What Is Points Betting at PointsBet?
Points betting is a high-risk, high-reward sports betting option that's available only at PointsBet (hence the name).
PointsBet's own slogan sums it up well — the more you're right about a particular bet, the more you win. The more you're wrong, the more you lose.
Here's how it works.
How Does Points Betting Work?
When you points bet, your profit or loss on a game is based on how many points your bet wins or loses by.
If your bet wins by two points, you win twice your bet amount. If your bet wins by 10 points, you win 10 times your bet.
But if your bet loses by two points, you lose twice your bet amount. If your bet loses by 10 points, you lose 10 times your bet amount.
PointsBet will give you max win and loss numbers depending on your bet type, but you can also set limits to avoid losing too much (but your winnings will be limited, as well).
The one downside of points betting is that you need a lot of money in your account to make these bets, even at small stakes. A $5 bet with a max loss of 40x your stake means you need to lock up $200 for that game.
Points Betting Examples
Chiefs -1 vs. 49ers
Let's say you points bet $10 on the Chiefs -1 against the 49ers in the Super Bowl. For every point the Chiefs cover or don't cover the spread by, you'll be up or down $10.
The Chiefs won the game by 11 points. That means they covered the spread by 10 points since they were -1.
You'd win $100 in this scenario.
If you points bet $10 on the 49ers +1, you lose $100 because they lost by 10 (relative to the spread).
Lakers vs. Clippers Over/Under 220
Let's say you think a Clippers-Lakers game is going to go way over the total because Kawhi Leonard isn't playing and the Clips will sorely miss his defense. You points bet $10.
But you want to play it safe in case one team goes ice cold from 3-point range. You set a 20-point limit on how much you can win or lose, meaning that even if the game goes under by 40 points, you'd win or lose a max of $200.
Multipliers
PointsBet has developed interesting multipliers that may look confusing, but just need a little math to make sense.
- Cross Team Points: This is a bet on one team's total points multiplied by the other team's total points. For a Jaguars–Bengals game, with the real over/under at 45, the over is 549 — so a 30-20 final would be 600, and result in a 51x win. The under is 483, so if you bet the under and it finishes 30-20, you'll lose 117x your bet.
- Player Multipliers: Joe Burrow's passing yards + touchdowns multiplier is set at 459 and 521. If he throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns, and you bet the over, that's 900 (300 x 3). You'd win 379x your bet. If he throws for 300 yards and one touchdown, and you bet the over, you'd lose 221x your stake because the total is 300 (300 x 1).
There are dozens of similar options like this for each game.
Other Examples
PointsBet has cleverly integrated the points betting concept into other sports, like golf. You can bet Webb Simpson over or under 34th place in the U.S. Open — if he finishes first, you win 33x your bet. If he finishes 71st, you lose 36x your stake.
Points Betting Strategies
It depends on your risk tolerance — you may never want to points bet.
But here are a few guidelines and strategies.
- Don't points bet an under on a game total. Overtime could rip your soul out over and over.
- Look for teams, players and games with high volatility and variance.
- Points bet player props (with stop-loss limits to avoid getting screwed by an injury or other strange circumstance). They're a more exploitable market (especially using our projections at FantasyLabs).
