In the past year, the sports betting market has seen an incredible boom. Many books now offer lucrative prizes for successful bettors, which has made sports betting a popular pastime for many people.
However, to land a lucrative deal, you first need to understand what ‘plus 380′ means when betting on sports.
This is the name given to a betting scheme designed to maximize profits by exploiting non-intuitive aspects of the betting process. While most people think of betting on sports when they hear ‘plus 380′, sophisticated bettors might well see this as an opportunity to make some easy money.
The Advantage Of Exploiting Expertise
For the past decade or so, sportsbooks have made a practice of taking advantage of the human element in the betting process. Rather than simply matching bets between two evenly matched bookmakers, which is typically the strategy employed by most sportsbooks, smart operators ensure that they only accept bets from certain approved bookmakers, and then exploit this small pool of customers by cutting prices and giving better odds. This helps ensure higher revenues and bigger profits in the long run.
In some cases, the operator might decide that the best strategy is to simply accept a certain minimum stake from a certain customer base, and then use that money to purchase premium memberships at other online betting sites. This allows the operator to have a steady stream of income, all courtesy of exploiting human nature and taking advantage of the betting process.
The Disadvantage Of Predictability
It is important to note that all of this is done with the knowledge of the operator. So, while the strategy might appear to be brilliant at first glance, there is always risk involved in anything that relies on human knowledge and action rather than mathematical formulae.
As with any other part of life, humans are prone to making errors and overlooking details when they are performing cognitive tasks, such as trying to calculate exact win ratios in sports betting. Because of this, the operator runs the risk of making a bad decision, and having to pay out large sums of money to unsatisfied customers.
Plus 380
This is the part that people usually miss out on. When someone mentions ‘plus 380′, they are almost certainly thinking of taking bets on sports. However, it is important to remember that there are other options that might be more lucrative, and expose the operator to less risk.
As the name suggests, plus 380 is used when placing bets on sports where the point of difference is determined by the outcome of the game. For example, if a basketball game ends in a tie, the team with the most points at the end will prevail. If there is no clear-cut winner at the end of the game, then the team which covers the most amount of points over the total of the other team will come out on top. In this scenario, there is no risk of one side completely obliterating the other, because the outcome is entirely based on objective measures – the final scores.
Understand The Mathematics Of Exploitation
Although the risk/reward profile of plus 380 might appear to be incredibly lucrative, it is important to remember that the mathematics of betting do not always work in your favor. Specifically, take the case of a college basketball game where the point spread is four points. If you are applying the plus 380 strategy and betting on the NCAA college basketball tournament, then it would make sense to place your bets on the four highest-seeded teams (fourteenth-seeded Mercer gets you four points, and fifteenth-seeded Santa Clara also gets you four points).
According to the basic tenets of plus 380, you should get four points for a win, and zero points for a loss. In the specific example above, you would win four dollars (two dollars x two points), but would lose sixteen dollars to show for your effort (fourteen dollars x zero points). In other words, the expected profit from this wager is only two dollars ($2.00).
In reality, not all online sportsbooks operate under a plus 380 framework. Many, if not most, online sportsbooks have a policy of offering only “handicapped betting”, where the house edge is limited to 2.9% or 3.5% for most games. So, while the strategy might appear to be an easy way to make money, the reality is that you are probably better off trying your luck at a reputable bookmaker which offers honest odds (or a good online poker site, where you can play for real money with the same restrictions).
Red Flags To Look Out For
From a technical standpoint, plus 380 is an incredibly sophisticated approach to betting. Unfortunately, that does not mean that it is without its pitfalls. Many people, myself included, have made a fortune out of exploiting less-than-stellar individuals and companies which manage sportsbooks for a living. This is where a little bit of research can often uncover huge opportunities for profit, as well as huge RISK.
To begin with, look out for any bookmaker which offers odds that are not in line with established formulas. For example, if you are doing some research and come across an online sportsbook which offers “+240″ odds on a proposition, it might be a good idea to steer clear of this one. This might sound like an easy way to make money, and it is, but those odds are usually the result of a poorly constructed spreadsheet, with many inherent flaws.
Similarly, if a bookmaker is promising you “massive returns”, without much explanation as to how they are calculated, there is a good chance that they are doing something dodgy. To give you an idea of how big the potential for profit is, let’s say that you are applying the plus 380 strategy to football (soccer), and that the point spread is three points. In this case, your expected profit for just one game would be thirty-three dollars ($33.00).
Of course, these are only hypothetical examples – the actual figures will vary based on the game and the point spread – but you get the idea. With very little work, you can make a lot of money off unsuspecting sports bettors. Remember: take-home messages should always be supported by examples. When it comes to sports betting, there are many opportunities for profit, but also many risks which you need to be aware of. If you want to try your hand at exploiting the odds, then plus 380 might be the perfect place to start.