***All information in this section has been copied and pasted from Fanduel sportsbook's information page. This is just a practice website and I have no intent to ever share or make money off this site.***

Spread

When you bet against the spread, you’re not betting on which team will win the game, you’re betting on the margin of victory or defeat. So the question isn’t Who will win? but rather How much will they win by? The point spread (i.e. the margin of victory or defeat) is indicated by the top number in the Spread column. A minus sign (-) means that a team is favored, whereas a plus sign (+) indicates an underdog. Want a clear understanding of risk and reward? The number underneath the spread shows you the amount a bettor would have to wager to win $100. So a -110 means that the bettor would have to wager $110 to win $100. Why not an even split? Every Sportsbook charges a commission, which is a fee to process and handle your bet.

Moneyline

A moneyline is a straight up bet on the outcome of a game. The favorite is always indicated by a minus sign (-), and the underdog is indicated by a plus sign (+). In the case of the favorite, the moneyline is the amount a bettor would have to wager to win $100. For the underdog, the moneyline is the amount a bettor stands to win if they were to wager $100.

Total

A total, or over/under, is a bet on the total amount of points scored in a game by both teams combined. A bet on the over means that both teams must combine to score more than the indicated point total, whereas a bet on the under means that they must combine for less. If the teams combine for the indicated total exactly, then the wager is a push (or tie) and all bets are voided and you get your money back.

Payout Odds

The number underneath each of the bet options shows you the amount a bettor would have to wager to win $100. So a -110 means that the bettor would have to wager $110 to win $100. Why not an even split? Every Sportsbook charges a commission, which is a fee to process and handle your bet.

Examples

The image above shows an example of lines given for a made up game.

• A $110 bet on the Lovable Losers +7 at -110 would result in $100 profit or a $210 payout if won.
• A $110 bet on the FanDuel Favorites -7 at -110 would result in $100 profit or a $210 payout if won.
• A $100 bet on the Lovable Losers at +250 would result in $250 profit or a $350 payout if won.
• A $100 bet on the FanDuel Favorites at -300 would result in $33.33 profit or a $133.33 payout if won.
• A $100 bet on the FanDuel Favorites at -300 would result in $33.33 profit or a $133.33 payout if won.

Though it's more difficult to recognize than most casino games, the professionals who create these lines are so good at what they do that a bet made on a sportsbook is essentially the same playing blackjack or roulette at the casino. There are professional gamblers who have made better models or gain an advantage when the books move the lines based on where the public is betting, but those making profit long term are extremely rare. Sports betting is gambling no matter how much you think you know about sports.

***The following was copy and pasted from Smarkets "How to calculate expected value in betting". I have no intent to share or profit off this page or information.

The formula to calculate expected value for betting is fairly simple:

(Amount won per bet * probability of winning) – (Amount lost per bet * probability of losing)

Let’s use a coin toss and a $10 bet as an example of calculating expected value. Assuming the coin and the toss are fair, each outcome (heads or tails) has an equal probability of 50% - therefore the odds offered on a fair market would be +100. This would result in an EV of 0 for either a Head or Tail - because the probability of the two outcomes is the same, so if you tossed a coin infinitely it would theoretically end up all square.

($10*50%)-($10*50%)= $5 - $5 = $0

If however you were offered odds of +200 on a $10 bet for the coin to land on heads, the expected value would be positive for a bet on heads.

($20*50%)-($10*50%)= $10 - $5 = $5

There is a chance tails is flipped and you lose money but over time the average amount you would win per flip playing this game would be $5. If you played this game 1000 times, you should expect around $5000 in profit. As you'd imagine, casinos make money by creating games with negative expected values for the consumer. This can easily be observed by calculating the expected value betting on a team at -110 which is a common spread 50-50 bet that sportsbooks offer.

($10*48%)-($10*52%)= $4.80 - $5.20 = -0.40

In this case, the book is taking an average of $0.40 or 4% of every bet made. This is the norm for 99% of bets offered by sportsbooks. Many sportsbooks advertise promotional boosts or freebets though that actually move the expected value into the positive direction based on their modeling. If you are patient and only make bets on positive expected value outcomes, you can do the opposite of what the book is doing to make money and consistently profit 3%+ per bet depending on the booster.

***The following was copy and pasted from TheLines. I have no intent to share or profit off this page or information.

What is it?

The goal of arbitrage betting is to find inefficiencies in the sports betting market in order to guarantee a profit. Sportsbooks often set odds so that they have even (or close to even) money wagered on both sides. There are times when sportsbooks have different odds from one another and this results in an opportunity to arbitrage a game. Arbitrage betting is done by placing multiple wagers on different outcomes of a single sports event. One of the wagers will win while the other wager will lose. If done correctly, the result will be a small win for the bettor regardless of which side wins.

Example

An example should help explain how to arbitrage a game. New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros

Sportsbook 1 odds: Yankees +110
Sportsbook 2 odds: Astros +110

In this example, a bettor will wager $100 on each team. The total amount of wagers for this game will be $200. Regardless of which team wins the game, the bettor will be paid $110 for a winning wager plus the original $100 for a total of $210. Altogether there was $200 wagered on this baseball game. There is a guaranteed return of $210 no matter who wins the game. The total profit of this investment was $10. This is a guaranteed 5% return; that’s solid for a short-term investment. The return will remain the same if a bettor can risk more than $200. Grinding out small wins over time can help a bettor grow their bankroll. In the example above, the rate of return will be 5% no matter how much money is wagered.

As mentioned above, many sportsbooks offer freebets as pormotions for betting on certain games or on certain amounts. The optimal way to use a freebet is to bet it on the highest payout odds possible. The expected values are calculated below, ignoring casino hold when finding probability.
$100 Freebet on -200 odds: ($50 * 66%) - 0 = $33.33
$100 Freebet on +100 odds: ($100 * 50%) - 0 = $50.00
$100 Freebet on +200 odds: ($200 * 33%) - 0 = $66.66
$100 Freebet on +300 odds: ($300 * 25%) - 0 = $75
$100 Freebet on +400 odds: ($400 * 20%) - 0 = $80
As you can see, as the payout increases, the expected value increases. These bets will win less often but overall provide a better value for freebets.