by Big Al Staff
Saturday, Oct 31, 2020What is points betting?
The sports betting market is probably as competitive as the regular sports industry -- at times even more competitive. With billions of dollars passing through sportsbooks and bookmakers each year, your value to sportsbooks is high. There are a lot of different places where you can place your wagers and a lot of opportunities.
With the sports betting industry rapidly becoming more digital and online, completely new types of wagers have developed. Whereas in a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, you're often limited to the more classic bets and wager types, some online sportsbooks have taken innovation into their own hands.
One of these new bet types is points betting. It's an exclusive sports betting option that's only available at PointsBet sportsbook. This is a bet type that's in the high-risk, high-reward category. In this betting guide, we'll take you through points betting and see explain how you can get started right away!
How to get started with points betting
Bettors might find excitement by placing their money at risk in a parlay bet, or by wagering on multiple teasers, but points betting is for those who truly dare to risk it all. It's the kind of bet that could bring you riches or drag you through the mud, face-first. It must be said that this bet type is not for everyone. It's a bet which requires high-level knowledge about sports betting, a bankroll that can take a hit, and a lot of guts.
Points betting started initially as a wager solely for point spread bets. Shortly after, new bets came along. Now, points betting can be done on point spreads, totals, or proposition bets on individual players. In points betting, every point or yard in a game can change how much you win, or how much you lose. Regular bets can either bring you a big win or make you lose your initial stake, but nothing more than that. With points betting, there are no limits to how much you can lose or win. That means you will not know what your realized loss or gain is until the very end of the game. Until then, you'll probably be at risk for a nervous breakdown.
Point spread points betting
The most popular points bet is made on a point spread wager. It all started to spice things up after point spread betting became very popular among football and basketball bettors, more so than other sports. Note that it's also available for other sports that work with an ATS system like the NHL (puck-line) or MLB (run-line), but it's most popular and common in football. Thus, we'll provide an example of an NFL match between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins. Let's imagine your point spread bet would look something like this:
- New York Giants -3
- Miami Dolphins +3
The odds for a regular point spread bet are generally -110, but sometimes you’ll see an ATS bet be -130, or +110. That, of course, limits your potential gain or loss relative to your initial stake. Points betting, though, gives you the ability to win or lose many multiples of your initial stake. To illustrate this, let's say the final score was 12-3 in favor of the Giants. With the spread being -3, that means the Giants beat the spread by 6 points. As every single point matters, you now have your payout multiply by six. When betting $100, that gives you the following formula to calculate your payout:
- $100 bet x (9 point victory, minus a point spread of 3, = 6) = total payout of $600 with a single wager.
Now, that might seem appealing. But the flip side here is that with the possible win of six times your initial stake (for a Giants bet), there's also a potential loss of six times your initial stake with a Dolphins wager.
Points betting other markets
In the preceding chapter, we showed you how points betting works with the point spread bet. This is one of the most popular bets, but not the only option at PointsBet sportsbook. There are many ways you could wager on games at the online sportsbook. A couple of examples of individual proposition bets available could be:
- How many touchdowns will Odell Beckham Jr. score against the New York Jets?
- How many passing yards will Tom Brady have against the Indianapolis Colts?
- How many points will LeBron James score against the New York Knicks?
PointsBet sportsbook will set a number of points for each wager. Then, it's up to the bettor to choose whether to go above or below that amount. On top of that, you decide how far away from the set number. Thus, how much risk you're willing to take.
PointsBet sportsbook
By now, you understand the basics of point spread betting, but the way to fully understand this bet type is by putting your beliefs into action. Thus, try your luck by wagering at PointsBet sportsbook. We want to share some insights about the sportsbook to give you a little background before you trust them with your money.
The sportsbook was founded in 2017 in Australia. With regulations becoming more welcoming in the United States, PointsBet decided to move its operations and expand overseas. In January 2019, it signed a collaboration with the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey to form a partnership. The sportsbook had some time to get accustomed to the United States sports betting market and decided to move on to more states. As of today, the sportsbook is active in New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, and Colorado. You should note that PointsBet NJ and all other individual states belong to PointsBet USA.
The sportsbook has more than 200 different bet types ranging from regular moneyline wagers to their unique points betting options. The company partnered with two famous ambassadors: NFL player Darrelle Revis and NBA player Allen Iverson.
What you should know about PointsBet sportsbook
When analyzing a sportsbook, there are a couple of things you have to consider. We took the effort to create a list of the most important factors when finding a sportsbook.
Deposit options
As an advanced sportsbook, PointsBet allows users to deposit money using any preferred deposit option: VISA, Mastercard, ACH Payments/e-checks, or any other digital wallet. Depositing is made even easier by using their debit card, which allows bettors also to make real-life purchases using the card.
Mobile app
Unlike many other sportsbooks, PointsBet has a fully functioning mobile app for any Android or iOs device. It's an easy way to start betting without having to leave your house or start up your PC -- just simply use your mobile phone. You can use any feature that's available on the desktop version, such as pregame betting options and live betting.
Promotions
Being a relatively new online sportsbook, PointsBet has to work hard to get new bettors in the door. With that in mind, there are a ton of promotional offers to choose from, including bonus bets and risk-free bets. We want to share a couple of examples:
- Risk-free bet: after filling in a particular promo code, you receive one fixed-odds bet. That means you take away the possibility of losing more than your wager!
- Welcome bonus: after signing up through a link or with a particular promo code, you receive either risk-free bets or money which allows you to place free wagers.
- Seasonal promos: these are usually for big sporting events like the Super Bowl or an important MMA match.
Besides that, there's a rewards program which goes further than merely filling in a bonus code. The more you wager at PointsBet, the more reward points you get, and the fewer fees you pay. Eventually, you could end up paying no juice at all. When you use these promos in your favor, there's a real edge to it which will save you money.
How to use points betting in your sports betting strategy
With PointsBet’s unique points betting system, there are a lot of bettors who want to give it a try. But we must caution novice bettors.
If you are susceptible to developing gambling problems, or you let emotions get the best of you, be warned. With points betting, it’s not possible to create a stop loss like in the stock market, so think twice before placing a points bet. When you find your way with points betting, though, the rewards can be exhilarating. When you place your wager, make sure you can cover the potential loss. That means, if you wager $10 per point, your loss will stay manageable for the most part. But when betting $100 (or more) per point, you could lose hundreds, or thousands of dollars.
However, no matter what kind of bet you want to make, make sure you always do the proper research. The last thing you want to do is give points betting a try, but end up with huge losses. As always, you can visit our website to learn about a wide variety of topics when it comes to sports betting. Keep in mind that you can never know enough, and there's always room for improvement. Now, go ahead and experiment cautiously with points betting, and don't forget to have fun!
