Hedging is an investment method aimed at lowering risk to a minimum and reinsurance in the event of adverse market developments. The strategy has also been successfully applied to sports betting, most notably to live betting, or betting with accumulator bets, guaranteeing safe profits, regardless of the outcome of the event.
Live Hedging
Contemporary online bookmakers offer an extensive list of live events that allows betting in any minute. This fact is conducive to the successful hedging of the pre-match bet if the development of the event is to our advantage, but we have slight hesitations about the final outcome.
Example:
Let's say you bet on Valencia's win against Villarreal with an odd of 2.20. The Bats get an advance at the end of the first part, which increases the double chance stake in favor of the “yellow submarine”. Naturally, the odd will pass 2.00, which allows us to hedge the bet and not depend on the final winner.
For a bet of £ 100 on position 1 in favor of Valencia - the expected profit is £ 220. If our favorite takes an advance in the result after 45 minutes of play, the odd for double chance X2 will increase to 2.00, and even more, depending on the circumstances. Thus, regardless of the outcome of the meeting, our profit will be guaranteed.
As you can see, a live hedging strategy can be used in specific situations where the outcome is in favor of our bet. In addition, it depends on the odds as it is necessary to cover the value of the two bets (the primary and the hedge).
Application for straight column bets
The second option to use hedging, which you may have found to be applicable, is with participation of accumulator bets. These are the kind of multiple selections in which every wrong move leads to a negative outcome of the entire slip. For example, we can take a look at the following column.
Example:
- Arsenal - West Ham - Bet 1 @1.55
- Milan - Torino - Bet 1 @1.65
- Juventus - Inter - Both Teams to Score @1.80
The formed total stake of the accumulator is 4.60, which at a bet of £100, provides a potential profit of £460.
If the first two bets turn out to be profitable, we can use the hedge to prevent any potential losses in the event of a bad outcome of the last clash. To determine the value of the hedged bet, use the formula:
- (Accumulator Bet * Column Stake) / Hedge bet ratio)
If the odd for no goal/goal (one or both teams fail to score) of Juventus - Inter is 2.00, this means we must place a bet of:
- (100 * 4.60) / 2.00 = 460/2 = £ 230
If the entire column proves to be profitable, the net profit will be £ 130 (460 - (100 + 230). If the last fails the accumulator, ie someone from Juventus or Inter does not score a goal, we will also receive a net reward equivalent to £ 130.
Important! If you are aiming for a straight column hedging strategy, the selections (or at least the last one) must have a different start time. You also need to have higher capital to cover the required bets.
See more End result betting strategy
