What Does PK Mean in Betting?

PK betting is a wager where the sportsbook can’t differentiate between the favorite and the underdog. The top betting sites offer point spreads which essentially become moneyline bets when you put your wager on. What does PK mean in betting? Find out with our quick guide. 

Scenarios for PK Betting 

First, let’s explain what the point spread is. It’s a handicap bet where the favorite is assigned a theoretical points deduction before the game begins. The underdog is assigned the same points, but has a pre-game “advantage”.

H3: NFL

Let’s use an NFL bet as our example:

•    Kansas City Chiefs +3.5 (-110)
•    San Francisco 49ers -3.5 (-110)

In a tight NFL game, the Chiefs are priced at -110 with a 3.5-point advantage. The 49ers are also -110 with a slight -3.5-point handicap. Essentially, whoever wins the game “covers the spread” and wins you the bet.

In this game, the moneyline (to win) odds are -180 for the Chiefs and +160 for the 49ers. It’s therefore better value to stick to the moneyline bet if you fancy the 49ers, or go for the point spread if you think the Chiefs will win.

H3: Basketball

Similarly, you can bet the PK spread on NBA basketball games. Some prices on NBA games are announced early, and this is where you can hunt out some value.

For instance, a game between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers may have a point spread of +2/-2. The odds for either side to beat the spread are -110, but the moneyline odds may be listed as +105/-105. That’s when you can hit the moneyline wager hard before the odds drop. 

Alternatives to PK Betting

Some online bookmakers give you options if you want to bet on a spread that’s already been assigned a PK. The teaser is a neat tool that lets you manually adjust the spread to set your own odds.

For example, if a bookmaker priced Boston Celtics vs Indiana Pacers as +0/-0 with unfavorable -110 odds, you could adjust the spread to +4/-4 to recalculate the price.

In this scenario, you may have done your own research and found that the Celtics were slight favorites in terms of implied probability. Their odds to cover a spread of +4 are +120, representing much more value than the -110 to take the PK.