How to Understand Picks

“Who’s your pick?” is the most common question sportswriters are peppered with on social media. In sports betting, a pick from an established source is worth its weight in gold. Picks, or predictions, from sports analysts that have done the research, watched the game tape, and studied the analytics are incredibly valuable because they save you precious time and effort doing it yourself.

OddsUSA features betting picks for major sporting events to help you get an edge over the competition while also saving you time you could be spending watching the game and energy you could be using to cheer on your team. Below we will break down how betting picks for various sports work and how you can use them to get a leg up on the sportsbooks.

Betting Picks

Betting picks are predictions for various betting scenarios. Most American sports feature a “betting line,” a series of odds in which a sportsbook has handicapped a game with a favorite and an underdog (usually) and placed a dollar amount on those odds.

Picks may predict whether a team will “cover” a “point spread.” With a point spread, the favorite must win by a certain number of points to “cover” or pay out while an underdog can lose by a certain number of points and still win your bet. So if the Heat are a -5 favorite, they must win by 6 or more to pay out. If the Celtics are a +4 underdog, they can win or lose by as many as 3 points and still pay out.

Other picks predict straight up win scenarios, which are valuable for moneyline bets. Moneylines are the ratios between your initial bet and the payout. So if the Heat are a -130 favorite, a $130 bet would get you $100 in winnings. If the Celtics are a +120 underdog, a $100 bet would win you $120.

Picks may also predict whether the final point total will be “over” or “under” the combined point total projected by sportsbooks.

Finding Sports Betting Picks

OddsUSA features picks for all the major sports. Many sportsbooks will also offer their own helpful advice from sports analysts or successful bettors on their platforms. Many sports sites will also feature picks from a number of different analysts so you can compare differing opinions.

Some sites will even sell betting picks, though this is not advisable since many free or low-price sports websites are already paying experienced analysts for this information. On the other hand, countless other bettors are scouring the most popular sports sites so there is definitely value in expanding your research, albeit without paying handicappers who make big promises.