Category Archives: Sports Betting

One of the most fun activities for sports enthusiasts is betting on sports no matter if they are at home or on vacation in a hotel or cruise.

Everybody knows that real money gambling is one of the fastest-growing markets every year. Also, it is very easy to join, thanks to some of the best online betting platforms.

There are many options when you choose to start online betting on sports. The number of new betting operators online and betting apps keeps rising every day. This article will discuss some of the best modern betting platforms you can access worldwide.

These betting platforms are trusted and safe sites for online sports betting. They offer generous bonuses, great odds, and fast pay-outs. If you are searching for a platform where you can place your sport betting money regardless of your location, check out the list below. Continue reading to know more about these betting platforms and what they have to offer.

This is one of the easiest platforms you can get started with. You will enjoy huge selections and different ways of betting from Betway. Many modern betting platforms offer the best promos, but Betway is one of the fantastic platforms you can wager with.

This betting platform offers many betting options for experienced and new users. Enjoy great odds on different sporting events across the world regardless of where you are located.

It has been one of the biggest names in the betting business since 1934. Its relevance has resulted in a modern betting app and features one of the industry's greatest and biggest betting options.

It is most popular in the UK. It offers the largest odd selection like any other in the industry. Paddy Power is one of the top sportsbooks with premium live-streaming services and over 100 line options per game.

This betting platform has been in business for several decades now. Therefore, it provides a great experience, value-priced odds, and enticing promos.

The leading modern betting platforms offer a better user experience and high value than the competition in the industry. They keep on improving and growing every day to satisfy their users. Every customer will gain higher when they decide to join any modern betting site.

1. Fast pay-outs and easy depositing: You can easily and instantly deposit money into your betting account and withdraw faster using many available banking options.

2. Legal and safe online betting: All the top and modern betting sites have been carefully vetted for proper licensing and safety. Cash safety is one of the most important things you need to prioritize when joining a modern betting site.

3. Suitable to all budgets: They have very flexible betting and depositing limits that suit every user.

4. Convenient and simple real money betting: It is very easy to search for marketing on which you wish to place your bet.

5. Promotions and valuable bonuses: These modern betting platforms offer customers promotions and amazing welcome bonuses.

6. Wide range of betting markets and sports: You can enjoy all mainstream sports and bet real money on plenty of less popular activities across the globe. You can wager on:

Soccer Tennis US sports Golf Horse racing Fighting sports

You can gain monetary benefits from the above modern betting sites, but there are other reasons to use sport online for betting. They offer: Extra features Competitive odds and lines Helpful customer service Mobile sports betting application

You can use your mobile phone to enjoy sports betting services straight from their official website. They are many sites you can enjoy great and high betting odds at your disposal. Some extra features like bet builders and cash out improve the betting experience when using an online platform. The best customer support service makes betting easy.

Betting apps for modern betting platforms took over from WAP websites, which are now dominating the market. Many betting sites offer mobile betting apps to their customers for easy and convenient betting services. You can use many different ways of downloading and installing these mobile betting apps like:

Once you are ready to bet online, you can access all services a certain betting platform offer from your tablet or phone. Like every other product in the market, the mobile betting app has advantages and disadvantages.

Generally, the native betting app offers the best user experience compared to the mobile website. You can enjoy the extra feature on some occasions. If you dont mind downloading and updating mobile apps, you can give it a try.

Many online bookmakers prefer the mobile betting site to avoid developing and supporting costs for a different mobile app version. Alternatively, modern betting platforms use a mobile-responsive betting website to be accessed from any browser.

The good thing about it is that HTML5 allows these betting platforms to deliver pages that adjust automatically based on the user's device to enhance the betting experience. The best modern betting platform can run on almost all mainstream tablets and phones. Despite betting on a website is not good enough, you can still deposit, contact support, and withdraw easily.

