Understanding How the Sport Betting Line is Determined
By: Fabiola Grosshan
Submitted: 2010-11-29 06:25:44 | Word Count: 549
Acting as the very backbone of internet sport gambling and not only, the sport betting line is the product of experienced oddsmakers, who contrive this powerful betting-specific indicator based on a complex process that involves both research and analysis. The opening sport betting line is what sets the tone for the gambling done in various venues all over the world, from physical bookies to Internet sport books and casinos.
The world’s leading authority in setting the lines these days is the oddsmaking company called Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC). Renowned for their great level of expertise with respect to sports gambling and statistical analysis, oddsmakers at LVSC favor a research-oriented, concise and responsible approach when producing the lines, so that the final figures they come up with will be highly accurate.
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The Purpose of the Sport Betting Line
The primary goal of oddsmakers everywhere is to attract equal betting action on both sides of a bet, irrespective of its type or the kind of sport it addresses. This focus on balancing things out is fully reflected through the nature of the lines that are created and released officially – these are cleverly set in such a way so that they will encourage an even play, or the so-called “divided action”. As long as this premise is successfully fulfilled, the sport books are guaranteed a profit consisting in the total amount deducted on the bets they process (this fee is commonly referred to as “vigorish” or “vig”).
How the Opening Line is Set
The opening sport betting line, which denotes the first line released by the oddsmakers, is the outcome of an intricate and elaborate research process. Among many other factors, this process accounts for team power ratings (the estimated overall value of teams), sudden line-up changes like key player injuries and trades, as well as various pertinent statistic trends.
After going through all the necessary steps, the final stage in the line-making process for oddsmakers involves conducting a general examination aimed at determining whether the line seems natural. This is where experience and acumen in how games are typically bet enter into the picture.
Understanding Why the Line Moves
Some of the main reasons why a sport book might decide to make adjustments to the sport betting line released by the LVSC include:
- the second opinion of a trusted expert working for that sport book
- the need to further manipulate the betting action on a particular wager
- unexpected shifts in betting action from one side of the bet to the other due to various reasons
- external factors occurring after the initial line is issued (weather, player injuries, etc.)
One interesting fact about the sport betting line is that it can be readjusted at any time once betting begins, so it isn’t at all unusual to see a line move repeatedly until the game it underlies comes to a closure. Any changes brought to the original line lead to what bookies call an “adjusted line”, which serves the purpose of restoring balance in terms of betting action, or, depending on the case, achieving a different distribution of the value on a particular wager.
