MLFave DeciDog DeciFave
pk-104 1.96 1.96
-105 1.97 1.95
-106 1.98 1.94
-107 1.99 1.93
-108 2.00 1.926
-110 2.02 1.91
-111 2.03 1.90
-112 2.04 1.89
-113 2.04 1.885
-114 2.05 1.88
-115 2.06 1.87
-116 2.07 1.86
-118 2.09 1.85
-119 2.10 1.84
5/6 2.11 1.83 characterized as slight favorite
-122 2.13 1.82
-123 2.14 1.81
-124 2.14 1.806
-125 2.15 1.80
-127 2.17 1.79
-128 2.18 1.78
-130 2.20 1.77
-132 2.22 1.76
-133 2.23 1.75
-135 2.25 1.74
-137 2.27 1.73
-138 2.27 1.725
5/7 2.29 1.714 legitimate fave
-142 2.31 1.704
-145 2.34 1.69
-147 2.36 1.68
-148 2.36 1.676
-150 2.38 1.667 -0.5-105 (on puck line - significant fave)
-152 2.40 1.66
-154 2.42 1.65
-155 2.43 1.645
-156 2.44 1.64
-159 2.47 1.63
5/8 2.47 1.625 solid fave
-162 2.49 1.617
-164 2.51 1.61
-165 2.52 1.606060
-167 2.54 1.60
-168 2.54 1.595
-170 2.56 1.59
-172 2.58 1.58
-175 2.61 1.57
-179 2.65 1.56
5/9 2.65 1.55 substantial fave
-185 2.70 1.54
-189 2.74 1.53
-190 2.74 1.526
-192 2.76 1.52
-195 2.79 1.51
-200 2.84 1.50 -0.5-155 medium-heavy fave
-201 2.84 1.4975
-205 2.88 1.49
-209 2.92 1.48
-210 2.92 1.476
-213 2.95 1.47
-215 2.97 1.465
-217 2.99 1.46
-219 3.01 1.457
-220 3.01 1.45 heavy
-225 3.06 1.444444
-227 3.08 1.44
-229 3.10 1.437
-230 3.10 1.435
-233 3.13 1.43
-235 3.15 1.426
-240 3.19 1.42
-250 3.28 1.40 -0.5-205 or -1.5+155 top-heavy
-275 3.49 1.36
-300 3.71 1.33 -1.5+105 imposing
-320 3.87 1.31
-340 4.00 1.29 -1.5-135 tremendous, overwhelming, monstrous, humongous, or gianormous: you get the picture! Roughly about the same as a more-than-a-TD fave in the NFL. But the eternal question always nags at us as sports bettors: are they over-hyped?
Anyway, let me try to decipher this mess of digits for ya. The 1st column is the moneyline favorite on the Pinnacle Sports hockey odds chart. They offer the best odds on hockey starting with an 8 cent graduated line. This is probably the closest to true odds you will find on the planet. They cannot make too unrealistic a price on the fave or they will get swamped with sharp money on the dog from the high percentage of their players who are wiseguys.
The 2nd column is the takeback on the dog expressed as a decimal instead of the American +. Basically you just take the +100 for example. This represents even money paid on a slight dog, corresponding with a fave price of -108 (Pinnacle) or -110 (dimeline) or -120 (20 cent line). Take the plus sign off the +100. Add a 1 to the 1st digit, the 1 (1 + 1 = 2). Now you have 200 and you just stick the decimal point after the 2. Voila! Your life now gets so much easier. To figure the worth of any play you make, just multiply your amount wagered by the decimal odds figure. No more estimating ratios to $100 or $5. Just multiply your amount risked (your stake, as the Brits call it) by the decimal to get the worth of your ticket. Subtract your stake from this ticket valu to find your profit. The decimal price (or factor or ratio) really acts as an indicator of the earning power of your selection. Faves are under 2.00 and dogs, which pay more, are over 2.00 and go right on up to 3.00 or higher. And for parlays, just keep multiplying (selection A decimal times selection B decimal times selection C decimal times your stake).
The 3rd column is the translation of the American minus fave to the less accurate but more workable Euro decimal. It's done by dividing 100 by the American # and adding 1. You can see around the bottom of the chart that huge faves in the 1.40's and 1.30's are barely worth playing and add negligible value to a parlay. To back a team at this kind of price would warrant the use of some kind of ultra-precise statistical formula (not unheard of in baseball).
WHERE TO BET:
Speaking of beisbol, 5Dimes.com been bery bery good to us. Their 5 cent (nickel) line on overnite (till 8 AM) MLB sides (laying -102 and -103 on either side of a pickem game) is the only 1 better than Pinbet.com prices (-103). Betvegasvic has -104 baseball sides. BetOnline and ABCIslands/Jazz are dimeline (-105 on a pickem). BOL goes up to -199 (better than pinny from -60 to -99). Betonline also has the best tennis line at 16 cents (-108 on a pickem). BOL and Vegasvic are dimeline on hockey. Sportbet has -107 sides and totals on CFL, NFL, and NHL but has restrictions on parlaying and limits on phone bets. Canbet, intertops, and iasbet are -109 cents on hockey and football. Of course all these lines get graduated to 20 or 30 cents or worse somewhere between -130 to -200. This maintains approximately the same theoretical hold % for the house no matter how strong the fave.
Football dimelines (lay -105 on pointspreads) are at vegasvic, 5dimes, and Tuesdays at sportbet, Wednesdays (6 PM - 9 PM) at oddsmaker, and Fridays at sportsbook, betonline (1 PM - 6 PM), youwager.eu (9 PM Fri.-6 AM Sat.), and sportsbetting (hoops too). Actually caribsports on Tuesdays has -102 on NFL! Phx has -05 all the time, and their partners at betmania have -07 on football sides only (no parlaying). Skybook for a $50 deposit will give a free 1/2 point on pigskin wagers up to a nickel. Betvenus has -08 pigskin and hoops. A good site for keeping up with this stuff is predictem.com.
OK, if you look at the 1st 2 columns, you can compare the fave and dog and calculate the difference. Then you can notice where pinbet kicks up the juice (or vig). Look at -112 and -113. Both pay +104 on the dog. 12 - 4 = 8 but 13 - 4 = 9. So pinbet has gone from their ballyhooed 8 cent line to a 9 cent line already. It's never easy. These books never give anything away. But 1 thing that is useful from pinny: if you split the difference, you've got the quickest and most reliable estimate of the true odds on a sporting proposition (in this case 100/108 fave or dog 27/25). Fave chance 27/(27+25) = .5192. Dog chance 25/(27+25) = .4808. If you can lay -107 or take +109 on this prop you have a positive expected value. Remember, getting value is crucial. The number is absolutely everything in sports betting. A play for me at my # may not be a legitimate play at your #. Only you can be the judge of whether the risk-reward ratio is commensurate with the magnitude of the risk you are willing to assume.
