Value in its most simple form in sports betting is placing bets with good odds in order to make money in the long run. While this is a wild oversimplification, it is the main goal of the matter. In the below we will discuss what makes value so important and give a few tips on finding the best value in any sport betting.
Sportsbooks
Sportsbooks provide odds. When a sportsbook provides us with certain odds, we can use these odds to calculate an implied probability. Our goal in finding value is to find events with what we believe is better probability than the implied probability supplied by the odds. If we put two equally matched teams against each other, one would expect that the odds would be even like 1/1 in fractional odds or 2.0 in decimal odds.
While this makes sense from a mathematical standpoint, this is not the way that sports books operate. It is always important to remember that sportsbooks make money by having a small overhead in the odds on every bet rather than trying to make money from people losing in the betting market. Whether you win or lose, the sportsbook will make a small cut from you.
Due to the nature of this system, it is always in the best interest of a sportsbook to have bettors equal in ratio to the odds on either side of the bet. This is where we can start to find great value in free bets. If you are unsure on how to work out implied probability, there are plenty of articles online that explain it. If you find yourself struggling working out the probability from different odds formats, you’ll have to dig a bit deeper.
Finding The Value
This is where the key factors come in for successful sports bettors. Your main task as a sports bettor will be to find bets with a better probability than that implied by the odds. Weather you do this via your own research, tips or any other method, that is up to you. Let’s use a quick example from football betting to help show what is meant by this.
We know that a lot of sports bettors are betting more for fun and in support of their teams than with actual due diligence. So we have a game like Manchester United vs Fulham. We know from previous track records that Manchester united is likely to win the game. When we take into consideration how many avid fans will be betting on either side, we can tell that Manchester United will draw in a number of bets disproportional to the odds.
This leaves the sportsbook with a problem. Sportsbooks will try to counteract this by making the odds more favourable for the Fulham bet. In this case, Fulham will present great value. Fulham will have a better actual probability of winning than that implied by the odds.