Sportsbooks do an excellent job of providing a litany of betting options for its users across a variety š of sports. However, one market that seems to go under the radar is āwinning marginā. This guide will detail everything you need to know about the bet type, and how you can make a profit off the back of this knowledge.
Winning Margin Bet Explained
A winning margin bet is a type of single bet in which youāre attempting to predict how mšany pointāØs/goals the winning team will win by.
US sportsbooks offer various winning margin markets, with the hāigh-scoring nature of the countryās most popular sports ā football and basketball ā facilitating some margin of eršror.
Instead of having ź¦you predict the exact margišn of victory, sportsbooks will provide a point range (or band).
How Do I Place a Winning Margin Bet?
Winning margin marź¦kets are typically offereād for an array of sports, including basketball. In the step-by-step guide below, we explain how to place a winning margin NBA bet with FanDuel:
Log in to your FanDuel account by accessing the blue āLog Inā icon š located in the top right-haānd corner of the homepage. Create an account via the green icon alongside it if you need to.
FanDuelāsź¦ popular markets are prominent on their homepage. A scroll down showed upcoming NBA eventšs.
(Source: FanDuel) FanDuelās NBA coverage is shown below. We opted to place a bet on the Miami Heat @ā Philadelphia ąµ²76ers game.
(Source: FanDuel) To access all the gāameās markets, we clicked āMore Wagersā.
There are a multitude of different markets avaiź§lable on this ź¦¬game, so we had to use to horizontal slider to find FanDuelās āMarginā markets ā shown below.
(Source: FanDuel) We opted to place a āMšargin of Victoryā bet, deciding to back the Heat to win by 1-5 points. There were 12 different margins available in this sub-market.
(Source: FanDuel) Here is the wager in our bet slip. Enter your stāake and click the āPlace Betsā icon to conclude the winning margin betting process.
(Source: FanDuel)
Best Betting Sites for Winning Margin Bet
The wš±inning margin market may not necessarily be the most prominent, but the USā leading sportsbooks will offer this bet type for a multitude of popular sports. Here are the best sportsbooks for winning margin betting:
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Full T&Cs apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER |
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Full T&Cs apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER |
Examples of Winning Margin Bet
There are various winning margin bź¦ets you can place with your favourite sportsbook. Hereās a rundown of the options typically available to you:
Winning Margin by 2
āBy 2ā indicates a precise prediction where youāre betting on the winning team to win by a marginź¦ of two points/goals.
As a result, such markets are typically provided for lower-scoring sports such as soccer, ice hšockey, and baseball. Itād be very tough to back exact margin of victories for football oāØr basketball games given how many points are scored.
If you bet on Bayern Munich to beat Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final match-up āby 2ā, youāll need Bayern to win by two goals ā 2-0, 3-1, 4-2, etc. Anything but a winning marginš of two will mean your wager loses.
Winning Margin 4 Way
š Winning margin 4-way simply means that you have four outcomes to choose from when predicting the final score. There are four point bands, if you will.
For example, in an NBA matchup between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, bookies could provide these wšinning margin 4-way maą²rkets:
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Boston Celtics 1-10
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Miami Heat 1-10
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Boston Celtics 11+
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Miami Heat 11+
In short, you can bet on both teams to win by one to ten poiź¦nts, or by over 11 points.
Winning Margin 3 Way
3-way winning margin betting limits the punter somewhat, with the bigger point ranges loą¶£wering the odds in some instances.
The bookmaker will provide three different margin options for a match. DraftKings, for example, provides markets on either team to win by X number ofš points or more,š as well as either team to win by fewer than X points.
Winning Margin 1-5
With this winning margin bet, youāre beąµ©tting on the team to win by at least a point, but no more than five. If the point difference at the end of the game lands between this point range, youāve got yourself a winning bet!
ź©µ For instance, if you bet on the Celtics to beat the Heat by 1-5 points, a 110-107 victory would be a winner, but a 110-99 win would be a losing bet.
Winning Margin 12 Way
This is the same premise as the 4-way winning margin markets. With 12-way, thoš ugh, 12 different point ranges are āprovided, offering punters even greater specificity and greater odds as a result.
In the example above, DraftKingšsā is providing six different winning margin ranges for each team, starting out š²at 1-5 and working up to 26+.
Strategies for Winning Margin Betting
Here are four ways you can stand yourself in the best possible stead when placing winning marginš bets:
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Check stats: This is fairly obvious, but a quick check of a teamās attacking and defensive stats can help you gauge the margin of victory. Teams that defend well are typically going to be involved in closer matches, while those that attack proficiently are more likely to enjoy bigger margins of victory when they do win. You can also check a teamās average marį£gin of victory or defeat.
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Head-to-head matchups: History matters, right? While teams tend to change and evolve rather quickly, recent matchups between two teams can help you gaušge the nature of an upcoming bout. Are they tightly fought affairs, or does one team run away with it?
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Check player injuries: News regarding player injuries and statuses is easily found nowadays thanks to the growing intertwining of sports and sociš¼al media. Use these updates to your advantage in the betting world. A player missing a particular game could have huge ramifications when placing a winning margin bet. The Miami Dolphins are less likely to blow a team out if Tyreek Hillās injured, while Bayern Munich are more susceptibź©µle to defeats on the big occasion without star goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
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Understand the game: While we're not saying you need to improve your knowšÆledge of the sport, itās important to understand the context of the game in question. There are going to be occasions when the fixture means more to one team than it does to another, especially towards the backend of the season, when teams are vying for playoff positioning or places in European competā±itions (in soccer). You might want to check out goal difference stats when placing soccer winning margin bets, as there might be times when a team needs to run up the score to move up a position in the standings.
Pros & Cons of Winning Margin
Let's now have a look at sš»ome of the advantages and drawbacks that come with winning margin betting:
- Allows for some margin of error when predicting the final score of a match
- These types of bets can provide bigger margins
- Useful for accumulator betting ā bigger odds
- Sportsbooks provide an array of different winning margin markets and thus, point ranges
- It's particularly difficult to predict winning margin for high-scoring sports
- Research required to master winning margin betting
ThePuntersPage Final Say
We believe that winning maršgin betting is an avenue that any avid sports bettor should explore. Leading bookie are providing an array of different winning margin options on a variety of sports and, if you do your research, thereās certainly an opportunity for you to profit more with this market compared to mere match result betting.
FAQs
When placing a winning margin bet, youāre betting on the number of points/goals the winning team will win š”by.
This type of winning margin bet provides four different point ranges for the game ā two for each team. 1-1ā¤0 and 11+, for instance.
Football winning margin betting involves backing a team to win by a certain number of points. Sportsbooks will provide various point ranges for each match, and you must choose which range ā as welš·l as the winning team ā the winning margin will lie.
Itās the same concept for every sport. With basketball, youāre betting on the margin of victory. Given the high-scoring nature of the sport, sportsbooks will supply a range of different winning margin markets as well as point ranges, whicš¬h is uāp to 12.
A winning margin band are the points between the winning and losing team. There are various bands for each match and are displayed like this: 1-5, 6-10, š§11-15, etc.