In almost every write up or pick published, I will refer to value in some form or another. I am often asked by readers, what exactly is value? Or, what do you mean when you refer to value? Quite simply and in my way of thinking, locating value is handicapping and handicapping is locating value. Let me expound on this for a moment, as it is a tremendously important concept to understand.

Maybe it will help to first look at the dictionary definition of this term; both as a noun and verb. online sport book

Value, Noun – An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return.

Value, Verb- To estimate the value, or worth, of; to rate at a certain price; to appraise; to reckon with respect to number, power, importance, etc.

To further translate value, it may also help to look at how it relates to other disciplines I deem similar to sports betting at an online sport book.

Numerous individuals use the purchase and sale of common stock as an investment vehicle. Moreover, many of the most successful equity investors of all time buy strictly on a value basis. What all value investors seek are stocks trading below their intrinsic value. Their are various methods of determining value for a company, but primarily it is items such as cash in its bank account, its plant and equipment, the inventory in its warehouses, the land it occupies, etc. Quite simply, if a value investor can find a dollar worth of assets selling for 50 cents, he will buy.

Most will agree that to be a successful value investor, one must possess an accurate method for valuing a company and nerves of steel. I would add also that a true value investor must have the uncanny ability to dig deeper into the details of a company’s assets than the novice investor. This individual is then able to locate value in areas others may not, such as the book value per share or some other unique valuing model.

Most real estate investors are also seeking value. When one spots a property, he or she will consider many different aspects. These considerations all assist the individual in determining whether or not the deal is worthwhile. Aspects such comparable prices in the neighborhood, price per square foot of the property, curb appeal, condition of the property, location of the property, what sort of school district the property is in, etc.

In sum and similar to a value investor in the stock market, a successful value seeker in the real estate market possesses his or her own valuing model or system. This set of criteria helps to establish comparative value, which in turn assists in making sound investment decisions.

Finding value is not limited to investing. After all, my mother in law is the bargain shopper of all bargain shoppers. She has an excellent sense and system for finding rock bottom prices for groceries, cars, hotels, etc. Again, it is a matter of determining how price equates to the goods or services returned. If Store A does not sell pantyhose at a decent value, then it is on to Store B or Store C or the Internet or a catalog, etc.

By now, one must wonder how all of this relates to sports handicapping?

In my opinion, all good handicappers are really just odds makers. In other words, the handicapping process is a simple matter of using ones own system or set of criteria to determine price. And price in the world of sports betting is the point spread or the money line.

In other words, how price relates to the fundamental match up, how price relates recent team trends, etc. Often value however has less to do with actual handicapping aspects and more to do with sentiment. Since the public likes betting the better team or good teams, odds makers place a higher price tag on them. In turn, odds makers will price the poor teams more cheaply to entice action.

Take for example this year’s regular season NBA. The two very best values in the entire league were Golden State and the New York Knicks. In fact, the Warriors were an awesome 46-33-3 ATS for the season and New York was an even stronger 49-30-3 ATS on the season. An important aspect to note is that neither of these clubs made the playoffs and neither had a straight up winning record. One of the most imperative aspects of gambling is that good doesn’t always equal good value.

Despite the Warriors tremendous performance in relation to the point spread, the odds makers continually under priced them all the way to the end of the year. This is most likely because Golden State was competitive, but did not win an abundance of games outright and possessed a losing record for most of the season. Since Golden State did not have a winning record, the public still perceived them as an NBA doormat simply because that is the position they had occupied in so many years previous.

The New York Knicks were a similar story. They were extremely competitive, but did not win an abundance of games straight up and possessed a losing record for the entire season. What compounded this dynamic was the fact New York started the year on a painful cold streak. The betting public’s dissemination of this data led them to automatically assume the Knicks were a bad bet.

If you subscribe to our Morning NBA Report, a day did not go by where we failed to mention the value of betting Golden State and New York. Similarly, a day did not go by that we failed to mention how overvalued Washington and Dallas were. That’s right; the Wizards and Maverick’s were two of the very worst bets in the NBA this season. And if you understand value, this should come as no surprise.

My long time readers may remember the article I published when Jordan first announced he was coming back to the NBA. This is actually a quote from that article, “we will be looking to fade Washington at every opportunity possible as they no doubt will be overvalued based on Jordan’s return.”

The rational is simple. The public loves Michael Jordan and since the betting public at large bets with their heart rather than their mind, that fondness translates into unwarranted and excessive action on the Wizards. Why do you think TNT aired the Wizards at very opportunity possible despite the fact Washington was a mediocre team at best? People want to watch Jordan, just as people want to bet on Jordan. This leads to an odds maker shade of the Wizard’s lines to entice action on the opposing side. As such, the inherent value resides in betting against Washington which was more than evidenced by their astonishing league worst 32-49-1 ATS mark last season.

Dallas, who subsequently had the second best record in the entire NBA, was wallet breaking 37-45 ATS during the regular season. In my opinion, the Maverick’s were overvalued simply because of their incredible 14-0 straight up and 11-3 ATS run to start the season. It works like this. The betting public watched how unstoppable Dallas was to start the year. This idea became firmly ingrained in their collective mind. The one sided action led to higher numbers posted on Dallas and lower Dallas value. Eventually, Dallas cannot play well enough to cover the lofty imposts and a disastrous point spread mark ensues.

Why do you think the defending Super Bowl Champions are always such a poor bet the year follow their title run? It is simply because they are overvalued. If you have not guessed by now, the point of his whole diatribe is to explain what I mean by value and why I believe it is so important.

It is also important to differentiate between knowing about value and being able to find value. After all, they are completely different animals. Quite simply, one of my primary definitions of a good handicapper is one who is able to consistently beat the point spread over a protracted amount of time by finding value via his or her methodologies and systems.

As always, it is worth mentioning that nothing in the world of sports betting is foolproof. Value betting does not win everyday and can go on prolonged cold streaks just like anything else. Not too long ago, I watched in complete dismay NFL Favorites cash at a 65% clip over the span of a few months. Anyone that knows anything about NFL capping understands that the value is with the dogs as Joe Public does nothing but bet favorites. Proper order was finally restored but it does go to show that any sort of theory will have its ups and downs along the way.

In sum, value as it pertains to sports betting is about finding teams that are under priced in relation to their expected win rate. If you are adept at finding good prices or uncovering undervalued opportunities; you stand an excellent chance of being a prosperous handicapper.