This is where things get a little bit trickier and learning some sports betting tips becomes more important. To hedge a straight wager is not always an option. You’re probably thinking, how is hedging a straight bet ever a possibility? The answer is through half time betting, or by catching a good opening line that moves in your favor after you put your original bet in. So on Monday during football season you see that for the following Sunday’s game the Bears are -4 against the Lions, you see some value in betting the Bears, so you bite on the -4 line. On Saturday, you see that the line has skyrocketed up to -7.5. You now have the option of betting the opposite side (the Lions), limiting your risk and unlike when you hedge a future bet or a parlay, you actually have a chance of winning both bets. You now have the Bears -4.5 and Lions +7.5, if the final comes in with the bears winning by 5, 6 or 7, you have now “middled” the game and won both bets while risking a very minimal amount or none at all. Be aware however, things will not always work out this way. By the line moving 3 points in your favor, you already have a great advantage over the books and by attempting to middle the game, you are basically giving up that advantage and going back to the whole risk/reward concept.
Hedging a game during halftime is a little bit different, but still the same idea. Let’s get right down to example time. You have the Atlanta Hawks at +6 against the Orlando Magic, and it comes to half time with the score tied up. You check with your book, and see that the line for the second half of the game is a pick. You now have 5 points to play with to get your middle (the 6th point would be a push on the original bet), so if you are into the hedging idea, you would want to bet Orlando for the second half. Again you would be giving up some value because your original bet would be on pace to come in as a winner. These are sports betting tips you need to put into place.
In my opinion when talking about sports betting tips there is no right or wrong answer to hedge or not, for the most part. It depends entirely on the bettor’s style and the individual situation. It would be tough for me to sit here and tell a conservative gambler that he is incorrect by guaranteeing himself a profit. Hopefully, by reading this you will have a firm grasp of the hedging concept and will be able to make intelligent decisions for yourself in any given situation.
