What is a Pick Em in Betting?

How Pick'ems Work  

Now you know what the meaning of a pick em is, it’s time to take a look at how they work. As the two teams in a pick em have a similar chance of winning, they tend to have the same odds. These odds can work differently depending on the juice of the sportsbook you use and the type of pick em bet you’re placing - we’ll get onto this part in a minute.

What this all means is that sometimes your selection will appear in your betting slip as pk rather than the odds displayed. Don’t be alarmed by this, it’s just a quirk! You’ll still get the odds that you selected when you placed the bet.

Types of Pick'ems  

There are two main markets that you’ll find pick ems, moneyline bets and point spread bets. Pick em betting works slightly differently on each, so let’s take a look.

Moneyline: Here you’ll find the two teams with odds of (usually) around -110 or -105. This is dependent on the juice or vig of your chosen sportsbook. Obviously, the closer to -100, the better the odds. You’ll never find a pick em bet with both sides positive odds as the sportsbook would be guaranteed to lose money.

Point Spread: Point spread pick em bets work quite differently. You’ll not see a spread listed, as the sportsbook believes it’s too tight to call. Instead, you’ll see PK listed and you just pick which time you think will win.

Advantages and Disadvantages  

There are benefits and drawbacks to everything in betting, so let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of pick em betting.

• Contests: Some sportsbooks offer specific contests on pick em bets. We’ll cover these in more detail below, but they can offer great prizes.
• Odds: The odds on pick em bets can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your sportsbook, and who you believe will win. If you strongly feel that a team will win and you’re playing at a sportsbook with low juice, then pick em bets can be great! However, if you feel the teams are truly evenly matched and the juice is high, pick em bets aren’t a good idea.