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Modern betting platforms you can access from anywhere in the world - FTNnews.com

Dolphins owner, sports betting investor Stephen Ross accused of offering Brian Flores $100K to lose games (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)

A shocking lawsuit was filed by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores on Tuesday. This comes as the result of what Flores claims to be a racially discriminatory interview process that saw him turned down for jobs with the New York Giants and Denver Broncos after being unceremoniously fired by the Dolphins, despite the team winning eight of its last nine games this season. Also concerning, Flores claims Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 per loss in 2019, as Ross coveted a higher draft pick.

That an owner would pay a coach money to lose games is troubling in itself. In light of the NFLs embrace of sports betting, the optics are even worse.

To take it one step further, Ross RSE Ventures invested $17.5 million in The Action Network, a sports betting-related company, in 2019. The company is a marketing company and not a sportsbook in any capacity. Still, when the integrity of games is called into question, its a potential stain on the sports business and the sports betting industry.

According to Flores lawsuit, Flores rebuffed Ross offer. The Dolphins got off to an 0-7 start in 2019, but won five of their final nine that season. Flores describes Ross being mad about the wins.

Per an interview on ESPNs Get Up with Mike Greenberg, Flores said, This was a conversation about not doing what we needed to do to win football games. (Ross said), Take a flight. Go on vacation. Ill give you $100,000 per loss. Those are exact words.

It is unknown at this point what, if any, proof of this conversation Flores can produce.

In a statement, the Dolphins said, The implication that we acted in a manner inconsistent with the integrity of the game is incorrect.

Ross personally responded with a statement late Wednesday night.

With regards to the allegations being made by Brian Flores, I am a man of honor and integrity and cannot let them stand without responding, Ross said (via NFL.com). I take great personal exception to these malicious attacks, and the truth must be known. His allegations are false, malicious and defamatory. We understand there are media stating that the NFL intends to investigate his claims, and we will cooperate fully. I welcome that investigation and I am eager to defend my personal integrity, and the integrity and values of the entire Miami Dolphins organization, from these baseless, unfair and disparaging claims.

Below is an excerpt from the lawsuit, posted by business writer Alex Weprin.

The NFL needed just two hours to deny these claims. The official statement from the NFL can be found below.

Flores claims John Elway and the brass in Denver showed up an hour late to his interview and were visibly hungover. Also, the Giants had a backroom deal with Brian Daboll to be their coach before Flores even interviewed, which was mistakenly revealed to Flores in a text from Bill Belichick (the Pats coach wanted to congratulate Daboll but mixed up the Brians in his contact list).

Last but certainly not least, the Dolphins owner offered Flores $100k for a lost game, according to the suit.

The link to all 58 pages of the lawsuit, all claims of which the NFL immediately denied, can be found here.

Here at Gaming Today, we cover mostly sports betting-related topics. The thrust of Flores accusations are related to racial inequality in the hiring process. These claims are neither unfounded nor ignored by us. Change is needed.

Regardless of the sports betting implications, Stephen Ross could be in some serious trouble for violating the integrity of the game. This all comes with the caveat that Flores has anything to prove that this conversation happened.

Even if he doesnt, Flores has reasons not to make this conversation up out of thin air. This lawsuit and its allegations seriously jeopardize, if not ruin, his NFL coaching career.

Moreover, former Browns coach Hue Jackson is claiming a similar arrangement with his former employer, and Kimberly Diemert, the executive director of Jacksons foundation, says they have records to support Flores case.

Sports betting is backed by the expectation that teams play in a legitimate attempt to win. The NFL is heavily invested in sports betting and elbows-deep in the industry, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Should Ross could be found culpable of these offers to Flores, the NFL would have to come down on the owner with massive penalties, perhaps even forcing him to sell the team.

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Did Sports Betting Investor Stephen Ross Try To Throw Games? - GamingTodaySlotsToday

As we continue to go through the vernacular that makes the intricacies of sports betting, a circled game is a game that the bookmaker is limiting the amount that can be wagered on a certain game for a multitude of reasons. All of these reasons are to make sure the public cannot make out like kings on information that they do not have yet (such as injury news, weather, or player availability information).

