Sports Betting: Reverse Bets
By Loot, Sports Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
In all team sports, you can make “reverse bets.” It may seem a little confusing at first, but with a little time, you will have this down-pat. Reverse bets are a spin-off of "if wagers". In “if” wagers, you bet a certain amount with two teams on your ticket. If the first team wins, an equal amount is placed on the second game. But if the first game comes up short, you will not have action on the other game. A “reverse” allows you to make the equivalent of two “if bets.”If you make one “if” bet and the result of the first game is a loss, the bet is over. So maybe you make a $110 “if” bet. The first team loses and your wager is a loser. You lost $110. Rather than making an “if” bet, make a “reverse. It’s two separate “if” bets. Rather than betting $110 on an “if” bet, make a reverse for $55 x 2.
In an “if” bet, you would take, for example, the Baltimore Ravens at -7 and over 43 in the Jaguars-Panthers game. If the first bet wins, you will have action on the next game. But if the first one loses, your bet is over. A reverse is basically two separate “if” bets. You would execute a reverse with the same teams, just in opposite order for $55. Just tell the bookie you want to make a reverse and give them the two teams you want to bet, and the sequence of the games is no longer an issue. In an “if” bet, we are tied to the arbitrary nature of which bet we first list. With reverses, that’s no longer an issue and it can save you a lot of heartache.
TIP: A GOOD online sportsbook offering reverse betting is Sportbet.
Betting a $55 reverse instead of a $110 “if” bet makes it so you don’t have to worry about going 1-1 and losing your entire bet. Betting a reverse costs the same as an “if” bet. When making a reverse for $55, you are basically making two bets so it ends up costing the same $110. Let’s look at the different scenarios.
Example: You make a reverse on Baltimore -7 and over 43 in the Jaguars-Panthers game.
Possibility Number 1: You win both games. The Ravens cover the spread and the Jaguars-Panthers game goes over 43 points. Both reverses win the maximum amount. In a reverse for $55, you are basically betting 4 times to win $50. You would win $200 if both legs are a success.
Possibility Number 2: Pittsburgh covers the spread, however the Jaguars-Panthers game goes under 43. You won one leg and lost the other. You have a reverse, one with Pittsburgh first and one with the Jaguars-Panthers over 43 listed first. The one with the Ravens listed first wins, while the second part of the reverse loses. So you lose the first $55 bet and win $50, minus a $5 vig on the second leg of the reverse bet. In a regular “if” bet, the success of your wager would depend on which team you listed first-- which can be a bitter pill to swallow.
Possibility Number 3: Both games lose. Naturally, you lose the entire bet, but you could have probably figured that out for yourself.
The only time there is a difference in the dynamic of a reverse and an “if” wager is when you go 1-1 on your wagers. With an “if” bet, you lose the entire $110 if the first listed bet loses. If the first team wins and the second team does not, you lose only $10. If Team A is a loser, you will lose $55 on one of the reverses right away. If only team B wins, then one part of your reverse bet will have further action. You will earn $50 after wagering $55 for a loss of the $5 vig. With the $55 you lost on the first leg of your reverse, that equals out to a grand loss of $60. So the reverse wager doesn’t save us money or enhance our profit potential when we win each side of the bet. It just basically allows us to not have to sweat so much about which team we listed first on the bet.
