It usually doesn’t take even new bettors long to figure out how pronounced a sportsbook’s influence is on betting activities. So, in addition to doing your homework thoroughly and researching both teams’ meetings in an event to the letter, another factor you have to put into consideration is your bookie and the betting odds they are offering for a particular outcome. To increase your bankroll, you must understand how your sportsbook generates the betting odds that they do. By having this information, you can make more informed betting decisions. To that end, there are a few things you should know.
Why Are Sportsbooks So Particular About Odds?
To understand how a bookie makes their betting odds, you have to know why they do this in the first place. In a nutshell, if a sportsbook doesn’t set its betting odds carefully, there is no way they will be able to attempt balancing the action on both sides of a wager. If they can’t attract a reasonable level of activity on both sides, there is a high chance that they’ll eventually run at a loss. So, a sportsbook will take the time to carefully configure the betting odds of an outcome so that the books are balanced and they earn a 5-10% vigorish, ideally.
How Do Bookmakers Determine Betting Odds?
In the past, Power Ranking or Power Rating did the betting. It was long before the time of online sportsbooks. The way was peculiar to each bookmaker and was a closely guarded secret. But typically, the bookie would consider factors like the tournament schedule, the player performance, and other statistics. Good old gut feeling, intuition, and individual expertise complements all of these. Knowing all of this is essential because power ratings still influence bookmaking to an extent today. So, how do sportsbooks generate betting odds today?
Ways Sportsbooks Make Odds Today
Some of the most common ways that bookies make betting odds for bettors now range from;
Outsourcing Their Oddsmaking
As you can imagine, generating accurate odds doesn’t come easy or cheap. You would need an army of statisticians and mathematicians to get accurate data. Of course, they would also need top-notch handicappers to complete the team. Many sportsbooks tend to forgo in-house oddsmaking in favor of outsourcing to reduce costs.
Following Other Sportsbooks
Due to how competitive and highly advanced the world of sports betting has become, some sportsbooks choose to copy what their more reliable counterparts are offering and tweak that a little bit.
Using Third-Parties For Oddsmaking Consultation Services
Lastly, a sportsbook may decide to take on the services of a highly competent team of experts in the field. Today, there are more and more reliable firms like these that are easily accessible to bookies.
What To Expect From Oddsmaking In The Future
Further down the road, the generation of odds is very likely to become a wholly automated affair. They will use higher predictive sports algorithms to fine-tune what odds bettors will have the opportunity to use. The terrain of sports betting is never at a standstill. Please don’t get caught unawares by any sudden changes when you keep up with our constant updates here!
