Core betting
Hook
The half point attached to a line, as in −7.5 rather than −7.
The hook removes the possibility of a push and forces the bet to win or lose. 'Losing by the hook' means the result landed on the wrong side of that half point.
Its value varies enormously by where it sits. Going from −3 to −3.5 in the NFL is expensive, because three-point margins are extremely common; going from −6 to −6.5 costs much less, because six-point margins are not.
See also
- Push — A tie against the number — the bet is void and your stake is returned.
- Key numbers — The margins that occur far more often than others, mainly 3 and 7 in football.
- Point spread — A margin handicap that makes an uneven matchup close to a coin flip.