Scalping Moneyline Bets
by Jerald of Predictem.com
How to Scalp a better price on your MLB favorites
I was examining the daily baseball lines today and noticed an interesting situation that I thought was worth speaking about. I noticed that one of my betting outlets was listing a higher price on the underdog than most other shops. I thought that this would present a great opportunity for some free money with a scalp. Let me explain quickly what a scalp in sports betting is for those that are unfamiliar with this tactic and then we will see if there is an even better way to use this to our advantage.
The basic concept of a scalp is to find an underdog that will pay off a higher amount than the price it costs for a losing wager on the favorite. Here are the lines for our example:
Sportsbook A had listed the Atlanta/Chicago game as:
Atlanta +170
Chicago -190
Sportsbook B had listed this offering:
Atlanta +145
Chicago 155
This provides a chance to win money in with no risk by betting the following:
At Sportsbook A you would place a wager on Atlanta at +170 in the amount of $100 to win $170. Wager #2 would be a bet at Sportsbook B on Chicago at a price of -155 in the amount of $155 to win $145. If Atlanta wins you will collect $170 from Sportsbook A and lose $155 to Sportsbook B for a profit of $15. If Chicago wins you will lose $100 to Sportsbook A and win $100 from Sportsbook B for a break even result.
In order to win this bet you will need to have an underdog win if you are betting an equal amount. However, lets say you like Chicago in this game and you want to bet them. Lets see how we can use these line differentials to our advantage.
Lets assume that my normal wager is $50/unit. If I wanted to bet Chicago and I was a diligent line shopper I would bet at Sportsbook B and would have to lay $77.50 to win $50. However, if I want to use these line differences I can decrease my risk. The 1st bet we will make is to bet $100 at Sportsbook A on Atlanta to win $170.
Our 2nd wager will be at Sportsbook B on Chicago in the amount of $232.50 to win $150. If Chicago wins we will lose $100 to Sportsbook A and collect $150 from Sportsbook B for a net win of $50. If Atlanta wins we will collect $170 from Sportsbook A and lose $232.50 to Sportsbook B for a net loss of $62.50.
What we have done is lower our intial risk to where we are risking $62.50 to win $50 at a price of -124. This allows us to play the favorite at a reduced price.
This process is also commonly known at sports arbitrage.