Submitted by rsteel on
As we head into our busy time the importance of shopping and acquiring the best line possible when you bet cannot be overstated.
It does not matter what the $ value is of your unit. Successful sports bettors know the value of half a point on the spread or a penny on the money line. Successful bettors will be on the right side of a half point victory more times than not. They will win when others push and they will push when others lose. When a line has moved against them they know to pass on the game not to chase the line.
The successful sports investor will have at least 3-5 sports books to shop at in order to lock in at the best line possible. When you have an idea which way the line is going to move (after a while it is not that difficult to predict) you can time your entry into the market accordingly.
It is not unusual for a successful sports bettor to add 10+ units a year to their bottom line by shopping effectively and timing the marketplace. Assuming you are practicing effective money management and RISKING 2% on each play those 10 extra units will translate to at least 20-30% swing in your return on investment not exactly petty cash for just shopping effectively.
They used to say about Wayne Gretzky that most hockey players skate to where the puck has travelled but Wayne would skate to where the puck is headed. The same applies to handicappers. For us the key is to project, anticipate and predict future events as opposed to looking in the rear view window and asking what happened.