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In my sports betting career, I havent seen a game listed as circled, or with any limitations on the big sportsbooks, such as FanDuel, DraftKings, etc. With that being said, I know that there are offshore sportsbooks and other means of taking bets that were more prominent in the past, that people use that may not get information quite as quickly. Sometimes, games are also circled when there isnt the information that will be made available, college sports at lower Division I schools come to mind for me, as some do not even have social media departments or beat reporters.

I advise that you avoid games that are considered circled on sportsbooks, which is simply the battle to get an edge requires ample information and research. The last thing that is needed is there to be a lack of information that leads to a line changing by multiple points and the games final result. Depending on which side you played this could have cost you the game or won it for you. I know that is not why you placed the wager, and when there are circled games, there are usually other options that the bookmaker prefers that you play.

With that being said, they are not to be avoided after the air is clear if there is value on a certain side. The lack of information on why it is circled is why it would need to be avoided.

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Whether youre new to sports betting or a betting pro, ourSports Betting Strategy and Advicepage is for you. You can get started with our 101 section including10 Sports Betting Tips for Beginners or head to more advanced strategies likeKey Numbers When Betting Against the Spread to learn more.

Josh Weil is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Josh, check out hisarchiveand follow him@Josh_Weil.

Bet Types, Betting 101, Betting Tips, How-To

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What is a Circled Game in Sports Betting? - BettingPros

Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns announced Wednesday that six mobile sports betting apps will go live at 8 a.m. Friday.Johns could not divulge the names of the six platforms, but he said they are a go. Louisiana began issuing six-month temporary sports betting licenses on casino properties back in November, with permanent licenses expected later this year.Johns said there has been a growing interest in mobile sports betting since voters in 55 parishes approved sports betting in November 2020.Were entering into the modern age of gaming, he said. This is something the people of Louisiana voted on. Its not something the Legislature said, Go do this. Johns said he is eager for mobile sports betting to kick off because Louisiana has traditionally been behind Mississippi on gambling reform. While Mississippi had sports betting two years earlier, it doesnt have mobile sports betting, he said.We will be ahead of the ball game, Johns said. Its a big deal.Johns credited the State Police Gaming Enforcement Division and the Attorney Generals Office Gaming Division for their help in setting up sports betting.We are doing this the right way, he said. Louisiana regulates its gaming industry stricter and harder then most states do and we should.Setting up mobile gaming was a challenging process, Johns said.We had to make sure everyone is compliant and go through background checks, he said. We had to make sure the technology is working properly. We want customers to have an easy and safe experience when they go online. We feel confident we have done that.The nine parishes that voted against sports betting will have a virtual geographic boundary to prevent mobile sports betting, Johns said.Remaining sports betting operators are working to meet statutory and regulatory requirements before being approved, the state Gaming Control Board said in a statement.

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Online sports betting begins Friday in La. - American Press | American Press - American Press

The handle is a specific term to sports betting that can be foreign to outsiders but a fundamental concept. Simply, handle is the amount of money wagered by bettors. It is the amount of money in play across online and in-person sportsbooks.

A sportsbooks revenue is different from its handle. The revenue is determined after bets are settled, the winners get their profits, and the losers lose the money wagered.

Handle can be shown as the amount bet over a certain period of time at a sportsbook or in a state or country. For example, sports betting in New Jersey had more than $996 million in handle in Dec. 2020. That means almost $1 billion was wagered in bets during that month in every sports bet from every sportsbook in New Jersey. As a result, the revenue New Jersey sportsbooks made during that same period was over $66 million.

Handle is also used as the percentage wagered on each side of a single bet, like a Carolina Hurricanes-Tampa Bay Lightning game. In sports betting coverage and analysis, you may see something like, The Lightning moneyline bet has 65% of the handle and 59% of the tickets. In this usage, handle is all of the money bet on that game, and the Lightnings 65% is how much of that money is on the Lightning side of the bet.

Ticket percentage is the raw number of bets. That means a $5 bet on the Lightning counts the same as a $1,000 bet on the Lightning. So they are each one ticket.

