What is Edge in Sports Betting and Why Does it Matter?

Sportsbooks make millions of dollars every year off uneducated sports bettors who don’t understand the math behind the bets they are placing. That’s our primary goal here at OddsJam and today we’ll be discussing how to bet with an edge to help secure a long-term profit.

What is an Edge?

Simply put, having an edge on a particular sports bet is having a mathematically higher chance of winning than odds’ calculated chances of it winning. Say for instance, your bet has a 58% chance of winning, but the odds you placed the bet at only imply a 55% chance of winning.

In this example, you’d be betting with a 3% edge than the price/odds of whatever your bet was. If you consistently wagered on bets with an edge over time, you’d win in the long run because you are mathematically beating the sportsbooks’ odds with every bet you place.

Let’s break down this example from OddsJam’s Positive Expected Value Page (+EV). Take a look at the odds at WynnBet, which are -105. This is clearly better than all of the other sportsbooks, who go as high as -155 at DraftKings.

Betting on this prop at -105 means the bet has a 51.22% chance of winning. Sports bettors who take this prop at DraftKings at -155 imply that the bet has a 60.78% chance of winning because it has much higher odds.

To win $100 on this bet, WynnBet bettors would need to risk $105 to win $100. DraftKings bettors would need to risk $155 to win the same $100. WynnBet has the edge because they can get the same payout by risking $50 less.

Would you ever pay $155 for a new device if you knew the store next door was selling the same one for $105?

Using the Positive EV tool, OddsJam users can see the no-vig odds of a specific bet happening. This is a calculation of the percent chance the bet wins, without the sportsbook juice(or fee). Total/spread bets that are -110 are charging a $10 vig, or fee for every bet.

In this case, this bet has implied odds of -117. That is just under a 54% chance of winning. With our edge that we found at WynnBet, we are still beating the sportsbooks by 3%, as our odds that we placed imply a 51% chance of hitting.

How to Find an Edge

OddsJam provides a number of tools to find sharp bets with an edge. Your two best friends are going to be the Positive EV page and the OddsJam screen tool.

Remember, your number one goal in looking for an edge is to find discrepancies between the sportsbooks. If one book is offering a bet for -130, while every other book is -160, that is a clear edge.

Typically, finding an edge requires sports bettors to act quickly and place the bet, as sportsbooks will quickly move the odds if people start betting on it. Sometimes, placing numerous sharp bets and going on a winning streak can get you limited by the sportsbooks in the amount they’ll allow you to place.

Why Does Betting with an Edge Matter?

Even the best sports bettors acknowledge they are going to lose – a lot. They also understand that betting in high volume drastically increases the chances of them winning in the long run.

Betting with profitable lines that give you an edge is extremely important to becoming a successful sports bettor because of the high amount of losses you are naturally going to build up.

Some of the most profitable bettors have a 55% win rate, which is great for those who are betting with an edge. That extra 5% in winnings over the 50% threshold is profit that compounds as your bankroll increases.

The best example I can give on the importance of betting with an edge is that if you placed exclusively -110 bets and hit on 50% of them, you’d be at a substantial net loss over time. The extra vig that is charged by the sportsbooks is how even sharp bettors lose money over time.

Betting with an edge, of course, involves beating that vig to where 50% may break even or be slight profitable.

The quick and easy win that is often advertised by sportsbook companies is a lie and a marketing scheme to get uneducated bettors hooked on poor betting practices. Using OddsJam, you can become a sharp sports bettor and learn to beat the sportsbooks.