Sports betting often feels like a gamble, but what if you could transform it into a disciplined, data-driven investment strategy? With tools like Portfolio EV from OddsShopper, you can build a profitable sports betting portfolio that mirrors the precision of financial investing. This guide will walk you through how to use the Portfolio EV tools to build a sports betting portfolio, giving you the best chance to make money sports betting.
Build Profitable Sports Betting Portfolios With Portfolio EV
Portfolio EV doesn’t just help you pick bets — it shifts your mindset. Instead of seeing sports betting as gambling, you can approach it like investing, with the goal of growing your bankroll in a calculated and sustainable way. Whether you’re a seasoned bettor or new to sports betting, this tool offers insights to optimize your results across various leagues and bet types.
Before diving into bets, start by analyzing historical EV Results within the Portfolio EV tools. Historical data provides clarity on which markets, leagues and sportsbooks have been most profitable. By understanding past trends, you can shape a portfolio designed to maximize your expected value (EV) while minimizing inefficiencies.
Set Up Your Portfolio
Here’s how to create a portfolio from scratch with the help of our EV Results page:
Select a League: Begin by choosing a single league to focus on, such as the NHL. This tutorial uses NHL as an example, but the methodology applies to any sport.
Choose Your Sportsbooks: Add all the sportsbooks you have access to. While some books might not be available in your state or may limit your betting volume, maximizing access to books broadens your opportunities. Open accounts with as many sportsbooks as possible to diversify your betting options. However, if a specific sportsbook consistently underperforms or restricts your betting, it may be wise to exclude it.
Adjust Parameters: To begin, keep your initial portfolio settings broad to see which results are profitable. Eventually, however, you can adjust your settings with these sliders:
- Time until event starts
- Odds
- OS Rating
- Expected EV
- Expected Win
Input Average Bet Size: Enter your average bet size to estimate potential profit based on historical data. For example, starting with a $10 bet size provides a simple baseline for calculating returns. That is what we used here:
Analyze and Optimize
Once you’ve set up the portfolio, preview the results to evaluate its profitability:
Review Bet Types: Look at individual markets within the league. For instance, in NHL, bets on total points have a slightly negative ROI, while bets on total assists are extremely positive at 12%. Exclude underperforming markets to refine your portfolio.
Evaluate Sportsbooks: Check each sportsbook’s historical performance. If a book shows poor ROI in a particular league, remove it from your portfolio. In this example, however, Portfolio EV is profitable at every sportsbook for these bets in our NHL portfolio, so we will keep them in.
Adjust OS Rating, EV & Win Rate Filters: Experiment with sliders for OS Rating, EV and expected win rates to optimize results. Higher filters might improve ROI but reduce the volume of recommended bets, potentially lowering total profit. Strike a balance between ROI and total profit for optimal results.
In this screenshot below, we have set the minimum OS Rating to 2 and took out NHL bets on total points. You can now see the updated ROI results for these bets:
The total ROI on these bets went up pretty significantly to 11.7%, and though the total profit is still pretty solid, it’s low enough that the portfolio looks better if we keep the OS Rating at 0 instead of 2. Making that adjustment, here is what this NHL portfolio looks like now:
The ROI is down to 8.3% — which is still higher than our original 4.3% — and now the profit is over $21,000 since we included the bets with OS Ratings of 1 or slightly lower that are still going to return us positively over time.
You can make similar adjustments to any other slider to see how it improves or worsens the portfolio you are trying to build.
Save and Automate Your Portfolio
Once you are happy with the settings on your portfolio, it’s time to save it so you can start making your bets quickly and en masse moving forward.
Save Your Portfolio: Once optimized, save your portfolio with a clear label (e.g., “NHL Portfolio”). Saved portfolios remain accessible and editable, eliminating the need to rebuild from scratch.
Turn on Notifications: Activate notifications through the OddsShopper app to receive alerts when new +EV bets become available. This ensures you never miss profitable opportunities, even when you’re not actively monitoring.
Monitor and Adjust Regularly
Sportsbooks frequently update their pricing and markets, which can affect your portfolio’s performance. Check your results periodically and adjust parameters to maintain optimal performance. Add or remove markets according to updated ROI data, refine sportsbooks based on trends and tweak OS Rating and EV filters to stay ahead of inefficiencies.
Did we mention you can get Portfolio EV for FREE? Here’s how:
- Select a partner and register through one of our sign-up offers.
- Make a deposit and place a bet or create a pick’em entry.
- Snap a screenshot of your welcome email and your first settled play.
- Email the screenshots to support@oddsshopper.com.
It’s that simple!
With Portfolio EV, sports betting becomes less about luck and more about strategy. By leveraging historical EV Results, diversifying your bets and continually optimizing your portfolio, you can grow your bankroll systematically. Start small, stay disciplined and let the tools do the heavy lifting. Your betting journey might just transform into a profitable investment venture.
