Definition of Point Buying

What does the term "buying points" mean in the world of sports betting? What is the definition of the term "buying points"?

Let's say that you want to bet on this weekend's Dallas Cowboys vs Denver Broncos football game. The line currently looks like this:

Denver Broncos, -9, -110
Dallas Cowboys, +9, -110

So, according to this line, if you wanted to take the Cowboys plus the 9 points, a successful $110 wager would yield a total profit of $100.

- let's say that you wanted to "buy some points" on the Cowboys. Depending on how many points you wanted to buy, the lines might look like this:

Dallas Cowboys, +10, -175
Dallas Cowboys, +11, -225
Dallas Cowboys, +12, -285
Dallas Cowboys, +13, -355
Dallas Cowboys, +14, -455

*this is just a hypothetical example - the numbers will not be perfect*

So, let's say that you wanted to take the Cowboys plus 14 points. This would mean that if the Broncos won 33-20, you would still win your bet.

In this case, buying an extra five points would cost you dearly. In order to have a chance of winning $100 in profit back, you would need to wager $455. This is much more expensive than the Dallas Cowboys +9, -110 line, which would mean that you would need to bet $110 in order to win $100 back.

This is the practice of "buying points" - the more points that you buy, the more it will cost you when it comes time to place a wager.