Tracking the Sportsbooks
One of the best ways to get anything done in life is simply to have other people do it for you. Sports betting is no different and sports gamblers who are willing to spend a little time can use the knowledge of some very smart bettors.
All sportsbooks employ some type of manager, who is responsible for the setting of the opening line, while others will also employ an oddsmaker, who is responsible for creating an opening line, which is then usually adjusted a bit by the sportsbook manager. Sportsbooks which don't employ an oddsmaker are usually content to use the current lines at other betting outlets, with minor adjustments before releasing the lines to customers.
From there, lines will generally move during the day for two reasons. The first is the amount of money being wagered on one side of a particular contest. The second reason a line will move, other than injury, suspension or weather, is because of who is betting a particular side. A bettor known to do well over time may move the line a point with just a $200 wager, while another bettor may make a $2,000 wager and the line will remain the same.
The Daily Routine
The first step is to record the odds on the games from as many different sportsbooks as possible. There are literally hundreds of sportsbooks available online and a bettor is simply limited by their available time for odds tracking.
The key here is to look for which sportsbooks have odds that are slightly different than the others. During college football season, it won't be uncommon to see 10 different sportsbooks having Team A as a 12-point favorite over Team B, while one or two sportsbooks will have Team A -9 or Team A -11. What bettors want to do is track the sportsbooks that have the different numbers and see what, if any, patterns develop.
If a sportsbook has a sharp manager of sharp bettors, it's possible that those games with the 11-point spread will win at a higher percentage than they should. It's also possible those game will lose at a higher percentage than they should if the sportsbook moves games solely on money bet. Remember, a losing trend can be just as valuable as a winning trend by just betting the other way.
It's also possible that those games will end up right around 50-percent, giving no advantage on way or the other, unless you want to bet on that particular game, in which you should take Team A -9 if you like the favorite or Team B +11 if you like the underdog.
It's important to remember that each sport is different also. If taking the team that one sportsbook has a different line on shows a profit in college football, that doesn't mean the same will hold true in the NFL. A sportsbook manger or his bettors may do better in one sport than another, so again, it's back to tracking odds for that particular sport.
Baseball
Baseball is slightly different, however, in that Pinnacle Sportsbook will generally have the lowest odds on the favorite of any sportsbook. And since Pinnacle uses an 8-cent line in baseball, many times they will have the best odds, or close to the best odds, on the underdog, as well. If you wager on baseball and live outside of the United States, you should give serious consideration to opening an account with Pinnacle.
The other reason that baseball generally won't follow any type of odds pattern is that some sportsbooks will use a 10-cent line, while there are still others who deal a 20-cent line, which should be avoided if at all possible. There are enough sportsbooks using a 10-cent line that a bettor should be able to find one that suits their needs.
Summary
Tracking the odds isn't likely to lead to untold riches, and is time consuming, but depending on how much a person wagers, it can be time well spent. For one thing, it forces the sports bettor to look at the odds from a number of different sportsbooks, making it easier to find the most advantageous line possible. Shopping for lines is one of the key aspects of showing a long-term profit in the sports betting world.
Odds tracking also forces bettors to think a little bit. In our example above, the bettor should be asking why the line is different and why the sportsbook is trying to attract money on Team A -9 or Team B +11. That is the primary reason for the difference in the point spread from the majority of the other sportsbooks.
Tracking the odds at different sportsbooks is simply another tool in the handicapping arsenal of sports bettors. And the more tools you have at your disposal, the greater the chances you will be able to show a profit.\
