The oddsmakers spend time formulating and calculating the lines and odds for sportsbooks. They also monitor the latest news and what the betting public is doing. What happens if they consider all that and decide that a game is a toss up?
This is a pick-or-pick-em bet, meaning that the oddsmakers don’t have one team as a big favorite. It may also be called “PK” because you’re not betting on a spread. Instead, you’re simply taking the game straight up to see which team wins. It doesn’t matter how many points a team wins.
What does PK stand for in sports betting?
If you see “PK”, where the spread is generally, this means that oddsmakers don’t see much difference between these two teams. It’s rare but it can be found in many sports.
It doesn’t matter how many points a team wins, it matters which team wins.
How can you read pick ’em odds
The point spread for both teams is almost zero, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that one team is unfavored. You can see where the oddsmakers are leaning from based on live odds.
Two options are available at approximately 50% each. The odds of winning both is -110 for both sides. These numbers may fluctuate slightly from time to time. Let’s take, for example, the Los Angeles Rams playing the Green Bay Packers in a game. The oddsmakers have the game listed as a PK.
| Spread |
|---|
| Los Angeles Rams | PK (-105) |
| Green Bay Packers | PK (-115) |
The odds show that the Packers are slightly favorites at -115 and the Rams at -105. You would be able to make slightly more money if you correctly placed your wager on the Rams.
What happens when you push?
In sports betting lingo, a push is the same as a tie. This will affect your bet depending on which sport you are betting on. While a game of basketball will never end in a tie (though NFL games may occasionally), a game of basketball could be tied.
In this situation, a tie would be a negative for the sportsbook because everyone would get their money back and the book would lose its profit. The standard point spread odds of -110 are that if the betting is close to equal, the book will make a profit so long as there’s not a push. To eliminate this possibility, many totals and point spreads will end in.5.
This would be a very unlucky outcome for any sportsbook, considering how rare it is for an NFL match to appear at a betting site and how rare it can be for a tie in an NFL match.
What does a PK in soccer betting mean?
What is a pick-’em soccer bet? In a sport such as soccer where ties are common and the margin of victory is often low, a PK bet can be a little different. You can bet on either team to win, or on a tie. The moneyline is the standard soccer bet. You can also choose to “draw no wager” to eliminate the tie bet.
Unlike other sports, such as basketball or football, where the odds of a draw are very close, soccer’s odds for a draw can be extremely variable. One team could be a significant favorite. A draw would mean a push.
Follow the line movement
Although the closing line may end in a PK, it is possible to have placed a different bet at the time the original line was released. Although other bettors might be stuck with a PK, your ticket may be more valuable considering the changes in the numbers.
It’s worth doing your research early so you can get a feel for the direction of the line. Because of the way the lines are released so far in advance, football games have the greatest variance in line movement. There are many things that can happen in the week between kickoff in the NFL and the lines being released for sports betting. Line movement will reflect this.
Let’s take, for example, the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Las Vegas Raiders. The 49ers are 1.5-point underdogs on the initial line. However, you like their chances in this matchup so you place a wager on San Francisco to cover that spread.
Spreads and odds can change for many reasons. One of the most important is what other bettors do. The -110 odds allow for even action on bets that have a 50% chance of winning. This will help minimize risk and maximize profit.
Let’s say that a lot bettors were following the same strategy as you and placed their money on the 49ers. San Francisco was seeing so much action in this scenario that oddsmakers couldn’t help but adjust the numbers to attract more Las Vegas Raiders betting. Eventually, the bet changed from a 1.5-point underdog to a pick ’em.
You gained 1.5 points by getting in early. This is quite significant. Even if San Francisco loses by one point, your wager still wins. This is not the case if you wait to place the bet. You can also see line movement due to weather, injuries, and transactions.
Shop the lines
Line shopping is exactly what it sounds. It’s the same as any other type of shopping. You search for the lowest price when you find an item that you like. You will need to register at several legal online sportsbooks in CA in order to do this in sports betting. Although the numbers of different books may be similar, they might not always be exact. You could make extra money by shopping.
You can check all sportsbooks that you have and locate the best place to place your bets on the Los Angeles Chargers vs. the Denver Broncos matchup. Although they may list the game under PK, DraftKings Sportsbook California shows the Chargers at -110 PK odds while Caesars Sportsbook California offers them at -105. Caesars has a slightly higher potential payout.
Depending on which sports you like to bet, a PK wager might not be common. However, you can now get a better understanding of what it means when you see a pick ’em.