Odds Boost - Everything You Need To Know

What are odds boosts?

Posted on July 20, 2021
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When you’re betting, whether it be on traditional sports or digital esports, every penny matters. Therefore, it makes sense that you’ll want to take advantage of every bonus and offer you can find. These days, many sportsbooks (and esportsbooks) offer an odds boost on many markets and wagers. However, we’re here today to break down that concept, learn what an odds boost is, and figure out how to take advantage of them.

What Is An Odds Boost?

An odds boost isn’t a welcome bonus, but a benefit offered (most commonly) to members of a given site. With an odds boost, the sportsbook essentially pushes the wager in favour of the bettor. When you place a traditional bet, the ‘house’ will manipulate the odds in order to make a profit. This concept is known as ‘vig’.

However, an odds boost works by either reducing the vig dramatically or removing it entirely. Therefore, the bettor benefits more than the house, should the bet be successful. Of course, it’s a little more complex than that, but that’s the basic understanding.

For example, any sportsbooks or esportsbook could offer boosted odds on a specific event or fixture. They can offer boosted odds on a single market, or across a prop bet, accumulator, or a spread. If there was a soccer match being played, the market with the odds boost might be as follows:

Cristiano Ronaldo scores two goals, Portugal takes five corners, and Portugal wins the match.

As it’s a rather complex bet with a lot of caveats, there isn’t a huge risk in the house boosting the odds.

ggbet-boosted-odds
Image Credit: GG.bet

Why Do Bookmakers Offer Odds Boosts?

It all comes down to psychology, and the nature of humans always wanting more. There’s a reason sales and offers are so popular, and an odds boost works the same way. If someone sees that they could potentially get more for less, they’re almost always going to jump at the deal.

Furthermore, an inexperienced bettor is more likely to see the potential payout than they are the terms of the odds boost. As we’ve highlighted, there can often be many terms, attributes, or caveats to an odds boost bet. It isn’t like picking an outright winner for a match – there can often be several steps involved.

However, if the bet is successful and the bettor wins big, they’re much more likely to bet on another odds boost market in the future.

Who Offers Boosted Odds For Esports

Let’s not talk about only traditional sports, but also esports odds. There are many platforms that offer odds boosts for esports tournaments and matches, but the most popular is Betway. On Betway, you can find daily boosted odds for titles like League of Legends, DOTA 2, and CSGO.

At the time of writing this article, we found odds boosts on Betway for League of Legends. In the two most-played markets, Betway offered boosts on wagers that required two teams in separate matches to win. These can be tricky boosted bets to play, as in most cases, the house will select a strong team to win, and a weak team to win.

Therefore, it’s a measured boost – but still a potentially high-paying one nonetheless. To learn more about this particular platform, check out our Betway review.

betway-odds-boost
Image Credit: Betway

How To Find Boosted Odds

On most betting platforms, the odds boosts are made visible right from the homepage. On Betway, for example, they’re listed in the sidebar and the top header as ‘Betway Boosts’. They’re clearly marked and very easy to find – and this is the case with most sportsbooks and esportsbooks.

It’s worth bearing in mind that these boosted odds will change from day to day. In fact, some platforms – like Betway – will offer one super boost every day, which offers a massively advantageous set of odds to the bettor. This is the same if you’re focusing on esports betting.

Grant Taylor-Hill Avatar
Written by
Grant Taylor-Hill

Grant is a lifelong, multi-platform gamer with a passion for journalism and more than ten years' experience in the industry. He'll try any game once, and when he's not playing them, he's watching them, being as he is an avid esports fan.

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