Betting Favorites 2023

Think about this, it’s a Tuesday night and the Golden State Warriors are playing the Indiana Pacers. Between this two, who is the favorites to win the game? Definitely that has to be the Golden state warriors. Naturally you would want to put your money on the Golden State Warriors. If you did that, you just simply betting favorites to win the game which is evidently the Golden State Warriors. Let us take a further look at this topic.

Interesting Titbits about Betting Favorites

• It has a very good success rate.
• It's incredibly straightforward.
• Laziest method you can utilize with Asian handicap
• The odds for betting heavy favorites to win are typically very low.

Betting favorites in Detail

Betting favorites is another betting type we are going to fully explore in this article. In sports betting or horse racing, when  the word “favorite” is mentioned, it refers  to the team, individual or horse that is expected to win. Therefore, bookmakers give the favorites  odds which indicate the extent to which they are expected to win. In sports,  higher  negative odds such as these (-270, -450, -800, etc.) mean there’s a  higher possibility  of emerging victorious.  This is also similar in horse racing,   however, the odds are  written in a different way (1/7, 2/9, 5/2, 8/3, etc.). Sometimes, the terms “heavy favorites” or “the chalk” are used to refer to  strong favorites of  sporting events, whether a player, a horse or a team. Though, this is when the subject is strongly fancied  in relation to the rest. Therefore, when there’s a  marginal difference between the favorites and second favorite, the term “chalk” is  hardly used.

If you’re wondering how “chalk” made its way into betting vocabulary, it’s hard to pinpoint that out , but  it seems to be in connection with horse racing  between the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Previously, the betting companies were set up  on and off the racetrack betting stands with the use of large blackboards which displayed the chalk-written names and odds of the racing horses..

As sports bettors’ bets poured in and tips circulated, the odds continuously changed , particularly  odds of the favorites. As a result of the frequent changes made to the odds,  the favorites usually had more chalk dust round their names than the other competitors this then led to “favorites” being  referred to as ‘the Chalk’.  Due to this this term is still  popularly used by horse racing sports books and bettors,  and has even  drifted into other sports. For instance, as illustrated below.

For example,

Golden State Warriors vs Indiana Pacers are playing in the NBA league.

The odds on the result (1X2) market are Golden State Warriors to win @1.10 odds whereas Indiana Pacers to win @ 16.0 odds.  With the sports books selecting Golden State Warriors as the heavy favorites to win, they can be regarded as the Chalk.

When laying a wager on the heavy favorite, this is called ‘betting the chalk’., Although the heavy favorites are always the most likely to win, it’s not the most popular option. In this illustration , Golden State Warriors vs Indiana Pacers, you’d have to lay a wager of $1,000 to make a $100 profit.

The Betting Strategy and Its Flaws

Among soccer punters, backing the heavy favorites is a very common tactic. It's  really easy,  likely to return quite a good number of winners. These are two major merits that punters concentrate on. However, among the major errors which casual punters may commit include betting only on favorites. It’s true the favorite will win most of the games, but solely relying on this tactic will swiftly and easily spoil your bankroll. Why?  Well, this is because the heavier the favorite you lay wagers  on, the heavier the   risk involved in returning a good size profit. For instance, If a player constantly bets on favorites in the -200 range, such a player would have to risk $200 every single time to win $100. A loss and such player  will have to win another two  bets just to recover the $200  already lost. Where such player has a multi-game losing streak, this places the player in a really bad hole and destroys the bankroll.

Blindly  laying a wager on the favorite is the laziest tactic you can adopt when handicapping games. Generally,  majority of the sports bettors do that and most times side with the higher-profile team, which makes smart bookmakers inflate the odds of the favorite side and  consequently attract bets on the other side. What you should take note of is that while a favorite has a higher possibility of winning the game outrightly, this doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be more likely to cover the point spread compared to the underdog.

Depending on the betting system you’re using, betting on the favorite can involve certain differences. When the betting system is the point spread, the favorite will have  to lay points. What this implies is that they are   beginning the game trailing the other side. The bookies  will provide  odds such as -3.5, this means  the favorite  needs to win by four points or more   to reward bettors who may have bet on them.

However, when the betting system is money line. The favorites usually have a negative value (-) attached to their odds such as -120, -250, -500, etc. What this signifies is  that  for you to profit $100, you have to bet that set amount. Also, the  greater  the negative value , the greater such a team is considered the heavy favorite . For this reason, the real question; do the big favorites usually wagered on win often enough to make this strategy profitable?

Optimizing the betting favorites Strategy

We've laid down that  the major merit of this strategy is the possibility of a high win rate.  It’s also been established that the biggest demerits are the low odds. Therefore , there are two pretty recognizeable things to focus on  for improvement . A cool tactic for putting money on heavy favorites is to include several selections in an accumulator. One can bet the chalk and also make  reasonable  profit by placing an accumulator or combination bet. There’s still risk involved because even the Chalk will lose once in a while , so  you have a part to play, you must apply due diligence and carry out a number of  pre-betting research. These processes are needed to  locate the best chalk bets in the market. Our Sports Betting Comparison page has been created to save you all this stress as you will see the best sports bookies offering the juiciest odds on betting favorites with inclusion of combination bets

Another option to be tried is only backing the heavy favorites when they play home games. This should boost  the win rate. However, the disadvantage,  is that the average odds will possibly reduce when this method is used. We attempt  only betting on the  favorites when  odds are placed  above a certain level, but this could cut down our win rate.

Which Bookmakers Offer the Best Betting Favorites Deals?

Betting favorites has become very common and as a result of this, there are many bookies out there who offer odds, some cool and some not quite. But the good news is, you can still find sports bookies who offer nice odds and we have made it really easy for you to do just that. To find good sports bookies that are trusted, just visit our sports betting comparison page to choose the sport bookies which attracts you the most and you won’t be disappointed. You can also read our individual operator reviews, such as our “Is Betfair scam?” guide for in-depth information.

The well-researched information contained in our Sports Betting Comparison page gives you of a lot of choices and you get to choose according to your own taste and preferences. Hence, we advise that you visit the sports bookie comparison page to make your betting money!

Of course, we also recommend that you pick up a decent betting bonus before you get started - such as the TVG promo code or Twinspires offer codes, both of which offer a neat deposit bonus for new players.

Conclusion: Betting Favorites and the Smart Routes

As discussed in this article, your choice laying wagers on the favorites is reasonable, because they usually win. However, if you intend making regular and reasonable profits,  you cannot simply  put bets on favorites based on sentiments and few winning records. You have to reason smartly. Instead of throwing away your hard-earned cash,  it is advisable to set some basic parameters as your guide,  and  research each team separately before deciding who to bet on. You should never select a team simply because they're the big favorite. Rather, you should have a thorough review of the team considered to be the favorite, the  opposing team and  you should also consider all the conditions leading up to the game, such as whether it’s a home game or not. Try optimizing this strategy with combination bets to boost profit. And to find a nice operator, just visit our sports betting comparison page and select the best operator according to your own standards.