FAV DEFINITION

What is a Fav in betting?

Fav refers to the favorite in a given event. A fav is a team or player that has a higher expected chance to win a game or an outcome compared to their opposition who are referred to as the underdog. This is reflected by the Sportsbooks in that the favorite team or player will have lower moneyline odds than their opposition and also a negative spread (-).

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

Then the Arizona Cardinals would be classified as the Fav because they have shorter (or lower) moneyline odds than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Shorter moneyline odds suggest that the Cardinals are more likely to win against the Buccaneers.

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 Milwaukee Bucks are the favorites as their spread has a negative (-) sign attached to it. This means that the Bucks would have to win by 4 or more points for your spread bet to win. This bet is commonly read as Milwaukee Bucks -3.5

When betting on the fav the bettor always receives a slightly lower return on the bet, this is because the Sportsbooks have predicted that this outcome is more likely to occur. Betting on the favs is a safer option for the bettor, however don’t always present as much value.