Should you cap or should you shop?
Which is more important - to be a great sports capper or to get
the best number available?
Many people who bet sports believe that knowing everything about
the game is key to winning long term. I disagree.
It has been shown repeatedly that the best handicappers in the
business are happy to achieve 53-55% wins each year and well
over 90% of the handicappers finish under 52%.
It has also been shown that in most sports, NBA, CBB, CFB, and
NFL that a half point is worth about 4%. (More on 3 and 7 in
football)
Given the fact that is relatively easy to find lines 1 point
better than average on most events, it is clear that line
shopping is far more important and lucrative than capping.
In fact, it is possible to win knowing nothing about the sport
or the teams.
If a good capper wins 540 games out of 1000, he ends up 34 units.
If a good line shopper bets 1000 games at 1 point better than
average, he ends up 520-440-40 and up 36 units and this is
assuming that none of the numbers were on 3 or 7 in football. If
they were, his results will be slightly higher.
Since it is incredibly difficult to cap games long term at 54%
(less than 5% of cappers do so) and it is reasonably easy to
find a free point by line shopping, it is our recommendation
that you become a value shopper!