Come place a bet with The GIST

It’s Sunday. Your favorite team, the Green Bay Packers, have an afternoon match-up with the rival Minnesota Vikings. Time to get in the game.

First, let’s look at the odds.

You have a few options here, depending on your risk aversion.

The moneyline means you’d have to bet a decent amount on the Packers for any good kind of payout. That’s a small amount of risk, but also a small amount of reward.

• A $5 bet at -320 would win $1.56 in profit

• A $10 bet at -320 would win $3.13 in profit

• A $50 bet at -320 would win $15.63 in profit

Instead, let’s look at the point spread. Because the spread is set at -7.5, a bet on the Packers would only be successful if the cheeseheads win by 8 or more points. If the Packers only win by, say, 5 points, you’d lose your bet. This scenario is fairly even, risk to reward.

• A $5 bet at -110 would win $4.55 in profit

• A $10 bet at -110 would win $9.09 in profit

• A $50 bet at -110 would win $45.45 in profit

Of course, if you didn’t like either of those bets, maybe you’d consider some prop bets or player bets, like Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throwing for over 2.5 touchdowns (the .5 is included so the bet either wins or loses, rather than a push if Rogers were to throw exactly two touchdowns) or wide receiver Allen Lazard catching the first touchdown of the game.

Or maybe you put together a little parlay, taking the Packers moneyline but also betting on the New York Giants and Detroit Lions to increase your payout.

• Whatever you bet on, it’s always fun putting a little skin in the game.