How do you find betting value? – The Think Tank – Part Two

What sports offer the best value?

Are there sports or leagues that provide better value in terms of betting? Our tipsters hold a range of perspectives on this question.

Toni77 says the best value is in football markets, you just have to seek them out. “I think that football matches can offer some nice betting value. I know that many don’t agree with this but I believe that if you spend enough time searching for the right match, you will find great betting value.”

Buffalo likes the value in the lower leagues too and says “The bookies concentrate on the big leagues because that’s where the most money is placed. The bookies and their experts tend to use all their resources in compiling the odds for the most well known sports and leagues. But what about lower league football, how much do the compliers know about Russian division 2 football or English tier 5 or 6 football? The list goes on and not just in football, but in tennis, darts, golf, in fact any sporting event that is a little obscure. There’s very often value in these types of less fashionable events and a little research and faith in the stats can reap dividends.”

Profitt however raises a difficulty when it comes to betting on good value prospects in the more obscure competitions. “Lower leagues can be good value as bookmakers don’t have enough information for these leagues, but the problem is that those betting markets typically have low limits. They’re not for high rollers.”

LaKukaracha however has some concerns when it comes to betting on football, particularly at the lower levels of competition. ”To me football has the lowest value, probably because it’s the most popular and we all see that ”strange results” happen more often than in other less known sports, specially in those less known leagues.”

Meanwhile, Zeljko says the value is to be found in what you know best, whatever sport or league that might be. He says “Every sport offers value to people who can recognise the difference between fair odds (I.e the chances of a particular team winning) and the actual odds offered in that betting market. If someone is interested in curling and knows that sport in depth, then I have no problem in finding value bets there.”
What sort of bets offer the best value?

Anyone who has opened an account with an online bookmaker will have discovered the daunting range of betting options now available. Head to head, handicaps, totals, in-play and exotics, do any of them have hold greater potential profitability?

Buffalo isn’t so sure about Overs and Under’s and remarks “The over/under market for me is to unreliable, and not one of my favourites. If you notice my activity on BE you will see I invariably go with the 1×2. It’s what I know and what my own rating method is geared towards.”

Ahkel prefers handicap betting. “Handicaps offer more flexibility. There can sometimes be an in-between eg -/+0.25 or -/+ 0.75. This is a slight advantage that can give you the edge when it comes to a tight game. And in the long term the difference is obvious.”

Profitt however suggests it’s more about the value in the betting market than the actual bet type itself.” It’s more a question of the percentage payout by bookies. The average is 92% return but it’s possible to find 96% or better, and the value should be found right there, no matter what type of bets we are looking for. For example: it’s very hard to find a value when we have odds 1.83 on both sides when we bet on 2-way head to head or handicap.”

Zeljko agrees with Profitt and adds that value can be found in more exotic bet types. “The more fashionable the bet – the lower the margin, so for some 1×2 or over/under you can find margins of only 2-3%, meaning 98% return. Then again, you can also find huge value on some ‘fun’ bets because betting houses may forget to factor in something that has a huge impact on those events.”

Maradona1 also suggests that a great way to bet is to take odds on one side of the action pre-game and bet against that side while the game is in-play, particularly in basketball point totals. He explains “If a game starts in my favour, then during the game I have the opportunity to close this bet by betting against the side I initially took. But with one big difference from head to head bets. How? Well, let’s say I took Over 195 points in a particular game. If the game starts very well for me then the line could possibly move upward of 202 points. At that moment I take the Under for the same amount of money or less. Betting like this gives me a chance to make a profit not just for a sure win, but also the possibility to double my profit as I have taken the over 195 and the under 202 and the game could well end up with a total in between 195 and 202 points doubling my profit.”