Handle percentage is weighted on how much money each bet was placed for. That means 20 $5 bets on the Lightning would be valued the same as one $100 bet on the Hurricanes.

Comparing handle percentage and ticket percentage can show where big money is going. In the example above, the Lightning has 65% of the handle with only 59% of the tickets. Therefore, for the handle percentage to be higher than the ticket percentage, the average bet amount on the Lightning has to be higher.

Trying to make actionable conclusions from this is tricky. It doesnt mean pro bettors are betting on the Lightning. It could just be average skill-level bettors with more money to bet are betting on the Lightning.

The handle isnt something readily accessible for every event. For example, some sportsbooks will boast about how much money was bet during the Super Bowl or March Madness. Likewise, the ticket and handle percentage numbers arent always widely available, although sometimes they will be given to the media to present interesting headlines or tidbits of information. Generally speaking, the handle isnt useful information for bettors trying to find an edge.

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What is the handle in sports betting? What is revenue? - The Athletic

There are a lot of rules and terms to learn regarding sports betting before you can dip your toe in the water. Once you get a grasp on what it is youre betting on, the next step is learning how to place an actual bet.

For the most part, this is an easy process, but there are some key things to know before placing a bet. For starters, there are two common ways to place a sports bet. One is in-person at a sportsbook. That requires going up to a window with a physical ticket written out to place a bet. The more modern way, which has become much more recently, is betting online through a website or app. The process is very different between the two.

Sportsbooks can be intimidating places to new bettors. There are tons of screens with games on, usually a board with dozens of games and the lines and odds associated with them. Its a lot to take in.

If you go up to place a bet and just say I want the Panthers -6.5 the teller can look up the bet, but they might be a bit annoyed. Between Carolina (NFL), Florida (NHL) and a number of different college teams with the same name, theyd have a right to be. Bet sheets, actual pieces of paper with bets listed on them, in the sportsbook will have the number associated with the bet. Its easier and faster to come prepared with the bet number when you get to the window. Saying I want the Panthers against the spread, which is bet number 1234, for $100, will make the process go faster and help ensure you place the right bet.

Its important to know that bet sheets arent always updated throughout the day. They are only updated once per day in many cases. The number associated with the bet wont change, but the line may change. Make sure to read the board to see the latest line before turning in a ticket.

Betting in-person provides the full sportsbook experience: crowds of people yelling at games on big screens because they have money on the line. It can be a fun party atmosphere.

There arent as many options for betting though. With the exception of big events, live betting isnt always available and there is certainly less live betting than betting online. Its harder to find alternate lines and prop bets, for example.

Sportsbooks are cash economies. Bets must be placed with cash. The upside of that is its possible to get cash right away on a winning bet. Once the event has finished and the bet is settled, return to the betting window with a winning ticket and get cash in your hand.

Online betting is growing every year and is a very easy way to place bets. They all have apps and there are multiple to choose from if its legal where you live. Its as simple as clicking or tapping on the desired bet, placing the wager amount and confirming the bet. For parlays, simply choose multiple bets and make sure parlay is selected on the confirmation screen. With so many options its very easy to pick the wrong one so double-checking is a must.

Most online sportsbooks also typically have some form of rewards or loyalty programs that give bonuses based on how much you bet. They also offer profit bonuses, which will give better odds on specific bets, or promotions depending on the sportsbook. These vary from place to place but can be used to the bettors advantage.

The obvious pro to betting online is that its possible to place a bet from the couch. In terms of how to place a bet, its much easier online. Theres also a bevy of options to choose from. Not only are the lines and odds updated in real-time, but there are so many more lines more easily viewable. From alternate lines to countless props and constantly updated live betting on almost every event, everything a sportsbook offers is there to be found.

Another benefit is seeing the potential payout on the confirmation screen. This isnt a big deal for single bets but is nice for parlays or teasers. You can see how swapping bets can change the payout and make a determination of exactly what you want.

