The public are more than just a bunch of people you’ve never met. They’re actually a great handicapping tool you can use to shape your soccer picks. Knowing which side of a matchup they’re heavily backing can give you an edge with your Brazil Serie A predictions.
What is the Sports Betting Consensus for Soccer?
When you bet on any sport, especially football, you can use the general betting public to come up with great betting angles. Seeing which side of any given soccer game the other bettors are taking can help you. The consensus is the number of bets placed at a sportsbook on one club or its opponent, or on the OVER or UNDER aspect of a totals bet.
These predictions are sometimes referred to as betting percentages since they are usually expressed as such. Moreover, consensus picks can give you insight into line movement. Oddsmakers may move the lines closer to game time to give bettors on both sides of the action equal footing.
What Do all the Numbers Mean?
You’ll notice this page contains information on various Brazil Serie A games. The percentages are the actual consensus.
ML Consensus: This is for the moneyline, aka a straight-up bet, and designates which side of the game the public is leaning on.
Odds: These are the actual odds. Basically, the ratio between the amount bet and the expected probability of each side winning or losing.
O/U Consensus: Here, you’ll see the totals numbers and if people are moving toward the OVER or the UNDER.
View Matchup/VS: When you click here, you’ll be taken to the game center for that particular match. There, you’ll get the predicted score, and odds for the favorite, underdog and draw (tie). You’ll also see the odds and bonuses offered at different sportsbooks, team records (home/away, ATS, O/U, points, etc.), and a link to the line history, allowing you to see if the action moved or not.
For example, let’s say Sao Paolo is facing off against Flamengo. The consensus would look like this:
In this scenario, SP is the underdog. You can tell this because of the plus sign (+) beside their ML odds of +305. Flamengo is the favorite. You can see this because of the minus sign (-) next to their ML odds of -112. The majority of the betting public are leaning toward Flamengo winning the game (67 percent) and only 33 percent think Tricolor have a shot at an outright victory.
If you’re on board with the public, and bet $100 on Mengão, and they did win as predicted, you’d get a payout of $189.29 – your $100 comes back coupled with your winnings of $89.29.
In terms of the OVER/UNDER, 30 percent of bettors think the total combined score is going to be three or more goals and 70 percent believe it is going to be two or fewer goals. The last column of odds refers to the totals bets only. So, if you were to wager $100 on the UNDER at +115, you’d get a payout of $215 – your original money is returned along with your winnings of $115.
Our Odds Calculator will show you what you’d win based on the odds offered and amount bet.
What does it Mean to Bet Against the Public?
When you look at Brazil Serie A predictions, and feel like the other bettors are wrong, you don’t have to bet with them. This is called betting against the public or “fading.”
Pretend that bettors are heavily backing Palmeiras against Botafogo. You look at the injury report and see that Verdao’s top goal scorer is out with a hamstring injury. You take a peek at their bench and think there’s no way they can pull out a win, leading you to go against the consensus. If you’re right, you could win big since it’s likely Botafogo is listed at plus money (+) and Palmeiras is at minus money (-).
Wagering on the underdog can prove to be lucrative due to the risk involved. Bets on the favorite are safer but will not net you as much profit. However, it’s important to research your bets and avoid betting on dogs blindly.
How to Use our Brazil Serie A Consensus Picks as a Handicapping Tool
With this betting information at your disposal, you get a snapshot of what’s happening at the soccer sportsbooks. You’ll know which teams are heavily bet on and if people are looking to back the fave or dog. Moreover, you’ll get insight into how many bettors are leaning toward the OVER and UNDER so you can make an informed betting decision.