It’s almost time for March Madness, that time of year in which the productivity of American office workers plummets during the first round, and internet connections strain under the weight of streaming video. You may have an office pool you are in for a few bucks, but if you are looking to take your college basketball knowledge to the next level you’ll need a sportsbook to place some wagers, Heritage for instance.
Aside from the fact that Heritage sportsbook has valuable lines it is important to mention they acquired The Greek Sports in August 2011, opening up their services to American customers. There are plenty of reasons to choose to play at one sportsbook over another, and Heritage Sports checks a lot of the boxes.
As a handicapper that focuses on data analysis, I find that line movement is a very effective tool in my trade. But not all line movement is the same, it is related to the individual markets that each sportsbook sets up within their customer base. With Heritage Sports being one of the biggest betting markets in the industry, any line movement seen here is not likely a false indicator due to a whale in a shallow pond. Because remember, it is the money value on one side of a wager that moves the line, not the sheer amount of wagers.
When a line moves opposite of the sheer amount of wagers, handicappers like to call that reverse line movement. Reverse line movement is a sign of smart money on the opposite side of a publicly popular pick. When reverse line movement happens, we are talking about some heavy lifters moving a line against public betting trends.
Another very important feature to consider when looking at sportsbooks is the vig or juice, that the book charges for you to place a wager. This is commonly seen as a negative number on lines listed. For instance, “-110” means you will have to lay $110 to win $100. That extra $10 goes to the sportsbook for the service of setting up the betting market for all wagers to come in on either side.
Very large sportsbooks, have so many wagers that they can afford to offer reduced juice lines. Lines with vig as low as -105 are available and will prove to be valuable as the bettor continues to build up his bankroll. If a player was hitting at exactly 50%, his bankroll would erode at half the pace of another book with higher juice. Perks such as deposit bonuses and cash back are also available from time to time.
Bitcoin is quickly becoming the deposit and withdrawal method that most sportsbooks prefer. It has fewer fees, less fraud, and isn’t tied down to antiquated banking laws of a bygone era. Consider setting up a Bitcoin wallet before opening account.
