Picking winners as a handicapper is hard enough, so you definitely don’t want to make it more challenging on yourself. Most people that bet on games are aware of the standard -110 vigorish. Some call it juice, some call it vig, whatever you call it, it is essentially a “tax” on betting so that the sportsbooks can cover all of their costs and manipulate the vig in hopes of balancing action.
At the standard 10/11 price of -110, the break-even point for a bettor is 52.38 percent. In order to “overcome the vig”, you have to get more than 52.38 percent of your bets correct. Not all bets are made at -110 vig, as we know, but that is the industry standard for a spread and total. Money lines are an altogether different animal, but the vig always correlates to a break-even percentage, no matter the juice.
It may not seem like much as a $10 or $20 bettor to have to lay a little bit of extra juice on -115 as opposed to -110, but it does make a significant difference. Consistently betting games at a vig of -115 would require a 53.49 percent success rate to break even. It would be a 54.55 percent success rate with a vig of -120 to break even.
As you shop around for a good online sportsbook to use, keep in mind that some sweeten the deal by offering reduced juice. This is a great perk to take advantage of if you are a bettor. Here are three sportsbooks offering reduced juice promotions that you may want to consider:
1. Heritage Sports – Heritage Sports has a lot of positives. They’re accepting numerous crytpocurrencies for deposits. They offer a sportsbook, a live casino, poker, and a racebook all under one umbrella. But, what really sets Heritage aside are the two promotions that they are running.
The first is reduced juice. Heritage offers -108 juice on sides for football and basketball. Heritage also offers eight-cent lines on MLB money lines, which are better for the player than the industry standard dime lines. The break-even point at -108 is 51.92 percent, which is certainly better for bettors than the 52.38 percent mark.
The second is that Heritage, along with reduced juice, offers cash back for all of its players. Some sportsbooks have the option of reduced juice or cash back. Heritage provides both. Cash back is given quarterly for straight wagers on the NFL, college football, college basketball, and NBA full-side sides and totals and on MLB totals. Bettors that make 0-149 bets will get 0.4% cash back each quarter. With 150-499 bets, the return will be 0.6 percent in cash back. Make 500 or more bets and you’ll get 0.8 percent cash back. Four-team or higher parlays increase the cash back if you are willing to play those.
These are great perks for astute handicappers that pay close attention to their bankrolls, like all of them should.
2. 5Dimes – When you sign up for an account at 5Dimes, you’ll be given several different reward options. New accounts are automatically defaulted to the Reduced Juice Rewards program, though they can opt to change to a different reward by reaching out to customer service.
The reduced juice program is a great way to limit your risk and enhance the strength of your bankroll management techniques. The industry standard of -110 becomes -105 at 5Dimes if you are part of this program. That means that your standard NFL spread or college football total bet will be at -105 instead of -110.
For baseball bettors, 5Dimes sweetens the pot even more by offering five-cent overnight lines on MLB until 8 a.m. ET. The early bird gets the worm and the earliest birds also get big edges in the MLB betting market at 5Dimes.
There are two things in the fine print that you should know. If you take a deposit bonus, you forfeit your right to the reduced juice opportunities. Also, the max limit on reduced juice bets is $500. Keep that in mind and see if 5Dimes is the right sportsbook for you. It does have an A+ grade from us here at BangTheBook.com.
3. Nitrogen Sports – The rise of cryptocurrency has certainly been talked about in sports betting circles. Nitrogen Sports is a sportsbook that runs entirely on Bitcoin, so you will have to have a BTC account in order to play. Many players like this option, as it comes with more peace of mind to not have credit card information on file.
The fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin are certainly a concern for bettors that are unfamiliar with how that part of the finance world works, but if you have a solid understanding or have some Bitcoin that you don’t know how to use, try depositing it over at Nitrogen Sports.
Nitrogen offers reduced juice options. Many reduced juice books are tailored towards higher-volume players, since the edges can be maximized more with large bankrolls and lots of activity, but they are a benefit to every player out there because of the lower break-even percentages. This is an A+-rated sportsbook from us here at BTB and an outlet that you certainly want to check out.
