Hedging is a relatively simple concept to understand. It involves covering a number of bases in order to increase your chance of winning.
This is done by placing lay bets on top of your initial back bet almost as a level of insurance. For example, you may want to place an NFL bet on the outright NFL Championship winner. Your initial gut feeling is to back an outsider.
Hedging your bets would then involve placing lay bets on one of, or a number of, the favorites. This would, therefore, boost your chances of winning.
The aim of hedging is to make a guaranteed profit. So, the odds and stakes you play need to carefully be considered. In theory, your back bet will make a large profit if it comes off, with a winning lay bet ultimately designed to at least cut your losses and ideally return your total stake combined.
Let’s say you want to place $10 on the Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFL Championship, with 888sport offering odds of +1200. That means if you won you’d receive $120, plus stake.
However, you also want to add insurance and back two of the favorites. In this case, you might want to back the Patriots at +700 and Chiefs at +800. This would be hedging and increase your chance of winning. Additionally, if you were to back all three if one of them one you’d comfortably make a profit.
This is also applicable to the NBA, soccer, and games. Don’t miss our NBA expert picks and parlays, also European soccer picks.