What Is Courtsiding in Sports Betting?
Betting opportunities don’t stop after the game has started with sportsbooks that offer live betting. This allows you to wager on a match while it is happening. Betting odds need to be updated as the match goes on and that can be a difficult task for sportsbooks.
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What is courtsiding?
Courtsiding is attending an event that you plan to bet on. As the match progresses, you place live bets from the event. Being at the event allows you to have information about it before sportsbooks do. This gives you a huge advantage against them.
How to use it to your advantage?
Sportsbooks that offer live betting have to keep updating their odds as fast as they can. Officials at the event have to record what happens in the game. That data is electronically sent to sportsbooks or data companies that sportsbooks use to update their live odds. While the technology behind this is great and sportsbooks are efficient at updating live odds, there is still a slight delay. Using that slight delay it takes for the odds to update is the advantage courtsiders have over the sportsbook. For example, let’s say you are at a Warriors basketball game and Steph Curry hits a three. If you can fire off a bet on the Warriors before the sportsbook changes their odds, you’ve made a really nice bet. This is a very profitable strategy if a courtsider knows what to bet and can get their bets off quick enough.
Is it legal?
While sportsbooks certainly wish it wasn’t, courtsiding is technically legal. It’s highly frowned upon but courtsiding isn’t breaking any laws. Sportsbooks combat this by tracking your betting behavior and if they notice a pattern that suggests you are courtsiding, they have the right to ban you from wagering. Stadiums also do their best to crack down on it and you could get kicked out if they notice.
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Whether you’re new to sports betting or a betting pro, our How To Bet and Sports Betting Strategy and Advice pages are for you. You can get started with our How To Section — including How to Avoid the 7 Biggest Sports Betting Mistakes — or head to more advanced strategy — like Thinking Like an Expert Sports Bettor — to learn more.