Middles

[slogger]

I understand the general concept of a middle. When you find a different of 2 points or more in a line and you bet both ways to attempt to hit the "middle" and get paid both ways, while risking very little (in most cases, just the vig on the losing wager if you miss).

But when are middles not advisable? When are they especially advisable?

E.g., right now, shopping Pinnacle and Bodog, you can get St. Mary's + 1 (-113) (Pinny) and Santa Clara +1.5 (-115)(Bodog).

However, the "middle" includes a tie, which obviously cannot happen in basketball. So does this make the middle a bad play here? Also, I'm guessing extra vig (>110) makes these less attractive as well. Is this correct?

[tech]

This is not a good middle IMO. A two point middle in hoops is +EV if the numbers covered are in the 2-12 range (maybe a little higher). Basically the 1 doesn't hit enough to make it profitable. Anything over 12 adds enough variance that you generally want a bigger window.

And yes, the extra juice really hurts since that is what you are risking. Paying -115 as opposed to -110 on a middle is essentially increaing your risk 50%.

[slogger]

This makes perfect sense.