Calculating the Breakeven Point in Sports Betting
Published on: September 8, 2022
Updated on: April 11, 2025
Category: Advice & Tips
The following post explores calculating the breakeven point in sports betting.
Looking to achieve profitability? Understanding your breakeven point gives you a clear understanding of how much you need to win to cover your losses and start making money.
Read: Pitfalls of Buying Sports Betting Picks
Related: Flat Betting For Wagering Success
Breakeven provides a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of your betting strategy, managing expectations, and staying disciplined in the face of losses or streaks of bad luck.
Here’s what you need to know.
Overview
So, what is the breakeven point? Basically, it’s the winning percentage needed to balance losses and gains, factoring in the standard juice applied by sportsbooks – typically set at -110. To determine your breakeven point, you need to understand the relationship between the odds you’re betting at and your required win rate.
Understanding Juice
Essentially, the juice represents the price of placing a bet. When odds are -110, a bettor must risk $110 to win $100. The additional $10 represents what the sportsbook receives for taking your action.
Documenting Your Wagers
Keeping detailed records of your wagers is key for calculating your breakeven point. Tracking the odds you paid week-over-week is the requisite data for understanding your cumulative breakeven point.
Calculating Breakeven
To calculate your breakeven point, consider the following formula:
Breakeven Percentage = Risk ÷ Total Payout x 100
In the case of -110 odds, where the risk is $110 and the total payout (including the initial stake and profit) is $210, the breakeven percentage is:
Breakeven Percentage = 110 ÷ 210 × 100 ≈ 52.38%
This means that, to break even in the long run, a bettor needs to have a winning percentage exceeding 52.38%. Anything below this threshold would result in an overall loss due to the vig.
