Asked by Anonymous - Football Bet -110 How Does This Work? : I've been out in las vegas a few times and I am not a big gambler but I see nfl football games show -110 or -115 etc.  I dont quite understand how this works.  Someone told its based on $100 but not everyone bets $100.  How does this bet work and how much do I win or less betting this way? You would think they would make this much simpler to understand for us that dont bet on games very often.

Dan Says: It's pretty simple actually.  When they say the bet is "based on $100" that doesn't mean you have to bet a $100, its just showing you the percentage you would win. For example, if it shows -110 then that means you are picking that team to win and cover whatever point spread it shows with it, but -110 means if you "did" bet $110, you would win $100 if your team listed covers the point spread.  You can bet $5 if you want, or $10 if you want, it doesn't matter.   Simple math is just to take 100/110 and that tells you the percentage (roughly 91% is what -110 bet pays).   So if you bet $10 and win, you would get paid your $10 back plus the $9 and change (91% of your bet). If the bet was -115, then thats not a good bet, obviously you want the higher percentage because thats how the casino's make money, so -105 is a much better paying bet. (which that bet is around 95% paid back to you). If you lose the bet, then you just lose whatever you bet of course and you can't walk up to collect your winnings :-) Its actually quite simple when you look at it that way.

Dan Says: So..... winning a bet gets your original money back plus ........ -105 bet is 100/105 = 95% of your bet paid back to you -110 bet is 100/110 = 91% of your bet paid back to you -115 bet is 100/115 = 87% of your bet paid back to you

Anonymous Says: When will sports gambling open up in all states?  I would love to bet football games on weekends, but you can only gamble on sports in vegas!  Or I guess Reno has it also.

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