Beating the Books?

[netinfo]

Hi,

I hear this expression "beating the books" sometimes in sports betting. I'm not sure how we are beating the books.

It seems to me that if I bet on team A and someone else bets on team B, typically one of us will win, and the other will loose. Whoever looses, whether me or the other guy, the book makes a profit or "juice" on the loss. So, in either case, the book ends up profiting from a bet.

It seems to me that either I loose or the other guy looses, but the book never looses. Can someone explain to me how the books can actually loose?

netinfo

[SamsNCharge99]

ok, I'm not going to be mean, b/c your new....other ppl might be

it's just a phrase....SHOW ME THE MONEY...phrase....it just means, everyone wants to win

beating the books means you are winning money

[flyingillini]

netinfo.com

[jjgold]

Nobody beats the books period, you can beat them over a short time frame but in the long term the books win.

[Fiasco]

beating the books would imply getting the best line (beating the closing line), and winning more than you lose...

books strive for even action but sometimes it just isn't realistic and they actually take a big loss, or a huge win but regardless of the outcome of 1 game there is one thing the book always knows and that is that we won't stop and they will eventually get their money...

very few "beat the books" longterm (a lot would argue no one can beat the books in the long run)

[netinfo]

Thanks for the comments. Fiasco or someone else, explain to me this scenario:

If I bet Team A at -5
Fiasco bets Team B at +5

Team B looses the game by 2 points. Therefore, I loose, and Fiasco wins. The money I loose goes to Fiasco, minus the juice for the book. So, if I bet $10, Fiasco gets $9.09, and the book gets $0.91.

Even though Fiasco won, how did the book loose on this bet? The only looser in this bet was me. If this were done for a long time, whether I win most of the time or Fiasco wins most of the time, the book wins all the time. The book never looses, neither in the short term nor in the long term, because they always get their juice on every bet.

Therefore you can never beat the book, neither in the short term nor in the long term. The only beating that is going on is between each other, the betters.

netinfo

[JBC77]

Are you kidding me?

[netinfo]

I think Sam is right. Beating the books is just an expression, not a reality.

netinfo

[Fiasco]

say 110 bucks was bet on side a but only 11 bucks on side B, side a wins, the books pay out 100 bucks but only receive 11 bucks therefore they were in how you're thinking of it "beat"

now in a perfect world 110 bucks is wagered on both sides and therefore the book makes 10 bucks on the game regardless of outcome... books want even action for guaranteed profit but can lose in a short time span...

now in my eyes the only way to beat the book is to consistantly beat the closing line like I said before. you are beating their line by getting the line at a better price than everyone else. Say the cavs open at -1 and you hop on it, it is bet up to -3 before gametime... you can bet back some at +3 and try to middle and crush the book only losing vig, or you can enjoy your -110 bet at -1 for the same price the person who lays 3 is paying (they'd have to buy 2pts which is like -150 if I'm not mistaken...) -110 kills -150 in the longrun...

that is the way one can beat the books, but it is very hard to do consistantly or we'd all be rich...

[LT Profits]

netinfo is assuming 50/50 action on the games, which in reality almost never happens. So a high majority of the time, either the book wins or the players win on each individual game.

[SlickFazzer]

52.38

[netinfo]

Fiasco,

Very good and convincing explanation, thanks.

Take care,

netinfo