Along with the knowledge of soccer clubs, players, managers, and types of bets, a real sports betting aficionado should also consider studying some terms. The incredible and multifaceted world of sports betting terminology can surprise and confuse you, but you shouldn’t worry too much since in this article, we’ll try to explain some terms that might be a bit hard to understand without a proper explanation. We are certain that this is the type of knowledge that everybody always mentions in relation to betting, which is doing your homework and properly navigating your playing field. After all, betting is an activity that implies risk.
Today’s term is “PK,” and we aim to clarify what exactly this term means in soccer betting specifically.
POINT SPREAD
As it always happens when newcomers start feeling out a new territory, one question always leads to another. The same happens with terms. That’s why before getting to the meat of our topic, it’s important to learn what a point spread is to really get the gist of what PK is and how it can affect your betting strategies.
The point spread is a type of bet, the basic premise of which is to create an opportunity to bet money on teams or players in a certain game by examining their relative strength against each other. The purpose of this is simple: to form a level playing field between certain two teams so that potential bettors can wager on a margin of victory between the two. This is usually done through points, or any scoring units that a sport may have. In our particular case that, of course, would be goals.
HANDICAPS
Since point spreads are clearly mediated by bookmakers, the next term that could be used here is handicapping, which is basically a theoretical, or virtual, advantage that bookmakers impose on teams or players to make the playing field more equal through providing the underdog team with said virtual advantage as opposed to the favorite team, which is expected to win.
This leads us to how point spread wagers are made. Basically, now there are three elements to the game:
- The point spread itself
- The Favorite
- The Underdog
WHAT IS PK
This is where PK comes in. In sports betting, the letters PK stand for “pick’em” or “pick”, which means that the margin of victory has been set in a way where neither team is the favorite. This also means there is no point spread. This is usually explained by the fact that the bookmakers have assessed that the teams participating in such a game are going to be relatively equal in strength during that game.
This situation is especially interesting for soccer, since a lot of soccer games, as opposed to other types of sports, end up in a tie, or a draw, as it’s classically known in soccer betting.
In PK, the point spread has little importance. If the team of your choosing wins the game, you simply win your bet. If this team loses the game, you lose your wager. The point spread here is basically even, and that’s why it’s of little importance.
A pick’em bet is usually seen as a good bet because bettors do not have to fret about having a soccer team that doesn’t play at their full strength. However, more experienced gamblers sometimes try not to bet on pick’em because the teams involved are seldom dissimilar in their strength levels. Of course, it always comes down to personal preference and individual cases and scenarios. Still, most amateur bettors tend to choose games that feature PK-s, since they know that they are less likely to have their soccer team not play the entire game with medium effort.
THE OTHER PK
What is a draw in soccer betting? Remember that a draw is much more likely to occur during league or exhibition games. In a tournament, teams are required to have a winner between the two since they need to decide which team can advance to the next stage of the tournament. In such scenarios, if the winner still has not been determined, the teams will have to play another 30 minutes to finally find a winner. If there is still no winner even after these 30 minutes, then teams decide who wins based on penalty kicks, which are also often shortened to PK. It is rare, but games that end in a draw can lead to the teams replaying the entirety of the match.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Be careful and don’t get too confused when you see PK either on your favorite betting forum or in various bet descriptions, as it can mean mainly two things. To avoid additional confusion, you should also remember that PK bets are very similar to Draw No Bet, so always try to check what the subject of a given conversation is when it comes to casually, or professionally, discussing terms and descriptions in relation to soccer betting or any other sport.
Always remember that the option to seek advice from a seasoned gambler or deepen your research in some other way is always available to you. A little help from legitimate gambling resources would also go a long way towards finding the right path in sports betting.
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