If you're treating sports betting like a business, profit margins have to be a key focus. From the hardcore sports bettor to the casual fan, the bottom line for everybody that bets on sports is making money. Creating an edge isn’t easy. However, those that put the necessary time in can gain a significant edge by understanding certain factors. Do it right and you can swing the odds in your favor.
Here is a look at three important elements to maximizing sports betting profit margins.
Tracking Reverse Line Movement
Reverse line movement refers to betting line movements that contradict the public betting percentages. For example, let's start with the Pittsburgh Steelers being listed at -5.5 against the Cleveland Browns. Let's asay the NFL betting trends data reveals that 80% of the spread bets are on the Steelers. However, the line moves to Pittsburgh -4.5, that is reverse line movement.
These types of changes are a strong indication that a substantial amount of “smart money” is on the Browns at +5.5. That then forces the sportsbooks to move the line even further in the public’s favor. That's because they feel the smart money is on Cleveland. That indication should influence you to put your money down on the Browns at +5.5 if you can still find that line at another sportsbook. You could also consider taking Cleveland at +4.5 since it isn’t a key number. The odds are that at least one sportsbook would still be offering the Browns at +5.5. Then you could cash in on that line knowing that your bet is with the smart money for that game.
Capitalizing On Steam Moves
Steam move is a term used to describe when a sudden, drastic and uniform line move is made across the board. Steam is the result of the sudden overload of money placed on multiple sportsbooks. The majority of the times, the public will attempt to chase that steam in order to capitalize on the opportunity. The key is to know when to chase the steam and when to wait.
In some instances, the sharps will put a lot of money on a side to push it a certain way. They might come back and then bet the other way with even more money in order to capitalize on the line changes. There are plenty of websites that provide insight in to line movements as well as public betting percentages. By keeping track of those numbers, you can really know when to chase the steam and when to hold back.
Understanding Return On Investment
Return On Investment or ROI is a performance measure that is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment. The ROI is calculated by taking the return of an investment and dividing it by the cost. For example, if you made 500 bets risking $100 on every single wager and you won 25 betting units then the ROI would be calculated using this formula: (25 units x $100) divided by (500 games x $100).
According to this equation, the ROI would be .05 or 5%. The calculations are easy enough to do and it’s important to keep track of your Return On Investment in order to make sure that you are maintaining positive profit margins.
