What Odds Comparison is and Why it Helps Your Betting Process

Sports betting is at its most efficient when you follow the margins for consistent value, and comparing the odds across sportsbooks is the foremost tool to do so. It brings a new level to your process and allows you to take the best price, ensuring that you maximize opportunities.

Despite being a relatively easy thing to do, an efficient comparison method will always require you to be sharp in your searches. It can take quite a bit of time, which is not the most convenient style. As a result, tool usage makes your life easier.

To fully engage with this practice and the helpful aid that you find online, you also need to know exactly what this system can bring as an advantage. 

Our article will reveal the core tenets of odds comparison, how to fully extract its upside, why there are certain limitations to the practice, and what you can accomplish with it.

What does ‘odds comparison’ refer to?

It refers to your ability and willingness to put sportsbooks side by side for a certain event and betting market. Based on your perception of the match-up, you need to make a wager that fits your perception of value.

The practice also carries the name of price/odds shopping. Rather than relying on a single bookmaker, you are constantly looking for the one that allows you to minimize the house edge and, as a byproduct, create a sense of value.

This entire phenomenon has a higher purpose, which is to obtain a positive closing line value (CLV). The idea is to make a bet on a market with a series of odds that, by the time the books close for that event, the price works in your favor. More on this aspect a bit later.

How can you do it efficiently?

The most efficient way to compare odds is to use helpful software. You can find various similar platforms online, but a truly great one has both updated and detailed information. You’ll want the odds to change within the platform right away so you know if you need to react.

As for the data that you should expect, it boils down to the collection of bookmakers that you could go to. It needs to have brands that you can legally bet at, based on your jurisdiction. Moreover, the number of markets carries quite a lot of interest. 

You may not always go for just the winner of a match. The more series of odds that you find on the comparison platform, the better it works for you and the more versatile your choices.

Picking the best price allows you to exploit margins

Margins are the core of value sports betting for a simple reason: they allow you to establish a good process. Winning a bet may be the main objective, but doing so based on proper thinking can help you gain a sense of consistency.

Rather than accumulators, which carry a lot of risk and have multiple vig entries with each leg, these margin-driven bets can help you rack up compounding returns rather than big, bombastic wins that are hard to come by without quite a lot of luck.

Let’s set an example with odds that we sourced from BetBrain: the Denver Broncos are playing the Las Vegas Raiders. The former open at -120 per BetMGM, -130 per FanDuel and DraftKings, while Caesars has Denver at -140. By the time the books close, all books shift to -150.

In this case, the best price for you would be at BetMGM. They placed them with odds that were too low relative to the chances. The implied probability for -120 is 54.5%, while the closing line of -150 means 60% probability. You thought Denver was better all along, so:

• If you bet $20 on Denver at -120, you would get a payout of $36.67.

• At -150, the payout was going to be $33.33.

This means that, by shopping for odds and taking the most misplaced ones, you obtained a positive closing line value and increased your comparative win by more than $3. It’s a small sum, but a hundred bets like this bring you $300 in additional money. This is why it’s a maximization strategy.

If Vegas ended up upsetting the Broncos, it would’ve been an unforeseen or surprising circumstance. The important part is that, even by making the safer pick, you won more than you would’ve by waiting for the final price. The conclusion is that you had a correct process.

You don’t depend on a single sportsbook, but you need multiple funded accounts

The most problematic thing about using odds comparison and shopping is that you need to be ready to take advantage of it, and this is going to cost you. Any of the bookies that you follow and put side by side can be the one with a misplaced price.

To be able to jump at these opportunities, you need accounts at all of them. Okay, you have this membership, but doing so will require you to have money to bet. Yes, you could deposit on the spot, but that’s a bit of a hassle considering that you mostly need to move fast, especially if there are rumblings of an event that can lead to the odds shifting.

This means that, at any given point, you should have a sum of money placed in each of these accounts. Moreover, constant inactivity can lead to the possibility of account closure after a while, depending on that sportsbook’s terms.

What it leads to is an overhead cost that you need to accept to make this strategy work. It may be that you may not use a certain account because it never has a misplaced price. You may want to wager the cash, withdraw it, and then…an opportunity hits, and you have no money in that balance.

To ensure you’re always ready, your best option is to make these deposits and have them on stand-by, ensuring that no chance goes by you, especially if it requires a fast reaction. 

A dynamic relationship with the betting markets can be tiresome

This is yet another downside that you need to consider when you’re comparing odds and the markets that they are in.

Simply put, it requires a constant degree of attention and some quick calculations. Yes, you can make both of them very quickly thanks to the myriad of tools that you have at hand. However, it also entails quite a lot of attention and mental effort, which can have a significant impact on your psyche.

The most important thing is that you know the level that you want to be at in terms of involvement. You’d want to know if you want to focus on a single sport, league, or type of market (line, spread, etc.).

Conclusion

Now that we’ve gone through the major upsides and difficulties of comparing odds, you have a better idea of whether it’s worth placing the effort of doing so. It can certainly be rewarding, especially since it’s a prerequisite of an efficient process that harnesses compounding margins.

However, it’s just as essential not to let it get to your head. Remember to retain a balanced approach and opt for responsible gambling!