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.