Sportsbook Bets: Halftime Wagering – Betting on the Second Half of a Game
by Predictem.com Staff
One of the most strategic forms of betting is halftime wagering. A halftime wager is a bet that only includes what happens in the second half. It’s as if there was no first half and the game is starting fresh. The bet uses the posted spread and includes overtime as well.
There are many reasons for a halftime bet to have tremendous value to you as a bettor. Let’s examine those a bit closer.
1. Unlike a regular “side bet” or straight wager, your betting the game at the half, not the start of the game. When betting a game before it’s started your going on handicapping, a hypothesis and hoping for some luck and the ball to bounce your way.
When betting at the half, you’ve already had the opportunity to see what the flow of the game is, which players are shutting down their opponent on the defensive end and how each team’s chemistry is playing out when matched against their opponent. This isn’t to say that what happened in the first half will happen in the second half though. In fact, often times just the opposite happens. A coach goes into the locker room and makes adjustments so the team comes out in the second half with a new strategy or approach to the game if their down or not taking advantage of weaknesses that a good coach will spot. Note: Get to know coaches. They definitely factor into sports handicapping.
2. Another great reason to bet halftime wagers is because there’s so many games going on and a halftime is so short that the bookie doesn’t have the time to cover all his bases hence second half lines can be weak and if so, exploited. Often times player injuries and in-game issues are not known to the bookie and you can use this info to get the upper hand against him.
3. Yet another reason we’re in love with halftime wagering is many books set their own lines and scalps/middles (arbitrage) can be found. We’ve actually seen second half lines where one sports book is offering -2 while another is offering -6. Simple take the -2 at the low spread book and +6 at the other and you have yourself a nice four point middle which covers some great key numbers!
4. Another angle we love to exploit is a GOOD home team down at the half with a reasonable spread attached to them to cover the second half. Most teams are very defensive about losing on their home turf so will have extra motivation to not only come back and make a game of it but win convincingly after a good pep talk from a GOOD coach during the half. Keep in mind the spread can’t be too large though otherwise the value here is nil.
5. Conversely, when a team is up big at the half, it often times gets lazy and gives back a bunch of points. Its human nature to slow down when your up and speed up when your down. Teams that are up often times are a favorite for the second half when they flat out shouldn’t be. An astute sports bettor with a lot of experience in watching and betting on games can easily pick off good value with a second half underdog play when the bet should have been a favorite. A situation in which we like to call “wrong team favored.”
Almost all online sportsbooks offer you the ability to bet on the second half of a football or basketball game. If yours doesn’t, we recommend you take a look at our best sportsbooks list.