Betting With An Edge
- Value occurs when you’ve got the upper hand on the bookmakers or the markets. Trademate provides you with what we call an edge percentage, which is an estimate on how much you will profit off that bet. If you place $100 on a 5% edge.
- SBR provides a full range of free betting calculators.Top handicappers regularly use these sorts of tools to give them an edge. The betting odds calculator allows you to input your stake & odds in.
By Noah Holman
Value occurs when you’ve got the upper hand on the bookmakers or the markets. Trademate provides you with what we call an edge percentage, which is an estimate on how much you will profit off that bet. If you place $100 on a 5% edge, you can expect to net profit $100. 5% = $5.
Sports betting has at long last been introduced to the Commonwealth, as nationwide fervent for the industry that was taboo not too long ago has reached a tipping point.[1] The bills to legalize sports betting were approved in April of last year; the Virginia Lottery then accepted applications from 25 sportsbook operators in October.[2] As the DraftKings and FanDuels of the world roll on the momentum, those interested in the sports betting space noticed something somewhat peculiar about the Virginia market in its inception roughly a month ago. FanDuel was granted a license from the Virginia Lottery, the state-appointed gatekeepers of the industry, before anyone else.[3] Although other companies like DraftKings, BetMGM, BetRivers, and others were not far behind in joining the competition,[4] the head start that FanDuel was fortunately granted is an advantage that will likely benefit the sportsbook for years to come. With a huge market of eager-to-wager individuals in Virginia,[5] exerting a monopoly over the opportunity to vie for their business, albeit for a short window, is tremendously valuable even if only a fraction of people downloading the app in its debuting days remain loyal to FanDuel and FanDuel alone.
So, how was FanDuel able to hit the market before anyone else? It all stems from their partnership with the Washington Football Team who has their team facilities and front office in the Commonwealth of Virginia, despite playing games in Landover, Maryland.[6] That relationship gave FanDuel the edge over its competition because the Virginia statute grants “substantial and preferred consideration” to sportsbooks that have a partnership with a regional professional sports team.[7]
The Commonwealth has an interest in catering to professional sports franchises operating in Virginia, which all bring in millions of dollars in commerce and taxes.[8] There is an even more particular focus on currying favor with the Washington Football Team which has been openly discussing its plans to build a new stadium in coming years.[9]Virginia is enticing the historic NFL franchise to build that new stadium in the state through its preferred treatment of FanDuel.[10]
There are of course intersecting issues of technology and law that have come with the emerging gaming industry. While there are plans to build physical casinos and sportsbooks going forward,[11] right now all of the sports betting is taking place through the electronic apps like FanDuel and DraftKings.[12] These apps use geotracking location checks to verify their users are in states like Virginia where sports betting is legalized.[13] As many people are familiar, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) can be used to disguise one’s location and even designate the location to be tunneled to a server in a particular location.[14] While many people use this to access content available in some countries but not others, people could also use the technology for placing bets in states where it is legal from states where it is not.[15] Because the gaming industry is so highly regulated, however, these sportsbooks are employing the most sophisticated software engineers to detect when computers or mobile devices are using such software in an attempt to circumvent the location checks.[16] Of course, as with anything, there will always be people trying to stay one step ahead of the game and find ways around this, a simple Google search or visit to Reddit will show the demand for finding such workarounds,[17] but the sportsbooks are doing what they can to ensure compliance with applicable state law.
Regardless of how you feel about sports betting, some things are for sure. It is here and it is not going anywhere. Demand for it is perhaps higher than ever before with so many people isolated in their homes because of the ongoing COVID pandemic. It is undeniable that this new industry is creating new jobs in both technology and legal sectors. Rising young attorneys should look at this as an opportunity not to be overlooked as firms are racing to establish practices in the booming industry and without any precedent in this new industry, more senior and established attorneys do not have the same advantage they would typically have over young attorneys fresh out of law school. Life is too short to bet the under, but I would be reluctant to take the over on the average age of attorneys that will come to dominate this new area of law in the next decade.
[1]See Matt Bonesteel, Sports Betting Kicks Off in Virginia After State Awards Permit to FanDuel, Wash. Post. (Jan. 21, 2021, 2:56 PM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/01/21/fanduel-virginia-sports-betting/.
[2] SportsHandle, Virginia Sports Betting – Where to Play, Online Sportsbooks and Bonus Offers, https://sportshandle.com/virginia/.
[3]See, e.g., Matthew Water, Secretive Virginia Sports Betting Rollout Trickles on With BetMGM Launch, Legal Sports Report (Jan. 26, 2021), https://www.legalsportsreport.com/47571/virginia-sports-betting-betmgm-launch/.
[4]See SportsHandle, Virginia Sports Betting – Where to Play, Online Sportsbooks and Bonus Offers, https://sportshandle.com/virginia/.
[5] Bonesteel, supra note 1 (“With the 12th-largest population in the United States, Virginia is seen as a lucrative market for sports gambling . . . .”).
[6]See, e.g., Adam Candee, Surprise: Virginia Sports Betting Live After Thursday Launch, Legal Sports Report (Jan. 21, 2021), https://www.legalsportsreport.com/47387/virginia-sports-betting-launch-date/; Dann Stupp, FanDuel Sportsbook Live and Taking Wagers in Virginia, Play Virginia (Jan. 21, 2021), https://www.playvirginia.com/fanduel-sportsbook-jan-21-launch/.
[7]See, e.g., Candee, supra note 6; Stupp, supra note 6; Bonesteel, supra note 1.
[8]See Michael Phillips, FanDuel Launches Virginia Sports Betting in Partnership with Washington Football Team; Move Is Seen as Enticement for a New Stadium, Richmond Times Dispatch (Jan. 21, 2021), https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/fanduel-launches-virginia-sports-betting-in-partnership-with-washington-football-team-move-is-seen-as/article_acef416b-76ea-56c1-a752-7cee9eb2e156.html.
[9]Id.
[10]Id.
[11] Matthew Waters, New Virginia Sports Betting Bill Adds Items It Meant to Add Last Year, Legal Sports Report (Jan. 19, 2021), https://www.legalsportsreport.com/47278/new-virginia-sports-betting-bill-licenses/.
[12] Phillips, supra note 8.
[13] Jill R. Dorson, The Total Dummy’s Guide to Sports Betting Geolocation Technology, SportsHandle (Apr. 1, 2019), https://sportshandle.com/geolocation-mobile-sports-betting/.
[14] Aimee O’Driscoll, Best VPNs for Gambling: How to Access Betting Websites Abroad, Comparitech (Nov. 27, 2020), https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/vpn-betting-gambling-abroad/.
[15]Id.
Betting With An Edge Maloney
[16]Id.
[17]See, e.g., u/throwawayyyy9828, [Serious] VPN for betting without letting betting sites know, Reddit (Dec. 14, 2020, 6:45 PM), https://www.reddit.com/r/sportsbook/comments/kd9q54/serious_vpn_for_betting_without_letting_betting/; u/Peepsalicious, Using FanDuel w/ a VPN, Reddit (Aug. 13, 2018, 5:47 PM), https://www.reddit.com/r/dfsports/comments/972io0/using_fanduel_w_a_vpn/.
Betting With An Edge By Mike Maloney
Image Source: https://novacapsfans.com/2021/01/21/report-sports-betting-to-launch-in-virginia-on-thursday/.