Tip #1: Know the bet you’re making
Sounds simple, right? It should be, but sometimes it isn’t. For example, tennis and soccer employ what’s called a handicap line. The handicap line is similar to an against the spread line in football betting.
But in football, it’s rare to see a spread line that’s not at -110, or 10% juice. In soccer and tennis, we often see lines like Barcelona -2.5 goals versus Betis at -147.
You can bet on MLB run lines, which are almost always at -1.5 or +1.5 runs but with various risk versus reward signifiers. A run line could be +2.5 at -240 as an example, which means to profit $100, you must risk $240.
Tip #2: Understand risk versus reward
We touched on risk versus reward in Tip #1. It’s so important, we should spend more time on the subject.
What is risk versus reward? When we say we are risking something, it means we are putting some up of value for a potential reward. We risk things all the time.
When we get into our cars, we are risking the chances of getting into an accident. Depending on where you live, try driving in Bangkok to get what we’re saying here, the risk of driving and getting into an accident could be high or low. It depends. The risk exists, though.
In sports betting, we risk our money, our hard earned dollars, for potential monetary rewards. So we must weigh the risk against the reward.
Weighing risk versus reward is discovering underlay and overlay opportunities.
Tip #3: Get good at finding overlay bets
Before diving into Tip #3, let’s define the terms underlay and overlay. What do these words mean? An underlay is a sports betting option that offers a bad risk versus reward.
In other words, an underlay involves backing favorites or underdogs with odds that don’t correctly represent the chances of the wager being successful. For example, if the Raiders are playing the Chiefs, the Chiefs could be a 6 point favorite.
But if the game happens in Las Vegas where the Raiders exist, should the Chiefs be 6 point favorites, 5 point favorites? 4 point favorites or not even the favorite?
If the answer is yes, the Chiefs are an underlay, which means the Raiders are an overlay. Overlays are sports bets that offer a higher risk versus reward than it should. In the 2023 Wimbledon Women’s Singles Final, Marketa Vondrousova was an over +150 underdog versus Ons Jabeur.
Vondrousova had been playing tennis as well as Jabeur, yet she offered a much better payout, a much better reward. One look at how the two had been performing and it was obvious to many expert tennis handicappers that Vondrousova offered overlay odds.
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