Buying Points

Buying points is something many sportsbooks let you do: you tweak the spread or total on a bet in exchange for worse odds. Each half-point you move usually costs about 10 cents more in juice. For example, shifting a spread from -7 to -6.5 might bump the odds from -110 to -120, meaning you have to risk more to win the same amount. The idea is simple: you’re paying a little extra to improve your number, lowering the chance the original spread or total slips by you on a close one.

Buying points comes up most in football, where final margins tend to bunch around certain key numbers. Since touchdowns are worth 7 points and field goals are worth 3, a big chunk of NFL games land on exactly 3 or 7 points. Moving a spread off of or through those numbers can really boost the odds of your bet winning or pushing. But buying points through non-key numbers (like going from -5 to -4.5) does a lot less for you, and the worse odds usually aren’t worth the tiny bump in win chance.

Example

A sportsbook lists Team A as a 7-point favorite at standard -110 odds. You buy a half-point, moving the spread from -7 to -6.5 at odds of -125. Now, if Team A wins by exactly 7, your bet wins instead of pushing. To win $100 on this bet, you’d risk $125 instead of $110. Whether that trade is worth it comes down to how often games land on that exact number. In the NFL, roughly 9% of games are decided by exactly 7 points, which makes this one of the more sensible spots to buy a point.

Key Points

• Key numbers matter most: In football, buying off 3 and 7 gives you the biggest edge since those are the most common winning margins. Buying through other numbers is rarely worth it.
• The cost piles up: Every half-point you buy trims your payout. Over hundreds of bets, that adds up and can really eat into your returns if you’re not selective.
• Most useful for favorites through 3: Moving a favorite from -3 to -2.5 is one of the most recommended buys, since a big share of NFL games end with a 3-point margin.
• Less useful in basketball and baseball: Scoring margins in these sports spread out more and don’t cluster on specific numbers, so buying points does less for you.
• Shop around first: Before paying to buy a point, check whether another sportsbook already lists a better number at standard odds.