Blog
Page 2 of 8. The data layer behind matched betting, arbitrage and odds comparison, written by the team that maintains it.
Fundamentals
The overround, the margin, the vig: three names for the bookmaker's built-in edge. Here's how to compute it from decimal prices, and why comparing it across books tells you who to bet with.
· 5 min read
Buying vs building
The build-versus-buy question for an odds data layer turns on one thing: who owns the maintenance treadmill. Here is the honest breakdown, in effort rather than money, plus a checklist you can apply to your own situation.
· 6 min read
Buying vs building
A vendor-neutral framework for choosing an odds API. Five questions, asked in order, that separate a feed you can build on from one you'll regret. Raw book count is not one of them.
· 7 min read
Arbitrage & value betting
Closing line value is the gap between the price you took and the market's closing price, and beating it consistently is the clearest data-driven sign your bets carry an edge.
· 6 min read
Fundamentals
Decimal, fractional and American are three ways to write the same price. For anything you compute with, standardise on decimal, store decimal, and convert only at the point of display.
· 4 min read
Arbitrage & value betting
Dutching is what you reach for when there's no exchange to lay on: back the whole market across books so any result pays the same. Here's the data behind it.
· 7 min read
Emerging markets
The global aggregators have no South Africa region and don't list Nigeria's domestic books. Here's what emerging-market odds data really requires, the books that matter, and why maintained coverage beats a one-off capture.
· 6 min read
Exchange & lay data
A bookmaker back price is only half of a matched bet. This is the other half: what exchange and lay coverage is, the three exchanges we match against, and why the paired lay decides the opportunity.
· 6 min read
Fundamentals
Football is where odds data does most of its volume. This explains the main markets, how they're structured as event, market and selections, and how matched back/lay pairs work for football.
· 5 min read