advantage is a thing and in ice hockey, where the home team is always given a slight edge by both bookmakers and bettors.

However, those trends might be changing. Recent studies seem to point to a decrease in the advantage of the home team due to better transportation and accommodation of the road team. Tactically astute coaches also affect the decline of the home-court edge. They can offset the negative effects of travel and set up their teams to adequately respond to the demands of playing away games.

Whether you are betting on NFL games or on college football, you want to back a team whose key players are fit and raring to go. If that's not the case, and the team you are betting on to cover the spread is missing important players, you might end up with a losing bet. 

To prevent that from happening to you, read the news, team reports and pre-match previews. If you notice that a crucial player is not going to be included in the team due to an injury, you might want to completely change your bet. How? By backing the other team to win in the point spread market. Point spread margins are notoriously tight, and even the smallest of advantages to one or the other team can result in a completely different outcome. 

Before placing point spreads, go through as many numbers as you can relating to the matches you want to bet on. Check how many points each team has scored in recent games or how often a team wins from a losing position. One of the most important pieces of statistics you need to look into is to see how many times a team has covered the spread and on how many occasions it has failed to do that.

Using advanced statistics can also help. In other words, it is a good idea to look at efficiency and possession ratings, expected points, dangerous attacks, or player-specific stats and metrics. That is how professional bettors analyse their future betting endeavours and it is definitely an approach that you can copy when betting on the point spread market of a sporting event.

When point spreads change that is an indicator that the market might know something you don't. Whether it is an injury to an important player or an unannounced omission of a star performer, a point spread change can tell you a lot about the direction in which a point spread bet might go.

If you notice that change in multiple sportsbooks, then there is definitely something going on that you should be aware of. Even a one-point point spread movement can indicate that the previous market dynamic has changed dramatically, and you will need to recalibrate your wagers and think again about what sports wagering option you will go for.

You can use bonuses and sports betting offers to your advantage when placing point spread wagers. For instance, you can activate a risk-free bet promo and use it to wager on a 2-way point spread market with even odds.

The even odds mean that you will get similar payouts regardless of which bet wins. So, by using your own money to bet on one outcome and the risk-free bet promo on the opposite result, you ensure that you won't lose regardless of the final score.

If your first bet wins, you get to withdraw your winnings. On the other hand, if your first wager loses, the risk-free bet offer will be activated, and you will get free bet credits that you can use to place new point spreads, moneyline bets or any other types of wagers.

It may sound simplistic, but the reality is that most kiwi bettors back favourites in the moneyline markets but use run and puck lines to bet on underdogs. They feel more comfortable knowing they get a points advantage, which they see as an edge that turns a potentially risky bet into a wager with a decent chance of coming to fruition. 

In contrast, if you decide to bet on the underdog in the moneyline market, that team will have to win the game outright, which happens from time to time, but is not the likeliest outcome. Therefore, if you feel Team A is a favourite that will brush away Team B, backing Team A with a moneyline bet is a prudent move. On the other hand, if you think Team B has a chance of creating an upset, you can back the underdog to win but also use the safety cushion of a few points in case Team B loses by a small margin.