How to compare prop odds across sportsbooks (line shopping)

Two bettors make the exact same pick. One pays -120 and the other pays -105. Over a long stretch, the second bettor is meaningfully ahead, and all they did was look at one more screen before tapping bet.

That's line shopping: same bet, better price. For props, where books disagree more often than on main lines, it's one of the cheapest edges available.

What a few cents of price is worth

Say you think a player goes over 24.5 points 52% of the time. Per $100 staked, here's the expected result at three different prices:

• -115: break-even is 53.49%, so you lose about $2.78 per bet on average.
• -110: break-even is 52.38%, so you lose about $0.73.
• -105: break-even is 51.22%, so you win about $1.52.

Two ways books differ

• The price. Same number (24.5), different odds (-105 vs -120).
• The line. Different number entirely (24.5 at one book, 25.5 at another). A full point on a player total can matter more than any price difference, so compare the line first, then the juice.

A five-minute routine

1. Pick the bet first. Don't let a good price talk you into a bet you weren't going to make.
2. Open every book you have. Note the line and the price on the same side.
3. Rank them: best line first, then best price on that line.
4. Place it at the winner. If prices are within a couple of cents, convenience wins; don't overthink it.
5. Log which book you used, so you can see over time which one tends to be sharpest on your markets.

A quick check on whether a market is fair

Prices on both sides of a prop also tell you how much the book is charging. Over -115 / Under -115 is a wider margin than -110 / -110, so a prop with heavy juice on both sides makes any pick on it harder to profit from. If the over-under pair is heavy at every book, that's a hint to be pickier.

Quick answers