Sports betting often gets a bad rap as a quick way to lose money. Many people view it as nothing more than a gamble, a high-risk activity with little chance of success. However, sports betting doesn’t have to be a waste of money. With the right positive expected value (+EV) betting to maximize your chances of winning.
Is Sports Betting a Waste of Money? It Doesn’t Have to Be!
Step #1: Take What the Sportsbooks Give You | Is Sports Betting a Waste of Money?
One of the easiest ways to get started with sports betting without risking much of your own money is by taking advantage of sportsbook offers. Most online sportsbooks offer various promotions to attract new customers, including free bets, matched deposits, and risk-free bets. These offers provide a great opportunity to place bets without using your own money, effectively reducing your risk.
You can find several such offers linked below:
For example, a common offer is a matched deposit bonus, where the sportsbook matches a percentage of your initial deposit with bonus funds. This gives you extra money to bet with, increasing your chances of winning without increasing your risk. Similarly, bonus bets allow you to place wagers with less risk. By carefully reading the and conditions and using these offers wisely, you can build a bankroll with minimal investment.
Step #2: Take Advantage of Arbitrage Betting Opportunities
Arbitrage betting is a strategy that involves placing bets on all possible outcomes of an event with different bookmakers to guarantee a profit, regardless of the result. This is possible because different sportsbooks may offer slightly different odds for the same event. By placing the right amount of money on each outcome, you can lock in a profit no matter what happens.
For example, if one bookmaker offers odds of +200 on Team A to win and another offers odds of -180 on Team B, you could place bets on both outcomes and ensure a profit. While arbitrage opportunities require careful calculation and quick action, they offer a low-risk way to profit from sports betting. Tools and software are available to help identify these opportunities, making it easier to find and exploit profitable odds discrepancies.
Step #3: Place Many +EV Bets Over the Long Term
One of the most reliable ways to make sports betting profitable is by engaging in sustained positive expected value (+EV) betting. As mentioned earlier, a bet with +EV is one that you expect to be profitable over the long term.
By consistently placing +EV bets, you can tilt the odds in your favor and increase your chances of winning.
There are two main approaches to calculating these probabilities:
A projections-based sports betting strategy involves using statistical models, trends, and other data to estimate the probability of an outcome. By comparing your projections to the odds, you can identify bets where the odds offer value.
A market-based strategy involves analyzing odds from multiple sportsbooks to find consensus odds. If a sportsbook is offering better odds than the consensus, that could indicate a +EV bet.
Portfolio EV is designed to help you find profitable opportunities by indexing odds from across the market and highlighting bets that offer value.
By consistently placing +EV bets, you can increase your chances of long-term profitability.
If you have any doubts about our tools, check out our results — we posted a 7.6% ROI on all NBA bets with an OS Rating of 2 or higher in 2023-24.
