What Is an Open Bet and What You Should Do If You Want to Win in Sports Betting
If you’ve ever bet on sports like American football, basketball, or even very lopsided football matches, you’ve probably come across the point spread.
But do you really know how it works and why it can be so dangerous for your profitability if you don’t fully understand it?
The Point Spread explained: leveling an unbalanced game
The Point Spread is a way to level the playing field when there’s a clear favorite.
Instead of simply betting on who wins, you’re betting on whether a team will win by more points than the spread, or whether the other will lose by fewer or even win outright.
Example:
Lakers -7.5 vs Rockets
If you bet on the Lakers, you only win if they win by 8 points or more.
If you bet on the Rockets, you win if they lose by 7 or fewer… or if they win outright.
This type of bet makes very lopsided matches more interesting for bettors. But be careful: that’s where the bookmaker gains its edge.
What's the real problem with the Point Spread?
The spread may seem fair, but it’s a field designed for you to fail if you don’t have precise information and a mathematical strategy behind you.
Why?
Because bookmakers constantly adjust the spread based on the money wagered.
Because they build in their hidden margin (overround), and you pay more than it seems.
Because every small movement of the spread completely changes your result. You’re not betting on a direct outcome, but on a range of points that can be very volatile.
In short: if you bet the spread without a clear statistical edge, you’re playing at a disadvantage.
Can you win betting the spread?
Yes, if you bet with value.
That is, if you find odds where the offered spread is miscalculated relative to the real probability of the event.
That’s called a value bet.
For example: if the bookmaker gives you a -7.5 spread at odds of 2.00, but your analysis (or better yet, an advanced statistical system) determines that the probability of that team winning by 8 or more is much higher than 50%, then you have value.
But the problem is finding that error before it’s corrected.
And that’s where it gets complicated. Because odds and spreads change in seconds.
What Is an Open Bet
For years, the concept of an “open bet” has been seen as a flexible and useful strategy to gain an edge when betting. But the truth is, in today’s market—dominated by speed, automated adjustments, and technology—placing an open bet manually no longer makes sense.
What used to be called an “open bet” is simply a single bet placed with the intention of completing it later. And in the context of sports arbitrage, that’s just the first step of a surebet.
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In the following video, you can see how BetOven’s AI works and how you can try it for free to maximize your profits in sports betting:
Some results with BetOven's AI
If you came looking for picks, you’ve struck gold! Check out the results of some hunters thanks to BetOven:
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