Public betting percentages are an important part of decision-making in online sports betting, as they provide information about how other sports bettors are seeing a particular moneyline, spread, or total.
There are two distinct percentages that are critical to make a part of your sports betting process: bet percentage and money percentage. On this page, we’ll discuss what each of these public betting percentages mean and why you should pay attention to them.
What Are Public Betting Percentages?
Simply put, public betting percentages are used to determine how many bets are coming in on a given side of a game. For example, suppose that we are looking at wagering on an upcoming NFL game between the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. This is what the hypothetical “bet%” and “money%” look like for the spread:
- Texans -6.5: 28% of bets, 65% of money
- Bears +6.5: 72% of bets, 35% of money
In this example, across all bets against the spread, the Texans have gotten bet on 28% of tickets. However, they are getting 65% of all money wagered on the spread. This indicates that while far less than half of the population is betting on the Texans, the bets that are coming in are for much more significant amounts of money. This can indicate that there is some “sharp” action on the Texans’ side of the spread, or money coming in on that side from seasoned sports bettors.
Conversely, the example shows the Bears getting 72% of bets and 35% of the money. This means that while the Bears are drawing almost three-quarters of all bets on the spread, less than half of the money is going on that side. This indicates that the Bears are drawing a massive amount of bets for small dollar figures, which is the complete opposite of the Texans’ side. This is hinting at more novice sports bettors betting on the Bears.
Why Do Public Betting Percentages Matter?
Public betting percentages are extremely important to analyze when wagering on any game. A sportsbook’s primary objective is to even out both sides of a game on the moneyline, spread, and total. By doing this, they limit the amount of exposure they have for the game regardless of the direction the final outcomes goes in.
By understanding what public betting percentages mean, you can use this knowledge to make more informed decisions about what to bet on. Public betting percentages tell us a ton about the overall makeup of what type of sports bettors are wagering on each side of a game.
Betting with the “sharp money” instead of what the “public” is betting on in drives is a highly logical play. While it doesn’t always work out, aligning your money with the rest of the signficant money wagers is smart in the long-term.
Bet Percentage vs. Money Percentage
It is important to understand that public betting percentages are far more valuable in situations where bet percentage and money percentage have sizable differentials.
Using our Texans-Bears example from earlier, suppose that the bet and money percentages are equal for both sides. Say, the Texans are getting 28% of bets and 28% of the money while the Bears get 72% of bets and 72% of the money. This really doesn’t tell us anything other than the public and sharp money are generally aligned on the Bears’ spread.
Even in a case like this, using bet percentage and money percentage can be a useful tool. Having more information is always better than having less when making decisions in sports betting.