How many times have you said I should of bought that half point for a push or a win? When you go out shopping, would you buy something at the store for a higher price than what the store down the street has it for? No you wouldn’t so why do it when putting your money on the line? If you want to be successful at sports betting, you need to shop for the best line. In order to do so, you need to have accounts at multiple sportsbooks which allows you to get the best line for that event. If you’ve ever lost a game by a point or half point, or pushed a game that could of been a winner somewhere else, you would know that over the long run it will dramatically affect your bottom line profits.
Successful bettors normally have at least 3 and up to 20 sportsbook accounts. Though 20 is not needed, it is recommended to have at least 3 active open accounts. Point spreads can vary greatly between the different sportsbooks up to as much as 2 points. If you were betting on the Detroit Lions vs. the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Sportsbook A can have them at -4.5, Sportsbook B, might have -3.5, and Sportsbook C might have them at -3. Obviously taking the -3 at Sportsbook C yields the best value. Another reason to have multiple accounts is the option to “middle”.
Middling is known as betting both sides of an event with the chance of winning both bets. If you lose, you would only lose the juice. To help you understand the art of “middling”, take our sportsbook example above:
Sportsbook Line Shopping Example:
Detroit Lions vs. the Green Bay Packers
Sportsbook A: Detroit -4.5, Green Bay +4.5
Sportsbook B: Detroit -3.5, Green Bay +3.5
Sportsbook C: Detroit -3, Green Bay +3
In the above example, you can take the Green Bay Packers at +4.5 at Sportsbook A, and also take the Detroit Lions -3 at Sportsbook C. In the worst case scenario, if Detroit wins by 5 or more points, you would go 1-1 and lose the 10% juice. If Green Bay wins straight up, you would go 1-1 and lose the 10% juice. If Detroit wins by exactly 3 points, you push your Detroit bet and win the Green Bay bet going 1-0. However, if Detroit wins by exactly 4 points, you would win both bets going 2-0. As you can see, you are only putting the juice on the line when going for a middle.