Please explain for betting purposes what a favorite is, e.g., what -170 means instead of +170 underdog. How much do you have to bet and what do you win if your choice comes out ahead?
[Editor's Note: This answer was graciously provided by Steve Sharp, a long-time wiseguy who's also the author of an upcoming Huntington Press book, tentatively titled Success at Sports Betting -- A Professional Gambler Shows How It's Done.]
You’ll typically see odds represented in a positive "+" or negative "-". For example:
Yankees -140
Red Sox +120
These numbers are based on a $100 wager. The Yankees are the favored team, as favorites are always listed as a negative. In this proposition, you wager $140 to win $100.
The Red Sox are the underdog, always listed as a positive. If you wager $100 on the Red Sox and they win, you win $120.
The most important thing to remember is that odds are always based on $100 wager amounts. You don’t have to bet in $100 increments and you’re free to wager whatever amount you please, but for ease of math, this is the way odds are presented.
The difference between the -140 and +120 represents how sports books make their profit and stay in business. Let’s say that one bettor lays $140 on the Yankees to win $100 and the other places $100 to win $120 on the Red Sox. If the Yankees win, the house comes out even; they pay the $100 the Yankee bettor won with the $100 that the other bettor placed on the Red Sox. If the Red Sox win, the house owes the Red Sox bettor $120, but having collected $140 on the losing Yankee bet, the house profits $20 on the game.
In the absence of dollar amounts next to a team name, one can assume that each team has a -110 line, which means that you must wager $110 to win $100.
So you can probably tell that you'd never see -170 on a favorite and +170 on an underdog, as in your example. Running the numbers, let’s say that one bettor lays $170 on the Yankees to win $100 and the other places $100 to win $170 on the Red Sox. If the Yankees win, the house comes out even; they pay the $100 the Yankee bettor won with the $100 that the other bettor placed on the Red Sox. If the Red Sox win, the house owes the Red Sox bettor $170, but having collected $170 on the losing Yankee bet, the house only breaks even. There's no built-in profit margin.
Incidentally, the Yankees/Red Sox line above represents a “20-cent” line, as the two numbers are 20 “cents” apart. This difference is called the "vigorish," “vig” for short, also known as "juice." A 20-cent line is generally accepted by the betting public and professionals alike. Books that aren't as favorable to the player will have a higher vig, such as 30-cents, which is represented below:
Yankees -145
Red Sox +115
Books that offer 30-cent lines (or even higher!) should be avoided if possible. The extra vig makes it much much tougher to win long-term.
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Jul-08-2018
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