All online gambling sites try to attract new customers by luring them with special perks. One way online sportsbooks catch the eyes of new bettors is by offering sign up or reload bonuses. Some even offer player rewards or refer-a-friend bonuses. The main objective of the bonuses is to boost a player's bankroll with "free cash". Another way to attract new bettors is by offering reduced juice. Reduced juice is not a bonus or free credits, but instead, with it bettors get better odds for specific events. In other words, with reduced juice betting, bettors get improved odds on sports like football and basketball, therefore, they risk less and win more money compared to the standard model.
There is a lot of confusion and misconception about the concept of reduced juice in online sports betting. Some bettors don't really understand what it means; others believe that reduced juice betting is only for high roller bettors. But, in reality, this type of betting is very powerful tool and it can be pretty valuable to all sport bettors. Therefore, read on to familiarize with this concept and how it works. In addition, sign up and benefit from reduced juice betting at the recommended online sportsbooks.
What is Reduced Juice?
To closely explain what reduced juice is, let's consider the industry standard juice which is -110 for a point spread bet. The juice is the fee a sportsbook charges you for betting, therefore, if you plan to take a normal juice, you need to risk $110 to win $100. The extra $10 or 10% is the profit of the sportsbook.
With reduced juice, bettors can make the same point spread bet and lay -105 or less. In comparison, at -110 the breakeven point over a long term is 52.39%, while at -105, the breakeven point is reduced to just over 51% or exactly 51.22%. This means that at -110 you have to win more in order to break even than with the reduced juice of -105. This is why reduced juice is considered as a valuable tool. At online sportsbooks that offer reduced juice with the same handicapping and betting performance, it is a lot easier to get your wagering bankroll in to the black.
Wagering Examples
Let's say a sportsbook offers -105 reduced juice. When making 20 bets and risking $100 each at -110, if you win half and lose half, you earn $909.09 and lose $1,000. If you do the same but using the -105 reduced juice, you will win $952.81 and lose $1,000. The win difference is $43.72. Another way to look at it is if you were risking the standard bookmaker's $110 to win $100 and won half of your bets you would win 1000 and lose 1100 for a total loss of $100. If you placed the exact same wager at a sports book that offered a -105 line, you'd win $1000 and lose $1050 for a total loss of $50. That is a $50 difference in just 20 moderate sized bets. What if you bet $1000 a game? The number would be $500. What if you bet one hundred point spread wagers in a year or a season? The number would be $2500.
The Advantages of Reduced Juice Betting
The biggest advantage of reduced juice betting is that you win more money and risk less. With it you can wager at less than the traditional -110 lines and win more. Therefore, if you are an active bettor, this type of betting can save you money over a long period of time. In addition, compared to some bonus offers, the reduced juice is not limited in scope, therefore, in most cases, it is far superior than the standard bonus.
Best Sportsbooks for Reduced Juice
There are a number of online sportsbooks that offer reduced juice. Two popular, fully licensed, reputable and safe sportsbooks are listed below.
5Dimes
5Dimes is another great online sportsbook also established in 1998. The site is licensed in Costa Rica and besides sports betting, it also offers other forms of online gambling such as casino, poker, lottery, live dealer and racebook. 5Dimes also offers excellent reduce juice. While the standard model requires bettors to risk $110 for every $100 they want to win, with the reduced juice of 5Dimes bettors risk less and win more. They can bet reduced juice on sports like NFL, NCAA football and basketball, Canadian football, NBA, MLB, WNBA, MMA, NHL, PGA golf, boxing, grand slam tennis and other special events. The promotional lines for reduced juice range from $1 to $500. The sportsbook offers reduced juice on football and basketball at -105 pricing. This means that bettors get -105 odds when wagering $105 to win $100. Therefore, they get 50% discount when compared to standard -110 odds. 5Dimes also offers 5-cent overnight money lines on MLB.
Pinnacle Sports
Established in 1998, Pinnacle Sports is one of the largest Internet sportsbooks located on the island of Curacao. When it started trading, most of the online sportsbooks were offering standard bonuses to attract new customers. Instead of offering welcome or reload bonuses, Pinnacle Sports introduced the reduced juice model. It started offering -105 and-104 prices on head-to-head match odds and spreads, lowering the standard model of -110. The sportsbook began offering overnight reduced juice lines with smaller limits which enabled it to shape its lines according to the frequency of betting of sharp bettors. With the reduced juice, Pinnacle Sports gained the confidence to offer betting limits that go up to $50,000 or more on particular games.