DOG DEFINITION

What is a Dog in betting?

Dog refers to the underdog in a given event. A Dog (or ‘UD’) is a team or player that has a lower expected chance to win a game or an outcome compared to their opposition who are referred to as the favorite. This is reflected in the odds set by the Sportsbooks, in that the underdog team or player will have higher moneyline odds than their opposition and also a positive spread (+).

For example if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were playing the Arizona Cardinals and these were the respective teams moneyline odds:

Then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be classified as the Dog because they have higher moneyline odds than the Arizona Cardinals. Higher moneyline odds suggest that the Buccaneers are less likely to beat the Cardinals.

In the next example we will be looking at the spread market for a game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Chicago Bulls:

In this game even though both teams odds are the same we are able to tell that the Chicago Bulls are the underdogs as their spread has a positive (+) sign attached to it. This means that the Bulls would either have to win or lose by 3 points or less for your spread bet to win. This bet is commonly read as Chicago Bulls +3.5.

When betting on dogs, the bettor always receives a higher return on their bet, this is because the Sportsbooks have predicted that this outcome is less likely to occur. Betting on the dogs is a good way for the bettor to earn more profit for their bet, however they are more risky bets.