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Betting Margin

Betting Margins Meaning

Today the sports betting industry is vast, and there are a lot of available bookmakers. One of the most important things every sports bettor must do is to choose his bookmakers wisely, as good bookmakers are equally important as any other factor in the sports betting.

Betting Margin – What does it mean?

Choosing the right bookmaker is important because you will need to have respected and legally regulated bookmaker, that offer the fair game and fair odds to the players. (Read our article about all the factors that are essential when you choose the perfect bookmaker )

In this article, we will talk about margin, how to calculate margin and how to choose the best possible bookmaker that offers decent margins.

Betting Margin Definition

The margin is the way bookmakers make a profit. They adjust the odds to attract bettors to place bets at their websites, but in the same time, they make those odds in the right proportion to secure the profit no matter what the outcome of the selected game will be. So the bookmaker margin is the percent what bookie will charge you to place a bet at their betting site.

Betting Margin Example

In the tennis game between Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal, where both players are equally matched odds should be 2.00 – 2.00, as both players are in the same level and the outcome is somewhat unpredictable. With those odds offered bookmaker would have zero advantage, and there will be a 50% chance on either way. In betting terms, this is called a 100% market or book, with zero margins.

Unfortunately, this kind of odds will never appear on the market because the main bookmaker goal is to make a profit. Every bookmaker has a margin, and this is the price sports bettors must pay to play at the selected bookmaker.  That’s why it is extremely important to know how to calculate the margin and determine if the odds are worth your money and risk.

There are several excellent free calculator tools on the web, but it is nice for every sports bettor to know how to calculate the margin manually.

How to calculate the betting margin?

To calculate margin on the two-way betting market, you should use this mathematical equation:

(1 / odds on Federer to win) * 100 + (1 / odds on Nadal to win) * 100 = bookmaker margin

When you learn how to calculate margins, you will see every day that different bookmakers have different margins and that is the place where you can exploit different odds. Best bookmakers have relatively low margins in the range from 2.5% to 5%, while some average and below average bookmakers have margins higher than 10%.

You should always choose the bookmakers that have low margins. That way you will get a decent long-term advantage over the bookmakers. Online bookmakers have lower margins, and local shops have higher margins, and that is why we recommend you to be online.

Every sport has his own margins, and in general, lowest margins are in US sports, while football has highest margins.

Betting Margin Video

At the end

The essential thing that you need to know before you start betting on sports is to learn and see where bookies make a profit and how you can exploit their weaknesses. Difference between odds and margins is one of the ways where you can make a difference. When you know how to calculate margin and to find value in the odds, you will have an advantage over the bookmaker. Be wise and choose wisely your bookmakers. You need every trick in the book in order to be profitable in the long run. Sports betting is a complex discipline.

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