Half Time Second Half Sports Betting
Odds makers generally have quite a bit of time to set a line on a full game as well as first half wagering. In the case of NFL, there is a full week between games. Even in NBA there is often a full day and in some cases two or three days between games for a set of teams. For this reason, full-game and first-half lines are well thought out, researched, and by the time the game rolls around, they are also quite sharp. The same can not be said of half time betting.
In American football, one of the softest bets you’ll find is second half wagering. There are two reasons for this. The first is that sportsbooks do not have a lot of time to prepare these lines, so some line errors will be made initially, and you can benefit by jumping on the early line (betting as soon as a second half line is posted). The other reason for soft 2nd half lines is that odds makers are not always looking to balance action, as most second half betting is done as a hedge or a chaser.
Most sports bettors are not successful because when they’re ahead with a decent edge, they’ll look to sell-off at half time for a guaranteed profit (betting the other side), and when they’re behind, they look to use the second half as a chance to get even. Neither of these is a good recipe for success, but, after all, while most claim to be winners, most sports bettors are square and degenerates and slowly lose. As a winning sports bettor, we’ll be able to take advantage of this, because half time wagering is generally heavily sided to one team or another, and to win long term we’ll simply need to be on the side of the sportsbook.
The challenge comes in how do I find which side the sports book has. Well, for starters, read our sports betting strategy page. This does not cover the topic, but it does cover some helpful things you’ll need to know about sports betting, and it will be helpful in your quest to find winning second half betting information. With that said, let us give you some tips.
Half-time wagering tip #1 – Teams that cover the first half, cover the second half less often than teams that fail to cover the second half.
Half-time wagering tip #2 – In close games, second half wagering lines are often set as half the full game line with a small penalty given to the favorite. For example, if a favorite was -7 for the full game, they might be -4 or -4.5 for the second half of a close game.
Half-time wagering tip #3 – Watch the moves – In second half betting, you’ll see lines change greatly from the time they open. As a sharp sports bettor, you will want to be logged into several online sportsbooks, and be hitting refresh in order to see what number each sports book opens the second half line at. You’ll then watch to see how the line moves. Of course, it is hard to know if there are sharps or squares moving the line, but sometimes common logic can get you a read. Let’s say, for example, that the second half line opens as Boston Celtics -2.5 at one sportsbook and Boston Celtics -3 at another. In a matter of 60 seconds this line goes to Celtics -1 at both, and then 3 minutes later is Celtics -4. Well, in this scenario our guess would be that early sharps were hammering the opposite team, and then as the line popped up at slower moving square sites, the flood gates opened with lots of bets on the Celtics. Well, in this case we’re going to go against the Celtics.
Half-time wagering tip #4 Once you’re familiar with winning sports betting fundamentals, study NBA half time totals. We can’t post a full system here, as it would cut into our profits too much; however, for the few who might read this and take action learning NBA second half total, we’re sure it will be worth it.
As a USA sports bettor, you’ll want to have an account at Bet Phoenix and Bodog for sure, and will also want an account at one of BetUs, PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com. This will give you a good base of books to shop lines from (three sportsbooks minimum). The one account that is the most important to have is Bet Phoenix. For details why, read our BetPhoenix review.
