How good is OddsJam? In a word: Very!
I’ve been an OddsJam user for a few years now. It started casually, but about eight months ago, I started a push to see if I could make it a profitable side hustle. It has worked out well.
Today I am interviewing myself. This is the first in a series of interviews with successful OddsJam users.
If you read through my other posts here, you’ll get more information about my journey with OddsJam. However, the journey to successful (long-term profitable) sports betting is just that, a journey. Enjoy the read.
Background
Q: What initially drew you to sports betting?
I have always been a bit of a gambler. It is just something that I grew up with. It was never a big thing and I never risk more than I can afford to lose. Mostly it was for fun. Then for a while, I was looking a lot at data science and AI and I started to stumble across these research papers that all seem to investigate sports betting as an application of their modelling. From there, I started to look at sports betting as a potentially profitable side hustle.
Q: How long have you been betting, and how has your approach evolved over time?
I’ve been betting since I was in high school. The son of the PE teacher ran a weekly NFL pool. Back then it was just make your picks on paper and get them to him before the end of Friday. This was well before cell phones, let alone apps, for all of it. I won a few times and that was a real boost for my betting ego.
From there it continued to the foolish massive parlays through the provincial (I grew up in Canada) sports lottery. I’d put in a weekly $2 or $5 bet trying to pick the winner or the over/under of every NFL game. I came close to hitting a few times missing by a few legs.
Now I know a lot more. I know about arbs, +EV (expected value/value betting), middles, line shopping, parlays, etc. and I’m much better off with the knowledge I have no
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a sports bettor? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge initially was how to consistently find an edge. Without an edge, you are not going to be profitable. I mentioned before reading research papers – trying to learn from Masters and PhD thesis work. There is a lot to learn there, but pulling all the pieces together was going to take me a long time. I’d have to learn some more skills to get a setup that was automated and manageable in the long term.
There was also getting a bankroll together. I didn’t want it to interfere with anything else (life can be expensive) and I never risk more than I can afford to lose. I wanted to give things a try, but sensibly and sustainably.
Finding software that found the edge, tracked my bets, tracked my bankroll, gave bet sizes, and was easy to use changed things for me. In my case, OddsJam ticks all of those boxes.
Strategy
Q: Can you walk us through your typical process for finding and placing a bet?
Finding bets is easy, I just fire up OddsJam and look at the feed for profitable bets. After that, I place my bets for the day.
Typically, I’m up early in the morning (I’m in New Zealand so the time difference for the major North American leagues is big) and place all the bets that I can. I try to keep it to 20 minutes or less. Sure I’d like to get more bets in, but you’d be surprised how many bets you can place in 20 minutes. If I get a chance again before my wife and I do the daycare drop-off and head to work, I get a few more bets placed.
On the weekends, I start early but keep placing bets throughout the day if I’m at home. I don’t let it get in the way of time with my wife and kids or anything else I like to do. Balance is key.
Q: What are some of the key factors you consider when making a bet?
I generally just use the OddsJam default filters. I’ve had consistent results using OddsJam and so have come to trust their algorithm for finding an edge.
Some books I use do have low limits on player props, so I try to keep my bets lower than those limits. That is partly to avoid drawing attention to myself and to make the betting process quicker.
Q: Risk management is crucial in sports betting. How do you manage your bankroll and avoid chasing losses?
I use the Kelly Criterion (it is built into OddsJam and explained here: Kelly Criterion in Sports Betting), for my bankroll management using either 0.2 or 0.25 Kelly because almost all (99%+) of my bets are +EV plays. It makes it easy and it helps smooth out the ups and downs.
Chasing losses? I’ve had a few rough spots where it feels like you can’t win a bet and the negative variance monster comes to even things out. You have to expect that though. Keep calm and carry on. I can say that now, but it does come with experience.
With +EV betting (value betting), you know the expected long-term outcome. So, if you’ve had a big positive swing, you know you will either slow down for a bit or you might have a massive pull-back.
But equally, when you are in a rough patch you have to trust the process. Use Kelly for bet sizing and just keep going.
Want to learn more about profitable sports betting? Check out all the ways you can make money in sports betting in this article: All The Ways to Make Money Sports Betting
Success
Q: What are some of your most memorable wins (or learning experiences) as a sports bettor?
I’m constantly learning. It is just part of life. (I am a teacher after all.) I do remember reading about using the Kelly Criterion for bet sizing. Recognizing that this was developed for financial markets, which is what sports betting markets are, was powerful. Recognizing that the team behind OddsJam has a solid background in finance is not surprising.
The really good months always stand out, but so should the really bad months. The returns are good, but you can’t expect to win every bet.
Oh, and there was that time when a book really messed up and I managed to find a +EV bet with an edge of over 80% and I hit it! I couldn’t tell you what the bet was or how much I won, although I remember the book capped the bet at about $9.
Q: You are a profitable sports bettor. What are you hoping to do with your winnings?
I’m just trying to build some extra cash to help pay off the mortgage quicker. My wife and I have two little ones at home and we’d love to get rid of the mortgage to give us the flexibility to spend more time with our kids.
Q: Where do you see the future of sports betting heading? Are there any new trends or opportunities you’re excited about?
I’m not sure. It is a bit wild how quickly all of this has come about. I’m still very restricted with the books I can use here in New Zealand and I’d love to get access to some of the bigger books available in the US.
I’ve looked into some different Discord servers that keep talking about using AI and machine learning to find an edge. I’m curious to know how well some of those would work.
I haven’t found one yet that has published enough verifiable results to know if they are profitable long-term. Still, it could be very interesting to see where they end up. It almost feels like an arms race between us bettors and the books.
Q: For someone interested in getting started with sports betting, what’s the most important advice you would give them?
First, never risk more than you can afford to lose. Ever!
Second, learn lots before you get started. Understand the difference between the types of bets you can make. Know about bet sizing. Just be well-informed before you get going to make it as smooth as a start as possible.
Third, start small. Until you are comfortable and quick at placing the bets you find at the books you are using, keep things small.
Fourth, take full advantage of the sign-up bonuses. This is a great way to boost your initial bankroll, which is always a positive.
Last, unless you know your edge, don’t make the bet. This is all about being able to define and quantify your edge. ‘Tipsters’ and ‘pickers’ might sound great, but what is their long-term profitability? And I’m talking over thousands of bets. I know that OddsJam works because I know the math behind +EV betting and because I have literally placed thousands of bets using their software and there is no way I’d be profitable if those bets didn’t have an edge.
Thanks
Thanks for following along with this interview. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the journey and can put some of those tips to good use with your own sports betting.
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