Sportsbooks do an excellent job of providing a litany of betting options for its users across a variety of spođrts. However, one market that seems to go under the radar is âwinning marginâ. 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 youâre attempting to predict how many points/goals the winning team willâ win by.
US sportsbooks offer various winning margin markets, with the highđ§-scoring nature of the countryâs most popular sports â football and basketball â facilitating some margin of error.
Instead of having you predđČict the exact margà·Žin of victory, sportsbooks will provide a point range (or band).
How Do I Place a Winning Margin Bet?
Winning margin markets are typically offered for an array of sports, including basketball. In the stepàČ-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 âLog Inâ icon locateđd in the top right-hand corner of the homepage. Create anđ account via the green icon alongside it if you need to.
FanDuelâs popular mađrketđźs are prominent on their homepage. A scroll down showed upcoming NBA events.
(Source: FanDuel) FanDuelâs NBA coverage is shown below. We opêŠted to place a bet on the Miami Heat @ Philadelphia 76ers game.
(Source: FanDuel) To accđ„ess all the gameâs markets, we clicked âMore Wagersâ.
There are a multitude of different markets available on this gaâme, so we had to use to horizontal slider to find FanDuelâs âMarginâ markets â shown below.
(Source: FanDuel) We opted to place a âMargin of Victoryđ±â bet, decidđ ·ing 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 stake and click the âPlace Betsâ icon to coânclude the winning margin betting process.
(Source: FanDuel)
Best Betting Sites for Winning Margin Bet
The winning margin market may not necessarily be the most prominent, but the USâ leading sportsbooks will offer this bet type for a multitude of popular sports. Here are the beđst sportsbooks for winning margin betting:
|
1
Full T&Cs apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER |
|
2
Full T&Cs apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER |
|
3
Full T&Cs apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER |
|
4
Full T&Cs apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER |
Examples of Winning Margin Bet
There are various winning margin bets you can place with your favourite sportsbook. Hereâs a runáŁdown ofđź the options typically available to you:
Winning Margin by 2
âBy 2đâ indicates a precise prediction where youâre betting on the winning team to win by a margin of two points/goals.
đ As a result, such markets are typically provided†for lower-scoring sports such as soccer, ice hockey, and baseball. Itâd be very tough to back exact margin of victories for football or basketball games given how many points are scored.
If you ê§bet on Bayern Munich to beat Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final match-up âby 2â, youâll need Bayern to win by two goals â 2-0, 3-1, 4-2, etc. Anything but a winning margin of two will mean your wager loses.
Winning Margin 4 Way
Winning margin 4-way simply means that you have four outcomes to choose from when predicting the final score. There are four point bands, iâf you will.
For example, in an NBA matchup between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, bookies could pđrovide these winning margin 4-way markets:
-
Boston Celtics 1-10
-
Miami Heat 1-10
-
Boston Celtics 11+
-
Miami Heat 11+
In short, you can bet on both teams to win by ođčne to ten points, or by over 11 points.
Winning Margin 3 Way
3-way winning margin bettingêŠ limits the punter somewhat, with the bigger point ranges lowering 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 of points or more, as well as either team to wiđŻn by fewer than X points.
Winning Margin 1-5
With this winning margin bet, youâre betting on the team to win by atđł least a point, but no more thaâ±n five. If the point difference at the end of the game lands between this point range, youâve got yourself a winning bet!
For instance, if you bet on the Celtics to beat the Heat by 1-5 points, a 110-107 victđory 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, though, 12 different point ranges are provided, offeringđĄ punters even greater specificity and greater odds as a result.
In the example above, DraftKingsâ is providing six dđȘifferent wiđ·nning margin ranges for each team, starting out at 1-5 and working up to 26+.
Strategies for Winning Margin Betting
đĄ Here are four ways you can stand yourself in thđ e best possible stead when placing winning margin bets:
-
Check stats: This is fairly obvious, but a quick check of a teamâs 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 pràŠoficiently are more likely to enjoy bigger margins of victory when they do win. You can also check a teamâs average margin of victory or defeat.
-
Head-to-head matchups: History matters, right? While teams tend to change and evolve rather quickly, recent matchups between two teams can help you gauge the nature of an upá©á©á©á©á©á©â€â€â€â€á©â€â€â€â€á©â€â€â€â€á©đ±á©á©á©coming bout. Are they tightly fought affairs, or does one team run away with it?
-
Check player injuries: News regarding player injuries and statuses is easily found nowadays thanks to the growing intertwining of sports and social 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 teá©á©á©á©á©á©â€â€â€â€á©â€â€â€â€á©â€â€â€â€á©đ±á©á©á©am out if Tyreek Hillâs injured, while Bayern Munich are more sđusceptible to defeats on the big occasion without star goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
-
Understand the game: While we're not saying you need to improve your knowledge of the sport, itâs 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 competitions (in soccer). You might want to check out goal difference stats when placing soccer winning margin bets, as there might be times wàŽhen a team needs to run up the score to move up a position in the standings.
Pros & Cons of Winning Margin
đ Let's now have a look at some of the advantages and drawbacks that come with winning margin bettiđžng:
- 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 â 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 margin betting is an avenue that any avid sêŠports 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, thereâs certainly an opportunity for you to profit more with this market compared to mere match result betting.
FAQs
When placing a winning margin đŹbet, youâre betting on the number of points/goals the winning team will win by.
This type of winning margin êŠ bet provides four differđent point ranges for the game â two for each team. 1-10 and 11+, for instance.
Football winniàŒng 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 â as well đas the winning team â the winning margin will lie.
Itâs the same concept for every sport. With basketball, youâre betting on the margin of victory. Given the high-scoring nature of the sport, sportsbooks will supply a range of different winning margin markeđłts as well as point ranges, which is up to 12.
A winning margin band are the pointâs between the winning and losinđ«g team. There are various bands for each match and are displayed like this: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc.