How to Find Value Bets: A Guide to Beating the Bookies 2025

What Are Value Bets? Understanding Expected Value (+EV)

I’ll cover how to find value bets shortly, but first, let me explain what is a value bet.

A value bet is any wager you think is more likely to win than the betting odds suggest. If you believe a selection has a stronger chance of winning than the implied probability, you have your value bet.

Let’s use a simple coin toss at the start of a cricket match as our example here. You calculate the implied probability of heads landing by using this strategy:

1 divided by the decimal odds and then multiplied by 100 = the implied probability.

Value betting is as much about finding overpriced selections as it is spotting winners.

One of the first pieces of advice I received when working on the trading floor of a major sportsbook at their London head office was “if you back enough overpriced selections, you’ll finish the season in profit.”

Best Value Betting Sites

Here is our list of the best value betting sites you can join today. Find your favourite and register or sign up at multiple bookmakers to increase your chances of getting the best odds each time you wager on sports.

Strategies to Identify Value Bets

When starting on your journey to beat the bookies and land a profit from this football season, you require a strong value betting strategy. Here’s how to create yours today.

Create Your Own Probabilities

The best way to ensure you’re getting the value each time you gamble is to create your own betting probabilities. Granted, this may sound complicated to some, but it’s much easier than you might think.

You must fully research a fixture, learning the stats and trends, head-to-head, form, league standings, injury news and more. You then create your probability based on that research and measure it against the bookmaker’s odds. If you spot a bet you think is more likely to win than the betting traders suggest, you’ve found a value bet.

Specialise in Niche Markets

In my experience, it’s important to find a niche, such as a sport or a competition. Let’s use the English Premier League as an example. Having worked at a high level in the gambling industry, I know bookmakers earn huge sums of profit from EPL betting. It’s one of their main earners, so the trading team often has the value locked down. That makes finding Premier League value bets challenging, but you’ll find more joy in less popular leagues.

Suppose you’re betting on the Spanish La Liga. It’s every bit as popular and exciting as the Premier League, but it’s not as big an earner for the bookmakers, meaning they don’t dedicate as much time to creating the odds and limiting the value. Study the La Liga or a similar competition and you’ll quickly realise there’s plenty of value around.

If you are betting on the Premier League, Champions League or the World Cup, I advise shooting for less popular betting markets. Avoid the match winner and study the corners, cards, totals, and more. You’ll then be taking on the house in an area you’ve researched more than the trading team.

Applying Value Betting to Specific Sports

One of the things I love most about hunting for value bets is that the approach is almost identical, regardless of the sport. That means, if you stick hard to the core principles of value betting, you’ll be able to spot a strong bet on anything from the FA Cup final to the Grand National. The only main difference between value hunting across sports is the stats.

Value football betting requires you to gather the stats and trends, including xG, possession stats, H2H, and team news. You’ll then use that information to spot the value in multiple markets, including total goals and first scorer.

When looking for value in tennis, you must learn the schedule, any injuries, past meetings, how important a competition is to each player, rankings and more. Tailor your research to fit the sport and streamline the process.

The Flashscore Advantage: Your Essential Research Tool

As you now know, research is key to spotting value bets in all sports and competitions. Flashscore is the number one platform for finding the stats you require to level the playing field in your battle with the bookies, increasing your chances of winning.

Many sites cover the most basic stats, but Flashscore has the tools needed to do a deep dive into the trends, which is essential before parting with your hard-earned stake. Access the head-to-head, form tables, lineups, injury news, player profiles and more. It’s all available on the Flashscore site and app free of charge.

Tools for Value Bettors: Software And Calculators

To give you the best chance of making a profit from your sports wagers, you require the best value betting software. Thankfully, that’s more accessible than you might imagine. Use these tools to improve your value betting.

Value Betting Software Explained

Value betting software automatically scans the odds offered by all major bookmakers on a match or market. It compares the offers and highlights potential value bets. The best tools are available on your smartphone and return results in seconds. It’s a fast and efficient way to spot value with minimal effort, but it’s often costly, eating into your profits.

Using an Expected Value (EV) Calculator

A value betting calculator is a less expensive way to spot overpriced selections, but it’s every bit as accurate as the leading software. You manually input your implied probability calculations and the bookmaker’s odds to quickly spot if a bet has positive expected value.

The Reality of Value Betting: Risks and Challenges

Now you know what value betting is and the many ways to spot expected value. But it’s important to remember that finding consistent value is difficult. If it were easy, everyone would be beating the bookies on a regular basis.

Value betting is a great way to find overpriced selections, but it doesn’t guarantee wins and profits from sports gambling. There’s no sure-fire way to beat the bookies every time you play. In addition to a sound value betting strategy, you require strict bankroll management.

There’s also the risk of having your betting accounts limited if you’re too successful, so it makes sense to have an account with several betting apps.