lessons
Learn the number
Short lessons with a toy you can poke. Not a textbook. Not a guru. The same language as the desk.
start
First hour
What the desk is, and what it is not.
prices
The prices
How a number is written, and where the tax hides.
edges
The edges
When the street is wrong, and how we print it.
roll
The roll
How much to send, and what a ‘free’ bet actually costs.
First hour
What the desk is, and what it is not.
Where do I actually start?
Your first hour on the desk
EdgeBets™ finds the edge. You bet it. We never hold your money.
4 min
What am I looking at on the trading desk?
How to read the line
One match, every book we have. Tabs are families: who wins, the number, the head start, corners.
4 min
Should I fire in-play numbers?
Live is a different animal
Prematch sits still long enough to send both legs. Live numbers rot while you are still typing the stake.
3 min
The prices
How a number is written, and where the tax hides.
What is a moneyline?
Home does not mean they win
A moneyline (or 1X2) is a bet on who wins the match. The number is the price, not the score.
3 min
What is a spread / Asian handicap?
The head start
A spread hands one side a fake head start so the price can sit near even. You are not betting who wins. You are betting whether they cover the gift.
4 min
What is a total?
Over, under, and the number
A total is a bet on how much stuff happens: goals, points, runs, corners. Over the number, or under it.
3 min
What is vig / hold / juice?
The juice is a tax
Books do not charge a fee at the window. They bake it into both prices so the two sides add up to more than 100%. That extra is the juice.
4 min
Decimal vs American vs implied %?
Three dialects, one price
Same ticket, three spellings. Decimal is what you get back. American is the US sticker. Implied % is the tax-inclusive chance the shop is selling.
3 min
The edges
When the street is wrong, and how we print it.
What is positive EV?
A coin that pays you — sometimes
+EV is not ‘this bet wins.’ It is ‘if I took this price a thousand times, I come out ahead.’ Tonight can still be red.
5 min
What is arbitrage?
Two cashiers, one receipt
If you can buy every door and the prices still add to less than 100%, the leftover is locked profit — if both cashiers take the ticket.
5 min
What is a middle?
Land in the gap
Two numbers that do not touch. If the result sits between them, both tickets cash. If it misses, you usually lose the juice on one side.
4 min
What is a Pinnacle move?
The live book just flinched
Pinnacle shortens. A sleepy shop is still on the old number. Value tags that ticket “Pinnacle just moved” — until the street copies it.
3 min
How do I know the process is good?
Grade vs True
True is Pinnacle with the juice stripped. If you got a longer price than True, EdgeBets™ says the process is working — even when the ticket is red.
4 min
The roll
How much to send, and what a ‘free’ bet actually costs.
What is Kelly sizing?
How much of the roll
Kelly says: stake in proportion to your edge. Full Kelly is a loud roommate. We default to a quarter of it.
4 min
Why did my account get limited?
When the shop closes the window
Books are not a public utility. If you only buy their mistakes, they stop selling to you.
3 min
Bonus bets, boosts, credits, deposit bait?
The gift is still a price
A ‘free’ bet is a voucher with rules. A boost is a price. A site credit is often stickier than cash. Read the back of the ticket.
5 min
Questions
The ones people ask before they send a number.
Standard is $250/mo: trading desk and Arbs. Premium is $500/mo: everything in Standard, plus Value (with Pinnacle move alerts), Middles, Low hold, and the EdgeBets™ algorithm. See the live record on the EdgeBets™ page.
16 lessons. All ours. None of them place the bet.