2021 had the most bets placed since mobile sports betting became legal. 2022 is on pace to smash that record. Early prediction? 2023 is going to have more than 2022, and so on and so forth. 

Long story short, there are a lot more people betting on sports in 2022 than there were in 2021, and that number will only grow as more and more states legalize sports betting. New York legalized in early 2022, which was a huge deal, and there are a number of states on pace to legalize later in 2022 such as Maryland and Ohio. 

Depending on the sport, there are going to be an overwhelming number of statistics and analytics to look at when deciding to place a bet. For the NFL, the weather is a huge, sometimes unforeseen variable that can drastically change the outcome of an event. For the NBA regular season, it’s important to check injury reports and schedules, as more and more players now take nights off due to rest. 

Regardless, no matter what sport you are betting on, there is one thing to look at whether you are betting on a sports betting giant such as the NFL, or a smaller one like the NHL: shopping for the best odds or best lines. 

The Importance of Getting the Best Odds

Hunting for the best odds, or the best lines, is the most important thing one can do as a sports bettor. Here’s why: Pretty much every sportsbook is going to have different models and algorithms for pricing odds.  With how many different markets there are across multiple sports, and thousands of games, that means there are going to be massive differences between how sportsbooks might price a particular bet, or series of bets. 

What this means is that, if you are scanning every sportsbook, you are going to find differences from book to book. Sometimes the differences are small, while other times they are not so small. Either way, if you are constantly checking to make sure you are getting the best prices when placing a bet, it can have a huge impact on your profits.

Betting on a team’s moneyline? No problem- just scan all the sportsbooks before placing your bet. Getting a team like the Warriors moneyline odds at +125 vs +140 is only the difference of $15 on one particular $100 bet. But, with that said, multiply that across hundreds of bets over hundreds of days, and that $15 turns into $15K.

Or, if you are betting on a spread or totals bet, line shopping can literally be the difference between your bet winning and losing. On pretty much every night of sports betting, you can find huge differences between a sportsbooks lines on a game spread. You could bet the Warriors -7.5 on FanDuel Sportsbook, or, you can line shop and bet them at -6.5 for the same -110 odds. If they win by exactly 6, then line shopping quite literally won that bet for you. You’d be surprised at how good sportsbooks are at pricing odds, so getting even a half point advantage is a big deal.

Conclusion

Taking advantage of line shopping. OddsJam can be the difference between breaking even and having a highly successful night. The odds are out there, and they’re quickly and easily available to anyone looking for them. Once you’ve found the right play, it’s all about finding the best book for you to take advantage of the greatest value on that play.