how to bet on the game
How to Bet on the Game
Betting on sports online gives you a chance to sign up for many sportsbooks and easily compare their offers. This is especially useful when looking for the best lines and odds.
1. Utilize Sports Betting Software
Effectiveness ⁚ High Time requirement ⁚ Low
Being effective at sports betting means looking at a lot of data. While you can have a manual approach, this is sometimes just too time-consuming to pay off.
That’s why you should consider taking advantage of sports betting software that uses a lot of data to help you build models, follow profitable trends, or For example, w e also have a Positive EV Bet Search Tool and Arbitrage Bets Finder at Odds Assist. We automatically compare odds data from various sportsbooks to find mispriced lines that result in a profit over time.
For example, if most books have Joel Embiid to score over 28.5 points at -135 but one has the odds at -110, you can assume that there is positive expected value (EV) from betting this. Over time, if you make only positive EV bets, you will make money.
When odds difference are high enough, you can bet both sides of a bet on different sportsbooks to guarantee yourself profit—aka arbitrage betting. Using the same example above, if one sportsbook has Embiid over 28.5 points at -110 odds and another has Embiid under 28.5 points at 115, you could take both bets and win no matter what.
2. Shop Lines and Odds
Effectiveness⁚ High Time requirement⁚ Medium
Betting on sports online gives you a chance to sign up for many sportsbooks and easily compare their offers. This is especially useful when looking for the best lines and odds.
Lines will often slightly vary from sportsbook to sportsbook. While they may be mostly similar or downright identical, you might be able to notice small discrepancies that can give you an advantage.
For example, by shopping lines, you may be able to find an NFL team at -3 instead of -3.5 or 3.5 instead of 3—a big difference when considering that 3 points is the most common margin of victory in the NFL.
Alternatively, perhaps you compare moneyline odds at sportsbooks to find positive expected value (EV) bets and value bets . These types of bets have big odds differences from the consensus, meaning you have a positive expected return on investment. For example, if everyone has the New England Patriots moneyline odds at 120, but you find one sportsbook at 140, that may have positive expected value.
Odds often vary from betting site to betting site, as well. Certain markets may have more favorable odds on one site than another, even if the lines are the same.
For example, BetRivers and BetMGM may both have the Chiefs at -7 points but one may have them at -105 while another may have them at -115. Taking the -105 odds gives you a better payout.
Here at Odds Assist, we make it easy to shop around with our free Sports Betting Odds Lines Comparison Tool . You can filter by league, sportsbooks, and more to find the best deal for the market you’re interested in.
3. Bet on Props
Effectiveness ⁚ Medium/High Time requirement ⁚ High
The majority of people stick to betting on moneyline , spreads , and totals . Therefore, sportsbooks tend to spend more time accurately pricing these markets, which is why there are fewer opportunities to find value.
On the other hand, there is a high number of prop bets on every game. Since there are so many of these bets available, fewer people bet them and sportsbooks spend less time setting the lines and odds. This means that they are likely to misprice at least some of them, presenting you with a great opportunity to find value.
One of the best ways to bet props is to focus on prop bets that should move with the spread or total, that don’t. For example, if an NFL game is calling for extreme wind and snow and the total drops by 10 points but the receiving yards for players or the QB passing yards props don’t drop, they present great value.
4. Bet Early
Effectiveness ⁚ Medium Time requirement ⁚ Medium
When sportsbooks release the lines for a given market, there’s a good chance to find value, as there hasn’t been much action on those markets yet, and the lines haven’t moved to the fair market value.
After a few hours, sharp bettors will have picked through the lines and placed large wagers on the ones that they think are off—and sportsbooks will quickly adjust.
Of course, spotting lines that are off requires a lot of knowledge, skill, and research. Just like any other bet, you shouldn’t just go with your gut when betting opening lines.
5. Fade the Public (Sometimes)
Effectiveness ⁚ Low/Medium Time requirement ⁚ Low/Medium
Fading the public (betting against the public) is one of the most common sports betting strategies. The principle of fading revolves around waiting to see where most of the bets are going and then betting on the opposite side. The logic is that the public is going to be wrong most of the time.
To do this, you’ll have to find data on the percent of bets on each side of a market and bet the ones where most bets are heavily on one side.
Even though fading the public is a popular strategy, we don’t recommend blindly doing it. Instead, you should look for reverse line movement. This is when the majority of bets are on one side of a market but the line moves in the opposite direction, indicating that sharp bettors have placed massive bets on the other side.
To find reverse line movement, look for markets that have the majority of bets on one side of the market but the line is moving against it. For example, if 80% of bets are on the Rams -7 but the line moves to Rams -6, you’ve found reverse line movement.