Its also much easier to shop lines online. In order to shop lines in person, you have to actually go to a different sportsbook. Thats not an option in most places outside of Las Vegas and even there, who knows if that line will even still be available by the time you get there. Online, simply open a different website or app and compare the offerings.

The downside is the lack of liquidity. In order to bet online, you need to deposit money to create a balance as opposed to paying cash for bets each time. Winning bets are immediately automatically added to the balance, but it can be tedious to cash out and is a slower process.

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How to place a sports bet - The Athletic

On Dec. 22, 2021, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 29 legalizing sports betting in the state of Ohio. The new law legalizes and controls sports betting in Ohio through licensed gaming owners. The law also tasks the Ohio Casino Control Commission with regulating sports gaming online, at sports gaming facilities and at bars and restaurants.

However, the recent passage of the House Bill 29 doesnt mean Ohioans can immediately start placing sports bets at their local casinos or bars. Before sports betting can occur in Ohio, several more government measures must be implemented.

As previously stated, the Ohio Casino Control Commission is in charge of regulating sports betting. Regulating, however, also means creating the sport gambling rules and systems to effectuate the law. The Ohio Casino Control Commission is in the process of creating the rules, applications, forms, systems and other items necessary to implement the bills provisions.

Heres what we know so far based on the language of House Bill 29:

Type A: This category applies to online sports gaming including mobile apps. There will not be more than 25 at a time and each will be given a five-year term.

Type B: This category applies to proprietors of sports gaming facilities a designated area of a building or structure in which patrons may place wagers on sporting events with a type B sports license either in person or using self-service sports gaming terminals. There will not be more than 40 licenses given at any one time with a maximum number of sports gaming facilities that may be located in a county based on 2010 census. These will also be given a five-year term.

Type C: This category applies to proprietors who offer sports gaming through self-service terminals located at one or more Type C sports gaming hosts facilities. The casino commission must license at least two and not more than 20 at any one time, with a five-year term.

Applicants looking for licenses will be evaluated by a number of factors, including the length of time the applicant has been doing business, and the applicants current or intended contributions including tourism. Applicants will also be evaluated based on criminal history, tax compliance, reputation, bankruptcy history, public confidence, litigation history and prior compliance with gaming related laws.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission has yet to publish the actual application forms, therefore, it is anticipated that the Commission will not be accepting licensure applications until July or August of this year.

However, once sport betting goes live in Ohio, it is anticipated that the tax revenue will be significant. PlayOhio reports that by the end of 2025, Ohio online and retail operators could generate between $9 billion and $12 billion in bets annually. This translates to between $700 million and $900 million in annual gross revenue. With Ohios tax structure, which is 10% of an operators taxable revenue, that could mean as much as $90 million in annual taxes. At present, the bulk of taxes generated from sports betting will go to Ohio schools while a small percentage will go to support gambling addiction services.

To obtain the latest information on sports betting, visit the Ohio Casino Control Commission website at casinocontrol.ohio.gov.

Andrew Zashin writes about law for the Cleveland Jewish News. He is aco-managing partner with Zashin & Rich, with offices in Cleveland and Columbus.

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Sports betting to arrive in Ohio - Cleveland Jewish News

CANTON An international sports betting company will be the official partner ofHall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Co. to provide online betting services.

Genesis Global Ltd., a mobile-first global gaming operator, has entered a 10-year agreement with Hall of Fame Resort to be the company's officialmobile sports-betting partner.

More: HOF Village partners with Rush Street Interactive for sports betting operation

New Partner: Hall of Fame Resort will partner with Genesis Global to offer mobile sports betting.

Sports betting is one of the business units for Hall of Fame Resort, which is developing the Hall of Fame Village powered by Johnson Controls. The village is under construction and will be a campus wrappedaround the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

The agreement, announced Thursday, has a sponsorship component that includes support of the Hall of Fantasy League, a fantasy football league created by Hall of Fame Resort. The partnersalso will have opportunities for cross-marketing, branding and direct contact with consumers.

Hall of Fame Resort now has two partners involved with sports betting in the Hall of Fame Village project.

