The Benefit of Halftime Wagers to Create a “Middle”.

Nov 17, 2009

When wagering on football or basketball one of the best wagers you can make is betting the second half if you've already wagered on the full game. This is especially true when you’re taking back points and your team has the lead at the half.

This situation occurs daily and here is an example of how it works: Let’s assume that the New England Patriots are a 6-point favorite over Dallas and you take Dallas plus the points for the full game.

The halftime score is Dallas 10 New England 3. In reality, you’re up 16-3 when you add in the points you’ve already secured. At the half the books will post a second half spread based on the first half score and in this case it’s safe to assume that New England will be about a 7-point second half favorite.

Now you’ve created a small risk (the juice) for a 20-1 payoff by taking the Patriots in the second half for the same bet you played on the full game and laying the 7 points. You can’t lose both and you’ve created a six-point “middle”.

In other words, if New England comes back and wins the game by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 points you’ll hit both sides of your wager. If it lands on 6, you’ll get a push (Dallas for the full game +6) and a win (New England –7 in the second half). If you wagered 110 to win 100 on both bets you’re risk is $10 to make $200. This also works in basketball and is one of the safest and best bets you can make on a daily basis.

These cash in often enough to make it very worthwhile.