Line shopping in betting: what the best price is really worth

What 0.05 better odds are worth over 500 bets

Take a bettor who places 500 bets of €20, €10,000 staked in total, and wins exactly half of them. The only difference between two versions of this bettor is the price they take: an average of 1.95 or an average of 2.00.

The difference grows with the hit rate and the stake: at €50 per bet it would be €625. And it is the difference between losing money and breaking even, not between two levels of profit. That is why the price matters for any bettor, whether or not they care about arbitrage. To read results like these properly, see how bankroll size and variance interact.

Illustration: flat stakes, decimal odds, identical selections and hit rate in both columns, no betting fee. It shows the effect of price only; it says nothing about how often any particular bet wins.

Why margins differ between bookmakers

Every bookmaker builds a margin into its odds. You can measure it on any market: add up 1/odds for all outcomes and subtract 1.

margin = 1/odds₁ + 1/odds₂ (+ 1/odds₃) − 1

• Tennis at 1.90 / 1.90: 0.5263 + 0.5263 − 1 = 5.3% margin.
• Tennis at 1.95 / 1.95: 0.5128 + 0.5128 − 1 = 2.6% margin.

Margins vary for several reasons: the bookmaker's business model (high volume and low margins, or recreational customers and high margins), the market (main markets in top leagues are usually priced tighter than side markets and lower leagues), and how fast each bookmaker reacts to news. Because they move at different speeds, the best price for an outcome is regularly at a different bookmaker from the best price for the opposite outcome.

Taking the best price on each side lowers the margin you pay. Sometimes it pushes the combined margin below zero: that is a sure bet.

How to compare odds properly

A higher number on the screen isn't always the better price. Compare like with like:

1. Same market and settlement rules. Regular time versus including extra time, "draw no bet" versus 1X2, how retirements in tennis are settled: different rules mean different bets.
2. Price after fees. If a bookmaker deducts a fee from your stake or winnings, compare the effective odds, not the displayed ones (see the Austrian example below).
3. Maximum stake. A great price you can only bet €10 on is worth less than a slightly lower price that takes your full stake.
4. Fresh prices. Note when each price was checked. A comparison from ten minutes ago may no longer be true.
5. Record the price you actually got. Track your average odds against the best available price; that tells you how much line shopping is worth for you.

Comparing works best when you hold accounts at several bookmakers with money already on them. Our betting basics explain how to open and verify accounts.

Odds comparison vs sure-bet scanner

An odds comparison site shows you, for a match you have already chosen, which bookmaker offers the best price. It is a tool for your own picks.

A sure-bet scanner works the other way round. It checks many events and markets across bookmakers and reports only the combinations where the best prices on all outcomes add up to less than 100% implied probability, with the stakes already worked out. You don't need an opinion about the match at all.

Both rely on the same idea, that the best price is worth having. Line shopping improves bets you would make anyway; a scanner finds price differences that are worth betting on in themselves. ArbVantage is a scanner for sure bets and middles; value bets are coming soon. If you want to understand how arbs are found in the first place, start with why odds disagree between bookmakers.

Austria and Slovakia: local books and fees

Austria. Since April 2025 the Wettgebühr is 5% of the stake. The bookmaker owes it, but some pass it on to customers. If 5% is taken from a €20 stake, only €19 is actually bet: at displayed odds of 2.00 you get back €38, which is the same as odds of 1.90 on €20. A bookmaker showing 1.95 without passing the fee on is the better price. Details in our guide to the Austrian betting tax.

Slovakia. Only bookmakers licensed by the ÚRHH may offer online betting to Slovak residents, so the choice is smaller than in many other countries. Smaller markets with fewer competitors often see wider margins than the large international books, so it pays to measure the margin of the markets you bet on yourself, using the formula above, rather than assume.

In both countries, the fewer bookmakers you compare, the less line shopping can do for you. Holding accounts at several licensed bookmakers is what makes it work.

FAQ

Is line shopping worth it for recreational bettors?

Yes, if you bet regularly. In the example of 500 bets of €20 at a 50% hit rate, odds of 2.00 instead of 1.95 are worth €250, with exactly the same picks. The effect grows with stake size and number of bets.

Why do odds differ between bookmakers?

Each bookmaker sets its own margin, has different customers and reacts to news at a different speed. That is why the best price for an outcome is often at a different bookmaker from the best price for the opposite outcome.

What role does the betting fee play?

If a bookmaker passes a fee on to you, compare the effective odds. With the 5% Austrian Wettgebühr taken from the stake, displayed odds of 2.00 work out the same as about 1.90.

Sources

• RIS: Gebührengesetz 1957, § 33 TP 17 (Austrian betting fee)
• Unternehmensserviceportal (USP): Wettgebühr filing
• Úrad pre reguláciu hazardných hier (ÚRHH): licences and prohibited offers, Slovakia
• Kaunitz, Zhong, Kreiner (2017): Beating the bookies with their own numbers, arXiv:1710.02824

As of October 2026. The calculations are illustrations under the stated assumptions. Not betting, legal or tax advice. 18+.

Betting involves risk, sure bets included: odds move, bets get voided and accounts get limited. Only stake money you can afford to lose. If betting stops being fun, our responsible gambling page lists free help in Austria and Germany.