Sports Betting Guide and Terms - Middle

Definition

The term ‘middle’ refers to betting both sides of a sporting event at different odds in the hopes of hitting the ‘middle’ and winning both sides.

Betting early, betting late

There are many ways to middle a game. The first option is to bet the favorite early and bet the dog late. Since the tendency of most lines is to increase as the week progresses (the favorite’s line increases), it would be wise to bet the favorite at line’s opening and bet the underdog of the same event right before the start of the game. Public tendency and late action on the favorite usually drives the line in such a direction. For example, if basketball team A is favored by 2.5 points, and closes at 5 points, and the final results show that team A won by 4 points, then the person who middled this game would win both bets. The middler would have bet team A at –2.5, and later bet team B at +5. Such occurrences happen more often than most would think.

Betting at halftime

There is also another way to bet and hedge during halftime. This involves a little luck and a lot of patience. Basically, it involves betting on one side and betting the other side at the half. This will only work, though, if one’s original team is ahead at the half. For example, if team football team A is bet at –10 for the game and is up by 28 points by the half, and if the second half line is team A –3, then the middler would bet team B +3 (virtually making them +31 for the game). The middle in this case would be team A –10 and team B +31. It has been the experience of the author, though, that teams up at the half also covers the second half if they are dominating the other team. One of the main reasons why this is the case is because teams do not want to lose momentum at any point of the game. If the coach is a good coach, he will not let up and keep his team’s composure steady throughout the game. Bettors beware: this mode of betting does not usually work, but the author thought it would beneficial to illustrate middling and its many variations.

Summary

In closing, the term middling in the sports betting industry is a way to secure one’s bets. It requires one to bet both sides of the same event at different odds, in the hopes that the final result will land in the ‘middle’ of the two bets.