When you’re betting on sport, there are many factors to consider, from which betting site you use, to setting your bankroll and ensuring that you don’t bet with money you can’t afford to lose.
One aspect of betting, however, is sometimes overlooked. No matter what sport or market you are betting on, it is extremely important to ensure that you find the best odds available. Whether that is through an odds rating guide or through your own efforts, finding the best odds that you can for your bet is a golden rule in the sports betting world. But why is this so important?
The Importance of Odds
The odds provided by a bookmaker are not just an indication of the probability of a team or individual winning. They also obviously determine the return that you will receive if your bet is successful. Unfortunately, many sports bettors opt to bet with the same bookmaker and simply take whatever bet is offered. We are used to comparing prices in other areas of life, and it is no different in sports betting, fortunately, there are many reliable bookmakers such as those listed at https://legalbet.uk/bookmakers/.
Increase Value and Maximise Profit
Whether you consciously use the theory of value in your sports betting or not, every successful bettor relies on value for profit. Value is simply the difference between the probability of an event occurring that is represented by the betting odds and the ‘true odds’ of that eventuality. It is largely a question of judgment but if you make a consistent profit over the long term, you are finding value.
That theoretical difference between the ‘true odds’ and the bookmaker odds is your profit margin and finding the very best price can make the difference between a small profit and a large one. Indeed, sometimes the difference between prices available at two bookmakers can be so significant that one represents value while the other does not at all.
Once you have found a value bet, obtaining the very best odds will help you to be more efficient in your betting, maximizing the profit of your successful bets and therefore helping you to save money.
Improve Your Betting Instincts
Discipline in sports betting is important and anything that can help you to become a more disciplined bettor is positive. The process of checking all of the odds across the various bookmakers can seem like a chore but ensuring that you go through it each time helps to build important discipline.
It also gives you a chance to see patterns in the way that different bookmakers price up different events and can help you to widen your understanding not just of the markets that you are betting on, but the sports betting sector as a whole, helping you to improve your betting instincts.
How to Find the Best Odds
There are two different ways to go about finding the best betting odds, and both have their good points, so it will be a matter of preference which one you choose.
Manual Checking
The more time-consuming method is to check bookmaker sites one at a time. In some cases, you may have to log into the site to see the relevant odds, so this can take much longer than the other method, but it does help you get a feel for the market range, and you will get the latest available prices.
Odds Checking Sites
The other main option is to use an odds-checking site. There are many of these available online and they are usually free to use. A good odds-checking site will show you a range of prices across the market that you are considering a bet on and in some cases you will be able to click through to the bookmaker so that you can bet directly. The downside with these sites is that sometimes the odds are slow to update and you may find that when you visit the site, the price you were looking for has gone.
Conclusion
Whether you choose to check manually or use an odds-checking service, shopping around to get the best price on a sports bet is essential. It can maximize the profitability of your betting, help you to develop discipline, and give you a deeper understanding of the world of sports betting.
