Hedge betting (also known as hedging) is the act of placing a bet against a bet you have already placed to either minimize a potential loss or lock in a guaranteed profit, regardless of the result.
Hedging happens when bettors either lose confidence in their original pick, or see an opportunity to secure a guaranteed return from a game or event by backing against their original bet. This can take place either mid-season for futures markets, or mid-game during live in-game betting.
There are two scenarios where a bettor may opt to hedge a bet:
To minimize a likely loss on their original bet
To lock in a profit on a specific game
If you have backed Team A to win a hockey game, and that team then falls three goals behind, you can then opt to use live in-game betting to hedge your bet and reduce your losses.
For example, if you backed Team A to win a game at +200 for $100, but they fall behind and the Team B then become -300 favorites in the live in-game moneyline market, you could back them to win at $225 to minimize your losses:
In this situation, hedging the first bet on Team A has moved a likely $100 loss to a guaranteed $25 loss, thereby saving you $75 in potential losses.
If you have already backed an underdog and the market then swings mid-game and puts your chosen team as the favorite, you then have the opportunity to back the opposing side at underdog odds and guarantee a return, regardless of the result.
For example, if you backed Team A at +200 for $100, then the market moved and set Team A as favorites with Team B subsequently installed as +120 underdogs, you now have the chance to back them to lock in a guaranteed profit, regardless of the result:
In this situation, you have made $63.64 in guaranteed profit.
Another way to lock in a profit can come in the form of a parlay. If two of your three legs hit, in order to lock in a profit, bet on the opposite team or player when it comes to your third and final leg.
While hedge betting and arbitrage betting both involve betting on both sides of a matchup, hedging uses odds fluctuations to add a second bet to an already-placed bet, whereas arbing utilizes discrepancies in the odds between rival sportsbooks to enable opposing bets to be placed at the same time to guarantee profit.
While arbitrage opportunities can be extremely hard to find, hedging opportunities are commonplace, thanks to the constant fluctuation of odds in live in-game betting markets.
If you have decided you want to hedge your bet to either reduce your losses or lock in a profit, your next step is to check how much you need to bet to optimize your overall bet. You can do this using a hedging calculator.
Just enter the details of your initial bet into the calculator, then input the odds of the opposing selection as your hedge bet, and the calculator will work out how much to bet to optimize your result.
All betting guides on BET.CA are written by in-our house team, who have over 40 years’ experience in the sports betting and gaming industries, and have worked and written for several of the world’s leading sportsbooks. They possess in-depth knowledge of betting markets and strategies, as well as an understanding of what is important to bettors, meaning you can read on with the confidence that they will help improve your betting.