No matter what hobby, job, or task you pursue, everyone has one common goal: to get better. Sport betting is no different. You might have started to 1xbet mobile on sports for fun, or just to make a little more money. But, just like anything else, there will come a time when you want to step up to the next level with sports betting. In this article, we are going to take a look at what that next level looks like, what it means, and what sort of things to do when you get there.
Watch the lines and the spread
In our article for beginner sports bettors, we talked a lot about the money line and the point spread. These are the two most common types of bets that people place in sports betting; if you don’t know what we are talking about go back to the beginner section and wait at least a year before attempting the next step in your sports betting career!
At the intermediate level, you need to be aware of more than just the definitions of the point spread and the money line; you need to understand what each means in terms of the money you stand to win or to lose.
Remember that both the point spread and the money line are reflections of betting action, not necessarily the skill of a team. This means that the more people who bet on one team, the more the bookmakers will shift the lines to favor the underdogs.
Let’s take a regular season baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins as an example. Two days before the game, the books are putting out a line something like this:
Over the course of the next two days, people find out that the Braves have changed their starting pitcher. Instead of the second best pitcher, the best guy is now on the mound. Moreover, the Marlins’ top batter is out of the lineup with an injured thumb that day. Now, the lines look like this:
The bookies have made a couple of changes. First of all, they are charging those who want to bet on the favorite Braves an extra $20 for every $100 they bet. They are also offering those betting on the underdog Marlins an extra $10 for every $100 THEY bet. It’s a difference of $30.
That difference is because the public are betting even more money on the Braves after the news about the starting pitcher and the injured batter. Bookmakers are trying to balance the action by decreasing the value of a bet placed on the Braves. They will apply a similar strategy with the point spread in this and other sports.
That value is very important for anyone who wants to take the next step in sports betting. If you consider yourself to be at the next value, you will likely pass the re-worked lines up. Why? Because a fair value bet on the Braves, the original, has just been replaced with a poor value bet. The Braves might still win, but you can’t be sure enough to risk an extra $20 for every $100 you hope to win. It’s a bad return. Nor do you want to take the Marlins, who in all likelihood will still lose the game.
