I am familiar with the main UK sites, like IG, Sporting Index and SpreadEx. But I am particularly interested in other sites, especially European, American and Asian marketmakers.

Thank you for any help!

I like William Hill for spreads. You can find anyway many of the best sites listed here
http://www.betting-forum.com/sport-betting-reviews.php

I was just wondering who studies all these numbers.it's quite interesting. I was just wondering who studies all these numbers.it's quite interesting.

There is a professional line service which provides both offshore books and Las Vegas sportsbooks with the "opening line." It is called Las Vegas Sports Consultants, or commonly LVSC. For many of the people that work there, their entire job is to determine accurate lines from games. They determine these lines by using sophisticated software programs, psychology, injury reports, and other information to determine power rankings. The power rankings tell them what the score should be on a neutral field, and then they take into account the home field advantage, weather, whether the game is at night or during the day, and other information like that.

From there, it gets even more interesting. Let's say the sportsbook receives the LVSC lines and they say Patriots are a 2 point favorite over Indianapolis. Well, the sportsbook knows everybody is going to bet on the Patriots, so why let them do it at -2 points? They'll bet it just the same at 3.5 points. So the books often manipulate the "mathematical" professional lines provided by the LVSC based upon their knowledge of bettors. I believe the line provided by the LVSC for Indianapolis versus the Patriots was 2 points. This turned out to be almost exactly accurate . The books opened the line at 3.5 points, and it was almost immediately bet up to 4.5 points. From there it went as high as 6, before the smart money came in late and brought it back down to 4.5.

I could go on for another long while about the importance of the number 3 in sports betting, but that's a whole different issue.

Sports betting is a very fascinating enterprise :)

I want to understand how to bet on these things, can anyone give me a quick explanation on how this works. I have NO clue. I usually only bet winning/losing team but I need to learn how to spread bet. Please help, here is an example to wat a spread betting format is I guess.

http://covers.usatoday.com/data/odds.aspx

Have a look at the FAQ on dollar4dime.com they make it pretty simple

How much do you win at the sports book when you bet on the spread compared to straight up?

Is it worth it try to pick the winner of the spread(line) or just the winner of the game?
At a vegas casino sportsbook

Thanks

It depends on the line.

If you bet using just the point spread you spend $1.10 to win a dollar, Example = If you took a team whether they are the favorite or underdog, you would need to spend $22.00 to win $20.00

Now if you took the MONEL LINE The dog will give you better odds on your dollar since they are a DOG, Example +150, you will get $1.50 for every $1 you bet ( $20 bet and if the dog wins you get $30, so you will cash out a $50 ticket)

If you bet the favorite on the Money Line you have to put out more to win, like -150 you need to spend $1.50 to win $1... the same $20 bet will get you back roughly only $16, and wouuld cash out a $36 ticket.

Hope this helps,
www.ratedpicks.com

Like in football there is a penalty on every play and micheal jordan calls that we got use to or in baseball ball and strike calls always favors the better team

Yes, all sports do have betting spreads or point spreads but when one team covers the spread the other team can not cover.
For example if one team is favored by 5 points (-5), a common spread in basketball, then the opposite team would get 5 points (+5).

lets call the favored team Green and the underdog Blue.

If the score was Green 100 to Blue 96. then the people who bet on Blue would win there bet and the people who bet on Green would lose. (96 + 5 = 101).

Green 100 to Blue 94. Green wins

Green 100 to Blue 95. No bets win they all push which means you get your original bet amount back.

When you bet on sports, what happens when you exactly meet the spread (instead of covering it)?

If the spread is 1 and the final result yields exactly a difference of 1, does the bookie win?

Alright it's already been answered but nobody quite answered it correctly. This happens quite frequently, and it is called a "push" - all bets are refunded.

This famously happened in a Superbowl a few years back where pretty much everyone in the casinos had to wait back in line again to get their money refunded.

I'm a sports-betting noOb. Can anyone explain odds and point spreads 101?

I'm going to Vegas in a few weeks and would like to bet on some of the bowl games. Just looking for some basics on over/unders and betting on spreads. Thanks in advance for any help.

Sure. Here is an example of a line:
Utah -300 -9 64 Navy +250
This means Utah is favored by 9 and has to win the game by 10 points or more. If they win by 9 it is a push and you get your money back. If you take Navy you will be getting 9 points.
The -300 represents the moneyline. The moneyline is betting without a pointspread. In this case, you will have to bet $300 on Utah to win $100. If you like the moneyline on Navy then you can bet $100 and you win $250.
The #64 is the Over/Under in this case. You can bet that both teams will score more then or less than 64 points.
Lastly, you will see -110 next to most lines. This represents the "juice". It is the money that the house will make when they payout to you. If you bet Navy +9 and the juice is -110, then you have to bet $110 to win $100. This is how the house makes their $$.
On a side note I REALLY like the over in this very game.
Good luck out in Vegas and make lot$ of dough!
The #64 is the Over/Under. You can bet

If a team has a +3 1/2 line what does the half mean? I do not want to buy a half either way, so is it just an OPTION to buy that half?

No, it's used to ensure that there aren't any "pushes" with the house. If your team wins by 3 you lose the bet. If they win by 4 you win the bet. No ambiguity.