What Does Evens Mean in Betting? – The Betting Guide

In sports betting, ‘EVS’ is an acronym for ‘evens’. An EVS bet is used when the bookies consider the draw to be an equal test and find it hard to determine a clear winner, so the odds on the bet become even. 

So now you know that EVS is just a shortened term for evens, you might be wondering what does evens mean in betting? Evens bets are popular with professional or frequent betters as they can place a wager on a single bet and at least double their stake with every win, so it can be quite a profitable technique.

The term EVS is used by bookies across the UK to make it easy for the punter to place a bet. When EVS is used on a slip, it replaces the Home or Away team, or sometimes the bookmaker will up the probability of a draw. 

To place an evens bet, all you need is an understanding of football betting odds and the basic odds of calculation, but if you want to try out an EVS bet the next time you’re in the bookies, our betting tips and following our football tipsters might help.

Evens bets are popular with professional or frequent betters.

What is Evens Betting?

Regardless of how new you are to football betting or the industry in general, the concept of EVS is pretty easy to wrap your head around. Evens betting is placing a bet only when the odds are a maximum of even, which could be displayed as 1/1 as fractional odds, or 2.0 if you prefer decimal odds.

Are you’re still wondering ‘what is evs in betting?’. A simple way to think of it is gambling on the flip of a coin, will the coin land on heads or tails?

Predicting the correct outcome and winning the coin toss is a 50/50 chance, which, you guessed it… is an even chance of winning the bet. The same principle stands in betting, but rather than taking a blind guess, you use your knowledge to make a well-informed decision.

Benefits of Evens Betting

Evens is becoming more popular with punters in the betting market, especially professionals because it is a fairly reliable way to consistently increase profits.  Some of the benefits of EVS betting include:

Higher Chances of Winning

Placing an EVS bet means you only need a 50% chance of winning to gain a profit. The higher the odds are, the lower the hit ratio that is required to win the bet and increase your cashflow. A low required hit ratio is so important if you are in the game of long-term or professional betting. 

Use of Betting Systems

When you are using a money management system, you need to consider the odds. Popular systems state that the odds need to be staked at 1/1 at least in order to be profitable. The strategy for EVS betting states that you should eliminate any bets with odds lower than 1/1, or evens. 

Covering Live Bets & Cashing Out

If you are live betting when the odds are EVS or higher, it is easier to cover your bet. For example, if you become unsure about the outcome of your bet, and you have placed a bet with 2.0 odds, in a live bet you can surrender the extra 0.5 and cash out your bet as soon as the price offered by the bookmaker is double your earnings. 

Evens betting can be a great strategy for making wins in football betting.

Arbing on 2 Way Markets

Arbitrage bets, also known as arbing, are bets where the backing odds are higher than the odds being offered at an exchange. Arbing comes in two forms, bookie-to-bookie and lay/back. The one that applies here is lay/back arbing. Sometimes referred to as gambling grinding, the main rule of arbing is backing your earliest bet at evens odds or better, which gives you a better chance of placing a surebet. 

If you’ve bet on a team to win the premier league at 2.20 odds with a £95 stake and you find their opponents with 2.00 odds (evens), you can stake £105 for a 5% profit regardless of the match winners. The key to successful arbitrage bets is finding conflicting odds prior to the game. 

Sharbing in Evs Betting

Sharbing is another method of arbing. Sharbing is when a punter places a 2-way bet at a bookmaker and another bet using online bookies. Sharbing is considered easier than arbing because a traditional bookie usually changes their odds a later stage than an online betting site. It’s also common for traditional bookies not to have any strict limits. 

Written by Ashley Salek for kickoff.co.uk