How To Hedge a Bet: Definitive Guide for Bettors

Hedging is a sports betting strategy that allows punters to reduce risk or guarantee a profit by covering multiple outcomes of an event. In this article, we’ll explain how to 🐼hedge a bet and master this savvy approach to sports betting.

Explore this page with our Table of Contents

ON THIS PAGE

1. 1 What Is Hedging a Bet: Quickly Explained
2. 2 Hedging a Bet Example
3. 3 How To Hedge a Sports Bet
4. 4 When Is the Best Time To Hedge a Bet?
5. 5 How To Hedge a Parlay Bet
6. 6 How To Hedge a Moneyline Bet
7. 7 Hedging Bet Tips & Strategies
8. 8 Pros & Cons of Hedging a Bet
9. 9 What Iജs the Difference Between He꧟dge Betting & Arbitrage Betting?
10. 10 ThePuntersPage Final Say
11. 11 FAQs

What Is Hedging a Bet: Quickly Explained

Hedging a bet is a technique for mitigating risk or locking in a p💖rofit on a stake. It entails making a s⛦econd bet that partially cancels out your initial wager. Consider it as a type of insurance.

You place the first bet but subsequently place an opposing wager, which can be done at a later date for futures or during the game for moneyline, total, and spread hedges. By d🎶oing so🙈, even if your first wager loses, you won't come out with a complete loss. Yet, hedging usually means that you won't make as much profit if the original wager ends up a winner.

Hedging is a key concept to understand and should be a small part of a well-rounded betting strategy. Before signing up for a legal U.S. bookmaker, you should know the basics of wagering,🌱 including how to hedge properly. It can help you preserve your bankroll and make the correct decisions to ensure profits in different scenarios.

This technique is very commonly associated with futures thanks to long odds being available before seasons or tournaments begin. The opportunity to hedge the opponent in the final is a simplไe process which we’ll dive into later on. Hedging calculators are also an excellent tool to use when figuring out amounts to hedge.

Hedging a Bet Example

Let’s say you own a $100 futures ticket on the San Francisco 49ers (+600) to win the Super Bowl. You placed it prior to the season, and if iဣ✨t wins, you’ll take home $600 along with your $100 stake.

San Francisco reaches the Su🎐per Bowl and is set to face the Kansas City Chiefs (+100). If you want to guarantee a profit, you could hedge your bet by placing a wager on the Chiefs.

For instance, if you wagered (hedged) $200 onꦏ Kansas City (+100) and it was victorious, you’d walk away with $400 ($200 stake plus the $200 payout) minus your $100 bet on the 49ers, for a total profit of $100.

In the case that San Francisco wins (which is obviously the outcomeꦐ you’d prefer), and you made the $200 hedge bet on Kansas City, you’d walk away with a $400 profit.

If you didn’t h🅰edge and let your 49ers ticket ride with San Francisco triumphant, you’d profit $600 and get your original stake of $100 back, receiving $700 in total.

If you don’t hedge and Kansas City wins, you’ll lose your $100 initial wager on the 49ers and be down $🌺100 in your bankroll after the result.

This is just an example. We’re not advising yo♕u to place a specific amount on either team or detailing how much to hedge. That depends on a number o🌠f factors, including how much profit you want to ensure, your bankroll, and your confidence level in the 49ers or Chiefs.

How To Hedge a Sports Bet

While this scenario works for any bookmaker, let's take a step-by-step look at how to hedge a bet on FanDuel. W🦩e’re using a generic example of the Copa America and aren’t making any recommendations in terms of quantities.

1. Visit a Sportsbook & Create an Account

Once you're at a bookie of your choice (preferably with the best possible odds), enter your personal information and verify y🌞our location.

2. Make a Deposit

Choose your preferred deposit method, select a bonus, a♎nd make the deposit.

3. Place a Futures Bet

Make a futures wager after performing in-depth research, so you are well-informed. We’ll use a scenario where you bet on C🐷olombia at +1300 before the Copa America.

4. Hedge Your Bet

If the team you bet on reaches the final, you’ll likely want to hedge your bet. Since Colombia has reached the final, you would hedge your bet by betting on its opponent, Argen🌌tina, to either guarantee a profit or break even if Colombia were to lose. This way, you aren’t in the negative column. However, if Colombia wins, you’ll obviously return a larger profit.

When Is the Best Time To Hedge a Bet?

The follꦫowing scenarios include some of the best times to hedge:

How To Hedge a Parlay Bet

Now that we've discussed hꦅedging parlays, take a look at the example below.

