What's the Difference if I bet -120 or -105?

Well duhhh... Of course the best line is the best bet. Let's not just fly over that fact though. There are a number of recreational bettors, casual bettors, even some more seasoned bettors that will simply say, "I think this team is going to win, so I am just going to bet on them regardless of the odds". Hey, if that's you I'm not judging. There is nothing wrong with throwing some action on a team as long as one wagers responsibly. Today I will not be arguing that fact (maybe save that battle for a future blog post). Today the goal will be to go over what the title explicitly says. What is the difference if I bet on my team -120 or -105? Answer, there is a huge difference. Let's break it down.

First thing we can see from the lines is that our team is likely the favorite. This is not a for sure thing though. We would have to know the other side of the line to be sure our team was the favorite, but for the sake of the article we asssume they are. We've established that our team is better. Great, that means we need to bet them. Looking at the first line @ -120 we can head to the SportsBettingIntel Bet Calculator by clicking the quick task bar at the top.

Once we arrive it's very simple to figure out how much money we can expect to make when our team wins. If we are a nickel bettor (nickel bettor simply means we generally stay around $500 bet size) we will plug -120 into the American Odds Input and $500 into the amount to bet input. Instantaneously we see that this bet will pay out $916.65 -> $416.65 in straight profit. Not a bad pay day for being so confident that our team is going to win right? Well if another book has this line @ -105 let's see what kind of improvement we can make on our profit. Staying on the Bet Calculator page and simply changing the American odds to -105 considering our $500 bet will still be input we can see right away the difference. With a win on this -105 line we will be collecting $976.20 or $476.20 in profit. This difference comes out to $59.55 extra for the -105 line.

This is nearly 15% more for betting the exact same thing, only using a superior line. My hope would be that the ~$60 in extra profit would be very enticing to anyone. Perhaps it’s not though and you are thinking as a nickel bettor, "well it's only $60, what's the difference".

The first point to make in argument to that would be unless you are only planning on making one bet, the prudent action to take would be to calculate this extra profit over time. Let's run the numbers. Over the course of 20 bets (making the naive assumption we win them all, heck our team is better and will always win no?) that $60 turns into $1,200. This $1,200 would be entirely a factor of choosing the best line. The outcome need not be different to collect this extra money.

Next maybe you're thinking, but I just don't have time to line grind and find the best lines. It is not worth my time. Absolutely reasonable line of thinking. Line grinding, searching through each sportsbook, finding the best line or maybe even finding all the lines are the same can be a waste. Time is valuable. That’s why places like sportsbettingintel.com exist. At a very quick glance a user can see the best lines across all major sportsbooks without wasting any time. Investment in tools to help you make more informed bets without wasting time can be extremely beneficial for a number of different types of bettors.

Before you make your next bet ask yourself, do I want to bet this at -120 or should I check Sports Betting Intel first to make sure its the best bet?