Sports Betting 101: What is an Edge in Sports Betting?

Betting 101: What is an Edge in Sports Betting? 

An edge in sports betting is simply when a bettor has an advantage over the sportsbook or vice versa. The edge is simply the difference between the probability/price of an event happening and your actual or perceived probability. An exact edge, or perceived edge, can be quantified by some advanced bettors. 

The house (sportsbook) obviously has an edge because of the juice they offer on any given line. There are a few ways for a player to gain an edge over the sportsbook, but those edges don’t often last long. You can have an advanced model that forecasts a game and the results more accurately than the book. Or you can also use a new statistic that the market or sportsbook has yet to incorporate. However, if you’re regularly showing a significant edge on most games in a market, it’s more likely that your model needs adjusting, and it’s not the market that is off. This can be tricky to navigate, and the only way to accurately test your edge is by betting into the market or simply tracking your potential bets and their results.