Alt points betting is a must for sports bettors who want to find good value, and the concept is quite simple to understand. You may have already placed alt points wagers without knowing it. Here, we will define alt points and go into depth on how this popular betting market works. Plus, we will throw in a few handy tips so that you can squeeze the best value out of your bankroll.
Basically, these are just like point spreads, but instead of taking the official line given by the sportsbook, you pick one of the lines in the alternative point spreads market. The reason why alt points betting is so popular is that bettors can adjust the lines to meet their predictions, which will change the risk and the odds.
Alt Points Betting Explained
First, we must define betting lines. For point spreads, oddsmakers must come up with a number of points that separates two teams. Using historical data, detailed analytics and all kinds of metrics that can help predict the outcomes of games, they come up with an official betting line. In an NFL game, this could be a line of 2.5, and the point spread will assign a spread of -2.5 to the favorite and +2.5 to the underdog.
The spread is always applied at the end of the game, to your chosen team’s score. Using the extra points (or the point deficit), your team needs to be ahead of the other team. The odds on point spreads are almost always -110 or around that number. This is to represent that the official line draws the two teams level, making it a 50-50 between who will win.
Analysing Alt Points Markets
Alt points basically show you all the other lines that sportsbooks offer. The bigger the negative spread, the more points your team will need to win by to win your bet. On the other hand, if you pick bigger positive spreads, your team will have a greater boost and even if they lose by bigger margins, you can still win your bet. To give you a good picture, we will examine an alt points market below.
| KC Chiefs vs CIN Bengals Standard Betting Markets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Betting Market | KC Chiefs | CIN Bengals |
| Moneyline Odds | -218 | +180 |
| Spread Line (Odds) | -4.5 (-110) | +4.5 (-110) |
So the Chiefs are the favorites to win here, and the oddsmakers have assigned a line of 4.5. This is not too great as far as football games are concerned, as we have seen lines going up to 7.5 and even higher. But it is not low either, indicating that the Chiefs should win by a good few points. The odds are evenly split across both teams with the official line. Now let’s see how alt points spreads lines can affect the odds.
| KC Chiefs Alt Points Lines (Odds) | CIN Bengals Alt Points Lines (Odds) |
|---|---|
| -7.5 (+150) | +7.5 (-184) |
| -6.5 (+121) | +6.5 (-148) |
| -5.5 (+100) | +5.5 (-122) |
| -4.5 (-110) | +4.5 (-110) |
| -3.5 (-127) | +3.5 (+105) |
| -2.5 (-174) | +2.5 (+142) |
| -1.5 (-195) | +1.5 (+158) |
| +1.5 (-248) | -1.5 (+199) |
| +2.5 (-277) | -2.5 (+220) |
| +3.5 (-387) | -3.5 (+295) |
| +4.5 (-442) | -4.5 (+332) |
Now let’s say that you reckon the Chiefs will win by a full Touchdown (6 points) over the Bengals. You have $10 and instead of picking the official line of -4.5, you go one higher and choose -5.5. Instead of winning $19.09 on -4.5, you can get $20 on -5.5.
The bigger you go on the Chiefs, the more you risk with your bet. For example, betting on a line of -7.5 can win an impressive $25 from a $10 bet, but you will need them to win by 8 points or more. Alternatively, you can give them a positive spread, to reduce the risk. Or, you can bet on the underdogs, the Bengals with an alt points line.
Ultimately, the odds and risk must always be balanced, and when you push for higher odds, you will also increase the risk. Reducing the risk will come at shorter odds.
How to Use Alt Points Betting
Without jumping the gun and assigning unrealistic spreads or pushing your luck, expert bettors can use alt points to bring good profit on their wagers. The approach here is to look for low spreads or lines that you think are worth extending to bring better value. The profit margin may look small when we just look at pushing the line by 1 on a straight bet. But these alt points odds do add up considerably when parlay betting. Let’s go with 4 games using the theoretical model above.
4 spreads with the official line (-110)
+1228
$10 Wins $132.83
2 official line spreads (-110) + 2 alt points spreads (+100)
+1357
$10 Wins $145.78
4 alt points spreads (+100)
+1500
$10 Wins $160
Naturally, the potential profits will grow tremendously with bigger parlays or selecting more ambitious alt points lines.
Strategise Your Alt Points Betting for Bigger Rewards
Alt points betting is not always about creating bigger margins for favorites to win. Yes, it does look good when your potential profit swells up, but alt points bets can also be used to reduce risk, and give your wagers a better chance of hitting. Assessing all the official lines is a good practise that can help you identify good alt points betting oppportunities. The top betting sites always have alt points betting markets, and this flexibility allows bettors to customise their picks as they like.
Another good practise is assessing dangers and allocating your bankroll accordingly. At the end of the day, alt points are a mighty addition to any bettor’s arsenal. Whether you decide to add an extra point to all your spreads, use higher lines but fewer selections in a parlay, or go big betting on alt points underdogs, there are many ways to go about alt points betting. The sportsbooks don’t get it right all the time with their lines, so do your homework and look for good opportunities to push the lines in your favor.
What Sports Have Alt Points Bets
Alt points are not only offered for football games among NFL betting markets. You can also find alt points offered in basketball, soccer, baseball, and tennis. Soccer is a sport that is relatively low scoring. By that, we mean games generally end with 0 goals up to around 3 or 4. Of course, it can be higher, but not usually. Therefore, alt points markets tend to be a lot smaller. You may only be offered lines ranging from -3.5 up to +3.5.
Then, there are sports such as basketball which are extremely high-scoring. Games can easily yield over 150 points, if not closer to 200. The bigger variance means there will be more alt points lines to pick from, sometimes going up to +19.5 / -19.5 and even higher.
Tennis is a good example of a sport in which the scoring system is completely different. Sportsbooks generally only offer 1 line on Sets won (1.5 or in some cases 2.5). But you can find greater variance in the Games markets, which may have alt “Games” spreads.
Alt Points Total Points Wagers
Alt points don’t only relate to point spreads markets. You can also find loads of alt points markets on Total Points bets. The premise is exactly the same. The sportsbook offers you an official line on a game, which generally comes at odds of -110 or thereabouts.
The Alt Points Totals bets give you the full range of lines, with bets for Over and Under. The odds and risk are equally balanced, and picking riskier bets will bring you better potential returns. Picking a higher line and betting Over will come at lengthier odds, as is betting Under with a lower line.
Finding the balance of risk to reward is the key here. That is where betting tools such as our Kelly Criterion calculator can come in handy. Even the most successful bettors lose, but with the right tools, approach, and analysis, you can use alt point spreads and alt points totals to turn a profit with your sports betting.
