Should you hedge your bet?

A common question asked by sports bettors when given the chance, is whether or not should you hedge your bet. Hedging a bet is essentially betting against your original pick in order to guarantee a profit or minimize your losses. An example of hedging opportunity is having won one of your picks in a 2-team Action Reverse and then having a chance to bet against a remaining pending one. An action reverse is very similar to a Parlay, but the payout is a bit higher (usually 4x the amount you place). So if you have a action reverse Patriots/Dallas and the Pats have already covered for you, then if Dallas is a pending 4:00 game, it leaves you a chance to hedge your original dollar bet.

In the above situation, if Dallas wins, you end up winning . However, what if Dallas loses? You end up losing your action reverse bet (usually with juice, it'll be negative ) and come out empty handed. With hedging, you can actually guarantee a profit and sit back and relax while watching the game. To hedge your bet, you would place an amount to guarantee a profit or minimize your losses. So if you decide to guarantee a profit, an example would be placing on Dallas's opponent (Lets say the Redskins). In this scenario, you will profit no matter what team ends up covering the spread. It'll be +180 ( - ) if the Skins lose or +80 ( - ) if the Skins win.

Back to the question...

Now that we know what hedging is, should you do it if you are given the opportunity? The answer is either yes or no. Whether you should hedge or not is a personal decision. If your the bettor thats into money management, then the answer should be no. Since by middling, you are giving the house a chance to decrease your payout, so in the long-run you may be left shorthanded. Or if your a bettor in a situation where guaranteeing profit is a must due to a recent slump, then hedging your bet may be a wise thing to do. You can also be the type who would love to just sit back and watch the game without worrying about losing any money, thus hedging your bet would be very ideal. So whether your should hedge your bet is something you must figure out by looking at your personal situation and preference.