Betting on Football First Half Lines
by Bodog Sportsbook | Jul 17 2007
How many times has the team you wagered on staked out a decent lead, only to let it slip away in the second half? If you have never tried betting on First Half lines you are missing a valuable tool from your wagering arsenal.
Books offer first half wagering for the simple purpose of increasing handle. The more you bet, the more (hopefully) the book earns. There is not much secret in how First Half lines are derived - generally it just the pointspread for the game cut in half with a half-point to full-point adjustment against the favorite.
It is very easy to find a team's total points for and against for the season as a total. Every newspaper and major sports website provides this readily. What is tougher to find is a team's points for and against by Half.
Another stat is a comparison if a team's First Half performance relative to it's Second Half performance. Again, not a system by any means, but something that bears watching to make you a more profitable bettor.
In summary, it is worth your time to track all teams' performance by Half and look for inconsistencies in the First Half line. Take this with a grain of salt though as it is very easy to pick winners the day after the games are played.
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