10 Ways to Use Odds Screens for Sports Betting
This was a great question.
To get the best answer, I asked Ed for his expertise.
He said that using an odds screen is the first step on a path towards serious betting, and broke down 10 different use cases for odds screens.
If you want to try any of these out, consider starting a 7 day free trial with OddsLogic, our recommended odds screen tool.
1. Line shopping: The most obvious and compelling reason for having an odds screen. You want to bet a game, and you want to know what the market price is, and where you can get the best number possible. An absolute must for anyone even half way serious about sports betting.
2. Bet Timing: When deciding the optimal time to place your bet, an odds screen can give you information on market sentiment and tell you which way sharp market influencing books may be leaning.
3. Identifying slower moving books: When a game steams, watching the screen can provide important intel on how each book handles line moves. Some will move immediately trying to stay with the market as much as possible, some will overreact and over move on what they think is the "right" or "sharp" side. Others will move slowly or not at all.
4. Scores: Odds screens provide some of the fastest and most reliable scoreboard data, and display it in one easy to use location for all games on the board that day.
5. Openers: You want to know exactly when each sportsbook opens the lines for each of the markets you are interested in, including props and derivatives such as 1st halves, totals, team totals, etc. This can help you decide which sportsbooks to have money in, and help you plan to be available at these times to attack lines when they are the easiest to beat.
6. Halftimes: Similar to above, you want to know when games go to half, how much time is left in the halftime break, and what are the pricing options at each book.
7. Injuries and info: It's critical to know breaking injuries, game location, and time changes. Odds screens provide this for you in one central location.
8. Line history: An odds screen can provide you with all of the data you need, both current and archived from previous days. What did a game open, what was movement during the day at each book with time stamps, and where did the line close?
9. Two-way action: There is more two-way action than ever in modern markets. When a line moves, it is just as if not more likely to come back than it is to keep moving in the same direction. Knowing when the best price becomes available in either direction and in real time at the books you have access to is pivotal to success.
10. Identifying manipulation: This is more for experienced users, but there is more line manipulation than ever in today's markets. You'll often see a game steam one way, only to steam even harder the other way. An odds screen gives you tools (some mentioned above) to help identify patterns and figure out what is real and what may not be.