In December, Hall of Fame Resort announced a partnership with Chicago-based Rush StreetInteractive to "operate a premier retail sportsbook" at theHall of Fame Villagecomplex. Plans are for Rush Street to use a space in the retail area being developed at the village.

The partnership with Rush Street was announced the day afterGov. Mike DeWine signed the state's new sports betting bill.

Genesis is based in Malta, an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. According to Thursday's announcement, Genesis is "a rapidly growing, worldwide iGaming and sports-betting operator." The company generates 78% of its revenue from mobile sports betting, the release stated.

Ariel Reem, Genesis chief executive officer, said his company sees the partnership with Hall of Fame Village as an "exciting opportunity" that reflects its "approach to innovation, collaboration and commitment to growth in the U.S.

Michael Crawford, Hall of Fame Resort president and CEO, said the company is excited about the possibilities of legalized sports betting. The market is expected to grow by 40% to more than $39 billion by 2033.

Partnerships such as the one with Genesis help the company establish the infrastructure needed to benefit from the growth trend in sports betting, Crawford said.

Genesis operatesin several geographic areas and is expanding in the United States, according to the release. The hope is that Genesis will use its technology to provide a mobile sports-betting platform with easy and remote access to mobile iGaming, which refers to any online game tied to betting, gambling or casinos.

Development of Hall of Fame Village powered by Johnson Controls started with construction of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium and youth athletic fields. Work stalled for several yearsbut picked up when Hall of Fame Resort formed in 2019.

As part of a $300 million second phase of construction, the Hall of Fame Resortbuilt the Constellation Center for Excellence andcompleted work at the stadium. It also bought and renovated the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in downtown Canton.

Expansion of the sports playing fields and construction of a retail area called the Fan Engagement Zone is underway, while ground is being prepared for the Center of Performance.

The Fan Engagement Zone stretches north from the Constellation building toward the site for a future hotel and water park. Future tenants include a Don Shula's restaurant, a Helix Esports Center, which will be operated by Esports Entertainment Group, and a Topgolf Swing Suite that will be paired with craft brewery The Brew Kettle.

Construction of a Tapestry by Hilton hotel and water park are scheduled to begin later this year. The project is expected to be finished late in 2023.

A third constructionphase, also estimated at $300 million, has been discussed.

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Second partner signs on for Hall of Fame Resort sports betting business - Canton Repository

Sportsbooks are constantly adjusting and tinkering with odds and lines to balance betting markets. In an ideal world, they want the same amount of money on both sides of every bet so that they can take a little off the top and have no risk.

When one side of a bet is getting significantly more of the action, they are at risk to some losses. Sportsbooks dont like that. Thats why they move the line, to entice more betting on the other side and match up a potential vulnerability.

Thats the basics of line movement. Reverse line movement is a more advanced concept that occurs when a line moves against the trend of what side of a bet is receiving more action.

Lets take an NBA game with the Phoenix Suns at the Utah Jazz. The Jazz open as a 3.5-point favorite. Sports betting sites that show public betting numbers have the Suns getting nearly 80 percent of the action. That might be enough for a sportsbook to move the spread toward the Suns with a new line of Jazz -3. When it comes to line movement, theres a big difference between the percentage of tickets and the amount of money on each side, but for the sake of this example, both numbers are aligned and the line moves to Phoenix because of all the bets going to that side.

This is standard line movement. It wont raise any red flags but is a noteworthy trend in the betting action of this Suns-Jazz game.

Reverse line movement would come into play if the line moved to Utah -4 or -4.5. An overwhelming majority of the bets are already going to Phoenix and now the line moves to Utah, creating an even more enticing bet on the Suns for a majority of the betting public. What gives? Why would a sportsbook do such a crazy thing? What does the sportsbook or a small number of bettors know that the general public does not?

Now that weve established that reverse line movement is when a betting line moves away from the general betting public consensus we can get into why a sportsbook would want to do this.

