“Wait, why does this NFL team have a -235 next to its name? What’s with New England Patriots (-15) vs. Miami Dolphins (+15)? Help! HEEEELPPPP!”

If that sounds like you, we’re here to assist you. If you’ve stared at a board at a sportsbook or just seen spreads and moneylines on the Internet and been utterly confused, don’t worry. It’s not just you. Those numbers can be confounding.

But hopefully, once you’re done reading this, you’ll completely understand how they work. As you prepare to dive into the world of sports betting, here’s a breakdown of how the lines work, starting with …

Spreads

It would be really easy to bet on a game if you could put money on a heavy favorite to win.

Lamont wants to get into sports betting. So do the tribes, the Connecticut Lottery and Sportech, the licensed operator of off-tracking betting at two high-end sports bars and nine other venues. Get the latest odds, spreads and betting lines from this week's games, as well as full coverage of the National Football League from USA TODAY. Get the latest odds, spreads and betting lines from this week's games, as well as full coverage of the National Football League from USA TODAY. Find NFL odds, point spreads, and betting lines for the 2020-2021 football season. Visit FOXSports.com for this week's top action!

That’s where point spreads come in. Let’s look at an example:

Philadelphia Eagles (-4.5)

New York Giants (+4.5)

In this case, you can bet on either two outcomes: you can put money on the Eagles to win the game by 4.5 points OR MORE, which makes them the favorites. Or you can bet that the Giants will either win or lose by LESS THAN 4.5 points. They’re the underdogs.

Now, sometimes the spread “moves” during the days leading up to the game. Perhaps the Eagles’ spread ends up being -3.5 (in which they must win by 3.5 points or more to give you a victory in your bet). Your bet all depends on whichever spread you bet on, whether it was when the Eagles were favored by 4.5 or 3.5 points.

If you ever see “PK” or “pick” next to a team, it means there’s no spread and you can bet on who will win, no matter what the score is.

Moneylines

Let’s take that same example above but use moneylines:

Philadelphia Eagles (-200)

New York Giants (+150)

The team with a minus symbol is the favorite, and the number is how much money you would need to bet to win $100. In this case, you would have to bet $200 on the Eagles in order to win an additional $100.

The Giants are the underdogs. If they’re +150, that means you could bet $100 to win $150.

Note that you can bet any amount you want, but those numbers are always calculated and posted the same way, either in how much money you would need to wager to win $100 or how much money you could win by wagering $100.

Odds

If you’re betting on something like the team who will win the Super Bowl in the future, you might see it look like this:

New England Patriots — 3/1

Baltimore Ravens — 5/1

Kansas City Chiefs — 8/1

If you were betting on the Patriots and their 3/1 odds, you would win $3 for every $1 you spend. So if you bet $50 on the Pats and they ended up winning the Super Bowl, you’d win $150 (plus your original wager) back.

Good luck!

Big Game Odds & Prop Bets

Get ready for the Big Game with Circa Sports! View our full list of odds & prop bets and information on viewing parties in Las Vegas.

Sports Betting Odds The Action Network

Looking for our latest lines? Here are all the best ways to check out our betting menu and odds!

Circa Sports Nevada App

The most reliable, real-time, and easy-access way to view our odds is on the Circa Sports app for Nevada. Browse our complete menu and live odds from anywhere, even outside Nevada. Registration is quick and easy, no funding required. If you want to start wagering on our Nevada app, visit one of our Las Vegas sportsbooks to activate a mobile wagering account.

Circa Sports app for Nevada (Apple/iOS)
Circa Sports app for Nevada (Android direct download)

Circa Sports Colorado App

If you live in or visit Colorado, you should definitely add us to the sports betting apps on your mobile device and compare lines across sportsbooks to get the best odds on every bet. In Colorado, you can fund your account and get started betting on our app from anywhere in the state, no casino visit required.

Circa Sports app for Colorado (Apple/iOS)
Circa Sports app for Colorado (Android direct download)

Circa Sports Colorado Website

The best free desktop experience for viewing our live odds is on our Colorado website. The Circa Sports Colorado menu doesn't always include everything we offer in Nevada, but it's got all the most popular markets and we're working toward mirroring our Nevada menu completely.

Vegas Sports Gambling Odds

Sportsbook Odds Boards & Betting Sheets

The next best way to get our odds is in our Las Vegas sportsbooks on the odds boards and betting sheets. Many would say this is actually the best way to see our odds since you'll be standing in Las Vegas, in an awesome sportsbook, and in the best sportsbook in the world if you're at our flagship location at Circa Resort & Casino.

The odds boards don't fit our entire menu, but they're real-time. The odds on our betting sheets aren't real-time, but they typically have our complete menu. The betting sheets are also available online in PDF format in our Media Resources Dropbox folder.

Circa Sports locations
Media Resources Dropbox folder

Don Best

Don Best's paid subscription odds services offer our odds alongside those of other sportsbooks for convenient, real-time comparison. This includes daily and weekly games and matchups in many major sports. It does not include odds for any markets with non-standardized betting IDs/rotation numbers, for example NASCAR race odds to win, PGA tournament odds to win, and props. Sportsbooks each define their own rotation numbers for many markets so you'll have to check with each sportsbook to get those odds. Our Nevada app (links above) is the easiest to access real-time source for our complete menu and live odds including non-standardized markets.

ODDS AGGREGATOR WEBSITES

There are many third party websites out there that aim to compile odds data from multiple sportsbooks and offer them side by side for comparison, similar to Don Best. Real-time accuracy of the odds on these sites can vary, and markets with non-standardized rotation numbers are often unavailable, but some sites do have reliable odds data and the side-by-side comparisons can be convenient depending on the market. Here are some of our favorites:

VSiN
Las Vegas Advisor
Vegas Insider

Sports Gambling Odds Explanation

Circa Sports Twitter

Sportsbook Nfl Odds

Several times a week we tweet assorted notable odds and offerings from our menu including our Sunday 11am College Football opening lines, weekly PGA tournament odds, primetime games and playoff games in the major sports, fight night odds, and more. Follow us on Twitter to add some live lines, Circa Sports announcements, football contest info, and sportsbook odds board flavor to your feed.