Sports Betting Mechanics
How a sportsbook turns an opinion into a price
Every price you are offered contains a built-in charge. This is where it sits, how to measure it, and why the same match can be priced differently at two books.
Category: Sports Betting Mechanics
How prices are built, what the margin costs you, and why lines move. Mechanics, not tips.
Sports Betting Mechanics
Decimal, fractional and American odds, and how to move between them
Three notations for the same number. Here is how each works, how to convert between them, and the two places people most often make an error.
Sports Betting Mechanics
Spreads, totals and handicaps: how a lopsided match becomes a coin flip
Handicap markets exist to turn an uneven contest into a near-even bet. Here is the mechanism, what the half-point is for, and where the charge sits.
Sports Betting Mechanics
Why betting lines move, and what movement does and does not tell you
Prices change for three quite different reasons. Telling them apart is most of what "line watching" actually amounts to.