SO LAYING A BET ON GAMES...

[DEERSPINE GUY]

Wouldn’t know. I last wagered money on a football game when I was in sixth grade.

DID THEY WEAR HELMETS BACK THEN?
ONLY 8 TEAMS IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE BACK THEN HUH?

[Maniac]

You are confusing the issue ... the house gets 10 percent on every LOSING point spread bet (ie. that the bettor loses) ... not on any winning bets.

If I bet 100 and I beat the point spread I get 100 ... I pay 110 if I lose but I don't pay 10 percent for a winning bet.

EDITED TO ADD: Although I indicated above that the house gets 10 percent on every losing point spread bet, the vig is sometimes less than 10 percent (as McCarthy indicated in his post) but that's even more confusing for someone new to the game, so I kept it simpler because 10 is pretty standard.

Correct. Like I said, if you win you get your wager back plus the winnings. Optimally for the book the losers pay off the winners and the book keeps ten percent - the vigorish - of the losing wagers.

Also correct about the book tweaking the vig off the standard -110 to keep the sides even ... and how that makes it even more confusing.

It's definitely not the easiest thing in the world to explain.

[Maniac]

Wouldn’t know. I last wagered money on a football game when I was in sixth grade.

Used to be a kid who sold NFL parlay cards for a $1 after Sunday School when I was a kid. Paid 10-1 if you picked four for four. Ties lost and there were no half point spreads. Odds got worse from there. He's probably a lawyer now.

[DEERSPINE GUY]

HA....I THINK WE WENT TO THE SAME CHURCH. SOME KIDS USED THEIR OFFERING MONEY TO PLAY EACH WEEK.

[slag]

Used to be a kid who sold NFL parlay cards for a $1 after Sunday School when I was a kid. Paid 10-1 if you picked four for four. Ties lost and there were no half point spreads. Odds got worse from there. He's probably a lawyer now.

Bwah ... we had a guy in law school who sold parlay cards.

However, the first time I saw one of those (you had to pick 10 winners, no spread) was in high school ... the guy who sold those more likely went on to cook meth.