When it comes to wagering on football and basketball, a wagerer must have a firm discernment of the point spread if they hope to have a successful season.

The point spread is a handicap laid on 1 squad, for wagering purposes only, and it is configured to give both squads in any match a balanced chance at winning in the eyes of sports wagerers.

When 2 squads meet on the playing area or on the basketball courtyard, one squad is commonly finer than the other. If all sports risk takers had to do was to choose the victorious squad in a match, everybody would merely wager on the best squad and amass their money.

Using a model from Week two of the 2007 NFL season, the Falcons were visiting the Jags. There, almost without a doubt J'ville was the best of the two squads and if all the wagerers had to do was to pick the victorious squad, about every wagerer would have taken the Jags.
What the sportsbooks and bookmakers did was to produce a point spread, to make the two squads equally appealing in the eyes of wagerers.

In this case, J'ville was put in as a 10 point front-runner, which is normally published as Jags -10. The Falcons, the dog, is commonly written as Falcons +10.

If you place a bet on the favorite, J'ville, the Jags must succeed by eleven points or more in order for you to win your wager. Remember, the Jags are preferred by ten points, so we deduct 10 points from their concluding score for wagering purposes. If J'ville were to come up with the victory by 34-23, Jags wagerers would win their wager. If the Jags were to succeed by 33-24, J'ville wagerers would turn a loss because they did not succeed by more than ten points.

If you bet on the underdog, the Falcons, you get ahead with your bet if Atlanta win the match or if they lose by nine points or lower. Because Atlanta, the dogs, we add 10 points to their final score for wagering intentions.

If the Jags were to succeed in the match by precisely ten points, 24-14, it would be a tie or a push and all wagers are repaid to wagerers. J'ville did throw down the Falcons as awaited, but the Jags didn't succeed to cover the point spread when they won by 13-7.