Buying Points In Sports Betting

Buying Points In Sports Betting

Lukasz
6 Min
Intermediate

Spend 4 Minutes To Learn

What Buying Point Is
The Cost Of Buying Points
Rules Around Buying Points

If you’re new to the sports gambling world, you’ve probably interacted with lots of complicated sports betting terms and strategies. Many of the strategies need to be applied rigidly, which discourages a lot of bettors.

However, the concept of buying and selling points is the exact opposite, mainly due to its simplicity and the leeway that it offers bettors.

New bettors may be scared of the term, but buying and selling points is almost as simple as placing a wager.

This simplicity has boosted the strategy’s appeal, which is why it has become such a common practice among bettors. Plus, there are many advantages attached to it.

When you buy points, the book’s line tilts in your favor, whereas selling points may increase your risk, but your profits are massively boosted.

So if you’re interested in learning about this simple strategy, read on!

How Do I Buy And Sell Points?

If you’ve ever been in a situation where you’ve been displeased by a certain spread and wished that you could switch things up, then you’ll be happy to hear that you can do so by buying points.

When you buy points, you choose lines that lessen your risk; however, by doing so, you’ll potentially win less. For many, this tradeoff is usually acceptable since winning is all that matters in the betting world.

Buying points is extremely simple: just select the original line or spread that you wanted to bet on, then alter the line to your advantage.

When you buy points after you back the favorites to cover the spread, the team that you’re betting on will have significantly fewer points to cover. If you’re picking the underdog to cover the spread, then buying points gives them a stronger advantage.

This doesn’t mean that buying points is strictly for point spreads; you can still buy points on totals bet. So if you want to bet on the over, you can buy points and lower the over/under line in your favor.

If you want to bet on the under, buying points will increase the over/under line, meaning that you’ll have much more room for error.

Naturally, bettors usually buy either half a point or a full point. Many books will let you buy as many points as you want, though the top sportsbooks usually won’t let you buy more than three points.

When Should I Buy Points?

As we said at the start, buying and selling points is a really flexible strategy. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, so you’ll need a keen eye to help you differentiate various situations.

We’re going to take you through a few examples that will help you know when you should buy and sell points.

Let’s take the following spread from an upcoming NFL game:

Las Vegas Raiders – (-5) -110

Chicago Bears – (+5) -110

Let’s say that you want to back the Raiders, but you don’t like the look of the spread. Plus, you’re worried about a potential push if the Raiders win by just five points. Fortunately, this scenario is perfect for buying points.

If you buy a half-point from -5 to -4.5, the spread will massively tilt in your favor. So if the Raiders claim a five-point victory, you won’t settle for a push, but instead, you’ll end up winning your wager.

If you want, you can buy more than a half-point, which will swing things more to your advantage. But remember that the more points that you buy, the lower your total payout will be.

So in our above example, if you buy a half-point from -5 to -4.5, the odds will shift from -110 to -120. If you buy a full point, the odds will shift from -110 to -130.

What If I Wanted To Sell Points Instead?

When you sell points, you increase your potential payout. So in our above example, if you think that the Raiders are strong favorites against the Bears and that they are going to win by more than five points, then you can sell points, which will, in turn, increase your potential payout.

So let’s say that you think that the Raiders are going to win by a touchdown or more, you can sell a half-point and get the Raiders at -5.5. Your odds will then increase from -110 to +100.

So if the Raiders do win by a touchdown, you end up making more than before.

In this scenario, your judgment should guide you since you’ll be risking more. This is because if the Raiders win by just five points, in one scenario, you have a push, and in another, you have a loss.

Is Buying And Selling Points The Same For Every Sport

You can buy and sell points in different sports, but NFL football is the sport that will probably give you the greatest flexibility.

For example, in NHL matches, the puck line is almost always at 1.5 because hockey games tend to have lower scores and lower margins of victory.

Sportsbooks also won’t let you alter spreads for MLB games, though you do have the option of buying and selling points on the totals line.

However, buying points can be extremely advantageous in basketball games since scoring plays yield between 1-3 points, meaning that a half-point can be extremely decisive in close NBA games.

Alternate Lines Vs. Buying Points

Instead of buying points directly, you can choose to go for alternate lines. Most sportsbooks have a section where they list the alternate lines for point spreads and totals. Alternate lines are mainly found in football and basketball games.

The main difference between buying points and alternate lines is that buying points requires an additional step, i.e., you have to select a line and then choose to buy or sell points, whereas in alternate lines you just select the line that you wish to bet on since the sportsbook has listed so many variations of the point spread.

For example, let’s say that team A has been listed as a 5-point favorite. In the spread, their odds and lines will look like this: Team A – (-5) -110.

The sportsbook will also list other alternate spread lines, such as the ones listed below:

Team A – (-4.5) -120

Team A – (-4) -130

Team A – (-5.5) +100

Team A – (-6) +110

So in such a scenario, instead of buying or selling points, you can go straight to the alternate lines and select your desired line from there.

Final Word On Buying And Selling Points

Buying and selling points is a simple, straightforward strategy. You can choose to lessen your risk or increase your winnings.

However, always judge the situation first before deciding whether you want to buy or sell points since sometimes going for the originally posted line may be the wiser choice.

Thirsty For More Betting Knowledge? Check Our Sports Betting Guides Hub.

About the author

Lukasz Strycharz | Web Manager – A flâneur who follows Formula One racing and dabbles in SEO and content in the iGaming and sports betting niche. T...

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