Buy Points

Buying points (sometimes called “alternate lines”) means paying extra vig to move a point spread or total in your favor. Most US books offer this as a feature on game lines.

How It Works

A typical NFL spread might be:

• Chiefs -7 (-110)

If you’d rather have a safer line, you can “buy” half a point:

• Chiefs -6.5 (-130) (paying extra vig for the better line)

Or buy a full point:

• Chiefs -6 (-150) (more extra vig for an even better line)

You’re getting a more favorable spread (lower threshold to cover), but you’re paying more in vig. The trade-off is whether the improved spread is worth the worse odds.

Why It Matters

Buying points is sometimes mathematically correct and sometimes a trap, depending entirely on which numbers you’re crossing.

Buying points on or through key numbers is sometimes +EV. In the NFL, the most common margins of victory are 3 and 7. Buying points to cross those numbers — going from -7.5 to -7, or from -3.5 to -3 — can be worth the extra vig.

Example: Chiefs -3.5 (-110) vs Chiefs -3 (-130). Going from -3.5 to -3 means you now also win on a 3-point Chiefs win (about 9-10% of NFL games). The extra vig (-110 to -130) costs you roughly 9 percentage points of effective probability, but the line improvement gains you roughly 10 percentage points. Marginal +EV.

Buying points NOT through key numbers is almost always -EV. Crossing -8 to -7.5 or -2 to -1.5 doesn’t gain you much because those margins are uncommon. You’re paying extra vig for negligible improvement.

Exception: half-point buybacks at low cost. Sometimes books offer half-point buybacks for very small extra vig (like -110 to -115). These can occasionally be worth it on the margin, but the value is small.

The general rule: buying points works best on football, only when the line crosses key numbers. On basketball, hockey, or baseball — where scoring is smoother — buying points is rarely worth the extra cost.

For more on which numbers matter most, see Moneylines, Spreads, and Totals.