Point spreads are a risk management technique. Too much betting on one side creates risk. A point spread keeps the betting on both sides even. The money is made on the surcharge (juice) on the winning bets. Doug Peterson On 24 Dec 2003 at 10:54, Craig Powers wrote: > On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 07:37:52 -0800 > Clay Satow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > >It’s true not only of the individual bettors, but also of the > >bookmaker. If the bookie > >consistently does a poor job of setting point spreads, he’ll > >eventually go out of business. > > A minor point here -- the point spread is a reflection not only on the > relative quality of the two teams, but also on the public perception > of those teams. Consequently, a system that predicts who will win and > by how much with a relatively high degree of accuracy may not produce > good point spreads if the public perception differs.