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In sports wagering, money management is critical. Knowing the likelihood of success of any play you make (SU, ATS, O/U, or even Futures, Parlays, Teasers or other exotics) is of utmost importance – not just for deciding what to wager on, but how much. By playing the game 50,000 times before it's actually played, all of our picks come with a specified level of confidence (no dimes, no stars – just the facts) and a Play Value Key, Play Value Calculator and Parlay Calculator (explained below) to decipher exactly what that means to you.
See: Against-the-Spread Picks, Straight-Up Picks, Over/Under Picks, explanations on the Play Value Key, Play Value Calculator, Parlay Calculator and Paul's Analysis of the top picks.
If you are getting a different line than our projection or you are interested in teaser plays or other exotics that use different lines, we've got you covered. Simply access the Customizable Predictalator, which is available with every team for weekly and full season subscribers to run actual, future or totally hypothetical games while being able to input your own against-the-spread and over/under lines.
Against the Spread Picks (Based on Games Played 50,000 times - Print Table):
Straight-Up Picks (Based on Games Played 50,000 times - Print Table):
Over/Under Picks (Based on Games Played 50,000 times - Print Table):
In the picks above, Margin, Points For, Points Against and Total Points are averages from 50,000 games played. The Win% ATS is the percentage of games in which the team picked covers the noted spread. Similarly, the Pick% in the Over/Under table is the percentage of time that the Over or Under pick covers the total. These values represent the Predictalator's confidence in the pick and are used in the Play Value Key and Calculator. With RL and O/U plays assumed to be -110, anything less than 52.38% confidence is not considered to be a worthwhile pick. To alter odds or to evaluate money-line plays, click on "Calc" and adjust the Odds in the Play Value Calculator. Clicking on the "Play" button will allow you to run that game through the Customizable Predictalator. An "Upset Watch" icon will appear next to games where we believe the underdog is more like than not to win outright. Picks will be updated as needed due to injury (up to one hour before game time).
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The Play Value Key:
Given the winning percentages listed as our confidence for each pick, all plays are not created equal. Each against-the-spread and over/under play is color-coded to aid in play value decision making. All play values are relative to what we consider a "normal play." As a generally conservative rule of thumb, typical wagers should be 1-3% of one's bankroll. A normal play should never exceed 5% of one's bankroll and the combined plays for one day should not exceed half of one's bankroll. The Play Value Key on the right side of the page explains the colors. If the play is listed as '3X Normal Play' that means that it is very strong and worth wagering three times the value of a normal play. The key is fairly conservative with general rules of thumb and ignores other plays made that day. As noted, the percentages in the key relate to the confidence needed to evaluate picks at -110 odds. We still color-code money-line picks with different odds than -110 for value based on the expected recommendation from the Play Value Calculator on a normal play of $50. For more specific recommendations, please use the Play Value Calculator. Content is for informational purposes only and all decisions are completely up to the individual.
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The Play Value Calculator:
Using the Play Value Calculator is a more exact approach to understanding the value of a pick based on its expected win percentage. Clicking on 'Calc' next to any pick will automatically load that pick into the Play Value Calculator. Then, to get the most accurate recommendation possible, please enter your normal play value, how many overlapping plays you are making and the odds you are getting on the play. If you have overlapping plays, you can choose the "Standard" recommendation which assumes that all other plays are exactly "normal" or you can choose "Advanced" recommendations, which will allow you to enter all plays by clicking on "Calc" next to each and see the optimal play value recommendations for each based your criteria. As a generally conservative rule of thumb, typical wagers should be 1-3% of one's bankroll. A normal play should never exceed 5% of one's bankroll and the combined plays for one day should not exceed half of one's bankroll. Odds are assumed to be -110, meaning that a loss requires paying out an additional 10% or that you need to risk $110 to win $100. Often times, odds will be "juiced" (the 10% in -110 is the juice) even further on specific spread lines to +/-150 or more. Also, money-lines are strictly based on odds so it is important to understand value. If the odds are -110, 52.38% confidence is needed (i.e. 110/210) to justify play. However, if the odds are -250, 71.43% confidence (250/350) is needed to justify the play. And if the odds are in your favor at plus number like +250, where a $100 wager can win $250, just 28.57% confidence is needed to justify the play. In that last example, if our projection is that the +250 underdog wins 33.33% of the time, it is important to note that the play would only win one-third of the time; yet the payout is great enough that if one-out-of-every-three of those plays hits, the play will be profitable. Click 'Calculate' to see the value to wager for your play on that game. Content is for informational purposes only and all decisions are completely up to the individual.
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The Parlay Calculator:
Our Parlay Calculator is unique. Traditional Parlay Calculators may provide the straight-line payout odds. You should be able to get any of that information relative to your picks from your linesmaker. Instead, we think it is more valuable to calculate your actual likelihood of success on a parlay. To use the calculator, click on the Show Parlay Calculator toggle and choose the number of games you are interested in playing. Add RL or O/U percentages from the picks by clicking 'Calc' (as you would for the Play Value Calculator). Once you have added all of the games you are interested in, click 'Calculate' to see your Parlay Success and Payout Needed. The Parlay Success is the likelihood that each of these picks will cover. The Payout Needed expresses that value relative to payouts. As long as the payout odds you receive from are greater than or equal to the Payout Needed, the Parlay is an acceptable play. Since payouts are done on a straight-line odds basis, the Payout Needed from a combination of our playable picks will almost always yield an acceptable play. Everything is relative, however. Please note the Parlay Success value. With up to ten teams in a parlay, exotic plays like this will almost never be expected to win. We provide this information to set realistic expectations for parlay plays and to aid in comparing the relative differences between expected payout from the play and the possible payout. Content is for informational purposes only and all decisions are completely up to the individual.
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