You placed the following parlay with four legs:

The first three legs with Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Seattle were all successful, but you need New York to w🐭in or the entire wager will be graded as a loss. To hedge, you would bet on the New York Liberty’s opponent — which, in this case, is the Connecticut Sun at +220.

The amount is up to you; however, in the scenario that you were confident in the Liberty but wanted to at least come out with a slight profit if they lose, you could w🦩ager $50 to win $110.

♍ It would pay you $160 total with $60 in profit since you’d deduct the $50 stake from the lost parlay. If the parlay was successful and you hedged, you’d profit $377.74 by subtracting the $50 hedge.

How To Hedge a Moneyline Bet

Hedging a moneyline beꦦt usually requires you to wager on a game live.

𝔉Let’s say you bet on the Dallas Cowboys at -110 odds ($110 wins $100) against the New York Giants.

The Cowboys’ starting quarterback, Dak Prescott, gets hurt in the first quarter while the 𒈔team is up 7-0 and is ruled out for the game. You believe the Cowboys will lose because the backup quarterback's skill level has dropped drastically compared to Pres꧒cott’s. The Giants are +125 live, so you hedge by betting $100 to win $125 ($225 in total, including stake and payout) on them to win.

In this scenario, if the Cowboys went on to win, you’d win $100 and even out, which essentially cancels out b♛oth bets. If the Giants won, you’d win $125 and profit a total of $25 since you ꧑subtract your $100 first stake on Dallas.

The hedge serves as a safety nꦐet if you had let your initial bet ride and the Cowboys lost (you would have ♉lost $100).

It’s important to remember that you can use a hedge calculator in scen🅘arios like this as well. These are just examples and we aren’t recommending a certain amount of mone𝄹y to be wagered.

Hedging Bet Tips & Strategies

The tips and 𝄹s𓂃trategies below should be used in a well-developed betting and hedging strategy.

• Choose the Right Markets: Bet types are imperative when hedging. Futures present the simplest scenario to hedge, with teams having much higher odds, although it is difficult for the team to reach the championship or final. Moneylines and totals can be trickier🦄 to hedge depending on the situation, and are usually hedged live. Large lin🌜e movements do occur sometimes, allowing you to hedge before the event begins.

• Compare Odds: Always make sure to odds shop across 🐼different websites when bettin❀g and hedging. One sportsbook can offer better odds for your futures bet, and if the opportunity presents itself to hedge later in the tournament, moneyline odds will be different across bookmakers.

• Use Tools and Implied Probability: Using tools such as a hedging calculator can make things a lot easier when hedging. Also, make sure♔ to calculate the implied probability of a team winning when considering how much you’re going to hedge in certain instances.

• Be Practical about Limiting Your Losses: Being practical is essential because you aren’t always going to be able to lock in a profit or even out. If you think the team you initially wagered on is doomed, and betting on the opponent offers a small loss, take it rather than losing your ful🍬l stake of the initial wager.

• Hedge Parlays: As eye-popping as the parlay payout appears, if you’re one leg away from hitting a massive payout, don’t let your pride get in the way. Hedge that last leg. It’s up to yo🦋u to determine the amount. A hedging calculator can be clutch in such situations.

Pros & Cons of Hedging a Bet

Just🦹 about every betting strategy has positives and negatives surrounding it. Let’s take a look at both in terms of hedging.

What Is the Difference Between Hedge Betting & Arbitrage Betting?

Hedging and arbitrage wagering both entail several wagers but 🍌aim for separate outcomes. Hedging tries to reduce risk on an existing bet by placing a counter bet. Arbitrage betting takes advantage of price disparities between bookmakers to ensure a small amount of profit, regardless of the match's outcome.

We’ll use the MLB All-Star game as an example. The scenario will include odds from FanDuel (pictured below) for the American League and hypothetical DraftKings odds for the National League.

This is a basic example of arbitrage betting exploiting differences in lines to co🥀llect a small profit. Remember, 𓄧these opportunities are hard to find and bookies are known for limiting accounts if they suspect you’re employing the strategy.

ThePuntersPage Final Say

Hedging is a sports betting strategy that must be used in certain scenarios and as part of a well-thought-out, multifaceted betting strategy. As a punter, you shouldn’t be placing bets or signing up for legal bookies without having knowledge of how to properly hedge a be💫t. Remember to use tools such as a hedging calculator and to wager responsibly.