The simplest answer is that a professional bettor, maybe even more than one, bet on the Jazz in this example. They saw something that most bettors did not. When those professional bettors, also known as sharps, make bets, sportsbooks take note. They need to know who is good enough to consistently take their money and respond accordingly. If a sportsbook respects a sharp bettor enough, they will move the line in that direction because the sportsbook wants to be on the same side as that bettor.

Its somewhat risky because the sportsbook will likely have even more action on Suns, putting them in a somewhat vulnerable position. This is the sportsbook essentially making its own value bet, thinking the sharp bettor is worth betting with and they will make more money moving the line this way.

This example assumes the line move toward Utah was actually reverse line movement from a sharp bettor. It could have been because of an injury update or weather conditions for an outdoor sport. The movement would also apply to the moneyline for the game because spread and moneyline bets are correlated. The concept works for sports where moneyline is more popular than spread (like baseball or soccer).

This part is easier to explain. Assuming its real reverse line movement based on a sharp bettor, which isnt always easy to prove definitively, wouldnt you want to be on the same side of a bet as a professional bettor? They dont win every bet, but that means its likely a good bet to place.

Once you see reverse line movement it might be too late. The line has to move for the reverse line movement to be apparent, meaning the edge is already smaller after the move is made. Its possible to still get the old line at a different sportsbook before they all react. Hunting for the old line at other books is the best way to take advantage of reverse line movement.

If the sharp bettor had a model that said the Jazz were six or seven points better than the Suns, they might be waiting for the line to move more toward Phoenix before placing their bet. As more and more action goes in the Suns direction, the line keeps moving and gets more appealing to the sharp bettor. Once they get a line where their model shows a significant enough difference between its prediction and the spread, the sharp bettor places the bet. Now the reverse line movement kicks in, to a line where the sharp bettor wasnt fully comfortable placing the bet. In this hypothetical scenario, theres still an edge compared to their model, but it isnt a significant edge.

Is that the bet you want? The sharp bettor didnt, waiting for an extra half or full point before placing the bet. This is why reverse line movement is significant to take note of, but may not always be actionable. If you can find the Jazz -3.5 elsewhere, matching what the sharp bettor got, go for it. That new -4 or -4.5 line isnt as appealing.

Reverse line movement is a cool trick for whenever it happens, but it requires watching public betting numbers to identify it and then finding a line that offers a good price before the move. If you read about reverse line movement in betting coverage of a game, its probably already too late.

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Reverse line movement in sports betting: How to tell where the public vs. sharp money is going - The Athletic

In prognostication and sports betting, the term chalk comes up somewhat frequently. Especially around the time of the NCAA Tournament, experts predicting the results will say they are going with chalk or something along those lines.

Chalk also applies in horse racing. That is the origin of the term, back to when odds were displayed with chalk on a board instead of a digital odds board. Favorites got more action, which is still true today, so the odds would change more frequently for favorites. Those favorites would have more smeared chalk after all the odds updates, thus heavy favorites became known as chalk.

What does chalk mean? In that context, it simply means the expected result. When filling out a bracket in March, having all No. 1 seeds in the Final Four is chalk because the No. 1 seeds are typically the favorites to win their regions. It doesnt have to be the Final Four either. Picking every favored team in the first round is also chalk. Someone may say thats a lot of chalk if they see someones bracket has almost all the better seeds advancing. That said, please dont be the person who picks all favorites in your NCAA Tournament bracket.

In sports betting, chalk is basically just a significant favorite. A team favored with a significant point spread would be considered chalk. All bets that are chalk are also favorites, but all favorites are not necessarily chalk. Chalk is not the complete opposite of an underdog.

An 8-9 or 7-10 first-round game in the NCAA Tournament wouldnt really have one side that would be considered chalk, but any top four seed in the first round would be considered chalk. So the 76ers being 9.5-point favorites and -455 on the moneyline against the Hawks would be considered chalk. The Trail Blazers as 2.5-point favorites with -136 odds on the moneyline, would not be considered chalk.

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What is chalk in sports betting? - The Athletic