A back door cover is a specific betting style where a sportsbook will offer odds that are favourable (in favour of the player) for certain outcomes. The general idea is that with some careful planning and guesswork, one can land large profits from betting on smaller, less noticeable markets. The style is popular amongst professionals due to its relative complexity and ability to make money on small bets.
Why Do Sportsbooks Offer Backdoor Covers?
There are a number of reasons why a sportsbook might offer back door covers, but the main reason is that there is typically a shortage of sportsbooks in a given niche. If a sportsbook wants to attract certain bettors, they will have to provide a good reason for those bettors to choose their establishment over the others. Some other motivating factors for a sportsbook to offer back door covers are listed below.
Complexity Of The Betting Pattern
As the name would suggest, a backdoor cover is quite complex to implement successfully. In general, one needs to look into the odds of various outcomes for an event, consider which teams are over and which ones are under, find the correct time to place the bet, and calculate the payout successfully. The payout might not always be easy to calculate depending on the sport and the venue, but with careful consideration, it is possible. The good thing is that even if you don’t succeed at first attempt, most sportsbooks will give you the info and tools to try again.
Profits On Smaller, Less Measurable Wins
There is a lot of money to be made from betting on smaller markets. Typically, one would expect that the larger the market, the bigger the payoff, but that is not always the case. Sometimes a team will inexplicably lose a game and the results of that game won’t justify the action. In those cases, the bookmaker will lose money because they took the bet on a winning team. While it is a gamble, it is also the case that some smaller bets tend to have larger payouts because there are fewer competitors for those games.
The Underdog Effect
If a bettor goes against the public perception of a particular team or individual, that bettor will usually have favourable odds. The public perception can be shaped by factors such as media coverage, record, and previous results, so it is not always easy to determine who the underdogs are until the event. When that event comes and goes, it can sometimes be difficult to determine whether or not you were supposed to have favoured odds on that game. In some cases, the odds will shift in your favour when the perception of the underdogs turns around, so it is worth keeping an eye on when that happens. There is money to be made, but it usually comes from experienced bettors who know what they are doing.
What are the Main Differences Between Standard and Backdoor Covers?
Besides the obvious fact that one is more complex than the other, there are a number of differences between standard and backdoor covers. The first and most obvious difference is that in a backdoor cover, the sportsbook will offer odds that are favourable to the bettor. In a standard cover, the team or individual performance will determine the amount you win or lose, so the sportsbook will not provide any advantages to the bettor.
The table below highlights many of the key differences between standard and backdoor covers, but it is not an exhaustive list.
The Main Differences Between Standard and Backdoor Covers
The odds will always be in your favour in a backdoor cover, and there will be a limited number of these opportunities available. Most sportsbooks will only offer one or two backdoor covers per year, so you will need to be choosy about when you place them, and ensure that the time of the year and the day of the week don’t hurt your chances of profiting from these bets.
As mentioned above, the advantage of the odds in your favour is that you will almost certainly win your bet. The disadvantage is that you might not be able to determine the exact payout of the bet until after the game has finished. Sometimes the bookmakers will provide tools for figuring out the payout during the game, but you will still need to do the math in your head to get the right answer. The bookmakers know this and that is why they are so keen to offer these types of bets to experienced and sophisticated bettors.
You will also need to keep in mind that in a number of cases, especially in basketball, football, and baseball, it is not the individual performance that determines the payout but the combined performance of the teams (known as the “over/under”). When one team is significantly better than the other(s), the combined score will usually decide the outcome. In those cases, you will either need to select the “over” option or the “under” option, depending on which one you think is the most likely outcome. You can then use the handy dandy tool the bookmaker provides to figure out the exact payout for your chosen option. If you don’t have the time or the inclination to do the math in your head, this option can be a good choice for betting on events with combined scores.
The standard cover is similar to the backdoor cover in that the outcome is determined by the teams or individuals. The main difference is that in a standard cover, the public will have an opinion about who the underdogs are and what the outcome will be like, so there will be some advantage to be had by betting on those outcomes. The advantage of the standard cover is that it is more accessible to the average bettor because there are more opportunities for smaller bets. The disadvantage is that in some games, like college basketball, there will only be a few games to bet on each week, so you will need to be choosy about when you place those bets.
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