Ok, so I'm very new to everything but whenever I read about hedging bets, it usually refers to hedging your parlays when you only have 1 event remaining. But here are two situations that I ran into in the past 2 days that it seemed to make sense to bet against myself for a guaranteed profit. How often are these done? And is there a name for this other than hedging?
Situation 1:
I bet on the Cubs ML to beat the Padres yesterday at +118. $20.00 to win $23.60
The cubs started winning and obviously the lines started shifting around. I don't remember the exact number, but I was then able to place a bet on the Padres for $20.00 to win $90.00.
Now although making a profit of $3.60 is a lot less than the $23.60 that I could've won had I not hedged it, it was at least guaranteed money.
Situation 2:
I bet on the 49ers ML to beat the Vikings at -155. $20.00 to win $12.90
The game is pretty close right now and the ML for the Vikings is at +300 and I can make the bet for $10.00 to win $30.00
Once again, if the 49ers win, then I'll net $2.90 and if the Vikings win, I'll net $10.00
I feel like I'm missing something really obvious as to why these aren't good ideas lol, but as I said I'm new and hoping to get some insight.