Online Gambling USA / Betting Strategies / Value Bet Strategy and Value Betting 2025: Explained from GamblingGuy!

Value Bet Strategy and Value Betting 2025: Explained from GamblingGuy!

Mark Lewis

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Publish Date: 23/06/2020

Fact checked by: Jesse M Cox

Many sports betting novices find themselves asking about betting strategies. Everyone wants the value bet explained to them, or a value bet strategy that works.

The short answer is that it all depends on the person. A value bet strategy that works for you, may not be the right value bet strategy for Tom. Most beginners stick to betting to their favorite sports or choose bets with odds that look to be likely winners. These strategies can result in a few wins but, usually, don’t win much. So, it’s not a value bet strategy. Other popular strategies include matched betting strategy and 1-01 Betting.

That’s why many experienced bettors use a completely different strategy. It tends to deliver higher and, generally, more consistent winnings. This strategy is called value betting.

In this sports betting explained guide, we’ll have a value bet explained in easy to understand terms. Placing a value bet is relatively simple if you understand what a value bet is. In our value bet strategy guide, we’ll give you some of our best value bet tips and answer the question, ‘What is a value bet?’ in more detail.

Remember, a value bet strategy is a long-term strategy, and involves getting the upper hand over a bookmaker. You’ll need confidence, and really learn to understand value bet tips and tricks to make money in the long run. Without further ado, here’s our guide to a value bet explained, and tips to get the most out of your value bets.

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Main Areas Covered in This Guide

A value bet strategy is simple to understand, but not always easy to execute. It takes time, confidence, and research. Take the time to research the odds and the details of a game to determine which odds are value bets.
Different sports will have different value bets. One size does not fit all, and football value bets won’t be the same as the value bets for tennis or racing. To use a value bet strategy, you need to be able to spot which odds for which sport offer you the most value for your money. Our betting strategy guides will give you all the info you need to get started, including sportsbook line betting tips.
Set up a budget to manage your bankroll when you start to learn about value betting and try to use value bet tips. As you learn, you’re going to pick a few losers. Plan ahead by managing a budget and don’t overspend while trying to chase losses.

Tips to Get the Most Out of the Value Betting Strategy

What is a value bet? Value bet explained

Before we get into the value bet strategy and value bet tips, it’s important to understand how bookmakers set the odds they use first. Like any serious punter, the bookie will first analyze several different factors that can affect the outcome of a sporting event. Once that’s done, it assigns odds to these different outcomes. Some bookmakers will also price up the odds to create a relatively safe profit margin.

Nothing is ever certain, however. A bookmaker can’t predict any outcome with 100% accuracy when it sets its odds. Sometimes the bookmaker will misprice their odds, and there may be situations where the odds are higher or lower than the actual probability of the predicted outcome. That’s where you will find your value bets.

What is a value bet? Here’s a value bet explained by using by a simple coin toss analogy:

The odds for a coin toss are simple. There’s a 50% chance that you’ll get heads and 50% chance that you’ll get tails. Somehow, though, you find a bookie that has 2.0 (50%) odds for tails, but the odds for heads are 2.20 (45.45%). We know that the actual odds are 50% that the coin toss will be heads, but the bookie has lower odds on the chance of heads.

That’s a value bet. In short, a value bet is where the bookie’s odds are lower than the actual odds, giving you a better chance of winning. But value bets can be hard to spot – that’s why it’s important to do your research and have a solid value bet strategy before you start placing bets. Now that we’ve covered a value bet explained, we can get into the value betting tips!

Tip 1: Stick to what you know

Being able to spot a value bet depends on how familiar you are with a sport or event and being able to assign the correct odds to different outcomes. By focusing on sports that they’re knowledgeable about, punters can spot value bets much easier. They’re already familiar with the different factors that can influence the outcome and can calculate the odds fairly accurately. The more familiar you are with a sport, the better your chances of spotting a value bet.

Tip 2: Do your research

No matter how much you know about a sport, always do your research. Many different factors can influence the outcome of an event. Anything from a sports injury to changes in the weather can influence the outcome of a sports event. Along with current events, past events can also influence the odds. Research team records, player and team discipline, the psychological state of a team or player, changes in leadership, etc. Account for all the factors before you assign your odds! Our cricket betting strategy and basketball betting strategy guides will give you all the specific details for each sport.

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Tip 3: Know the odds

Understanding Point Spreads and odds is essential. The whole principle behind placing a value bet is that the bookmaker is not always right. Learn how to use and analyze different factors to calculate your own odds on different outcomes. Here’s a particularly important tip for your value bet strategy: determine your own odds first! Looking at the odds offered by bookmakers can influence your analysis and create biased results in favor of the bookmaker – which is exactly what you’re trying to avoid.

Tip 4: Shop around

Regardless of how good your football betting strategy or derby betting strategy is, you’re not going to get the best odds at the same bookmaker every time. If you really want to use a value bet strategy, you’ll need to use different sportsbooks. The odds offered by one bookmaker won’t match that of another because they all use different calculations to determine which odds to use. Once you’ve determined your odds, compare it to those of different bookmakers. You’ll be able to spot the odds with the best value.

Tip 5: Keep a betting logbook

There’s no exact science to determine consistent winning bets. It’s a process of trial-and-error and learning what works and what doesn’t. That’s especially true for value betting. Keeping a logbook will help you see what you’ve done wrong. You can analyze these bets, see where the problem was, and do better calculations next time.

Tip 6: Manage your bankroll

If you take anything away from our gambling guide, make sure it’s this. A mismanaged bankroll can ruin any punter, no matter what betting strategy they use. Along with keeping a logbook, most experienced punters will work within a budget. Managing your bankroll and sticking to a budget will keep you from chasing your losses and give you better chances of making a profit in the long run. If you’re looking for more guidance on this, then make sure to check out our managing your bankroll while bettingguide.

Tip 7: Time, confidence, and persistence

There are those punters that are consistently winning large wagers with value betting, but they didn’t start out that way. It’s time, practice, trial-and-error, and improving skills over time. Be prepared to be disappointed many times, but never let yourself be discouraged from using a value bet strategy. Instead, keep learning from your mistakes. Improve your analytical skills and learn how to calculate accurate odds. In time you can master the science of value betting, too.

Enjoyed This Guide? There’s Plenty More to Choose From

This value bet strategy isn’t the only gambling guide or betting guide we have available! We’ve got guides for everything, from the meaning of gambling and the rules of betting to in-depth explanations of how sportsbooks work.

Conclusion – One of the Simplest Strategies to Use

Using a value bet strategy can help both novice and experienced players increase their chances of placing winning bets. It’s one of the simplest strategies to understand, but that doesn’t mean that value betting is easy. Players still need to be able to identify value bets before they can take advantage of them.

Always remember the basics of a good value bet strategy. Do your research and shop around for the best odds, even if it means that you need to join more than one sportsbook. Stick to what you know, and you’ll be able to stop valuebets a lot easier than you would in betting markets you know nothing about. You’ll find everything you need to know in our helpful guides, from betting odds explained to creating a sportsbook account.