Sports Book Info

NFL

At the time of this review it was 11 days before the 2018 Super Bowl. Lines against the spread, total, first half, and all four quarters were all 20-cent lines. Proposition bets that were close to 50-50, like distance of the longest touchdown over/under 44.5 yards, were 30-cent lines, which is the norm on prop bets. An exception to the usual 30-cent lines on props are bets on the coin toss, like whether it will land on heads or tails, which had a 10-cent line.

MLB

At the time of this review, in mid-January, it wasn't baseball season so all I can report on is the futures for the 2018 season. Here is the average house edge for the three futures offered:

• National League: 23.89%
• American League: 25.19%
• World Series: 27.29%

Compared to other sports books, I consider these a little better than average.

Basketball

In both the NBA and college, bets against the spread and total were on a 20-cent line. The 20-cent line applies to bets over the whole game, halves and quarters.

Hockey

Bets on the NHL had 20-cent lines money lines, puck lines, totals, as well as money lines and totals for the first period. I'm not sure where they break to more than a 20-cent line but can report seeing line pairings of +135/-155 and +160/-190, so somewhere in that range.

Soccer

There was a huge number of soccer games to bet on in all sorts of different leagues. I can say that bets with two possible outcomes, like the over/under on total goals, had a 20-cent line. Bets with three possible outcomes (both teams winning and a tie) had a house edge range from 8.31% to 10.12% of ten random games I selected.

Golf

Pairings at the Farmers Insurance Open had 30-cent lines. Futures on the Masters, which had 95 golfers to bet on, carried a house edge of 47.93% (ouch!).

Tennis

At the time of this review, the Australian Open was in the semi-finals. On the most competitive match they offered a 30-cent line based on a +115/-145 pairing. The other three matches, between among the men's and women's semifinals had pairings of +240/-320, +475/-750, and +180/-240.

Boxing

At the time of this review there were two obscure (to me) boxing matches to bet on. The line pairings were +600/-1000 and +800/-1500.

Rugby

At the time of this writing TopBet was taking futures bets on the Six Nations Championship. Of the six choices, the overall house edge of 10.10%. The odds on Italy were +250,000 (or 2,500 to 1). It is sporting of ToopBet to offer such long odds but you have to wonder, what is wrong with the Italian team?

NASCAR

I put NASCAR in all caps because it is an acronym, which stands for National Association For Stock Car Automobile Racing. The only bet TopBet had at the time of this review was futures on the next NASCAR race. Among the 28 betting options, which consisted of 27 specific drivers and the field, the overall house edge was 30.14%.

Olympics

At the time of this review the 2018 winter Olympics were not far off. TopBet offered 30-cent over/under bets on the total gold medals by each country. The highest over/under was 12.5 for Norway.

There was also a futures bet on the country with the most gold medals. Of the 11 countries and one "field" to choose from, the overall house edge was 28.19%. Norway was the favorite with a line of -115. Next door neighbor Sweden was at +7500.

Entertainment

It was awards season at the time of this review. The Grammy award for the best album had a field of five possible winners. The overall house edge was only 6.57%.

The Academy Awards, which I love betting on (always bet on the big favorites), had a house edge of 15.22% among the nine nominees for Best Picture (I thought there were supposed to be ten now) and 5.34% for Best Director. An unusual thing about this year is there is not a huge favorite for best picture. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is a -160 favorite.

Mixed Martial Arts

TopBet offers 30-cent lines on UFC fights.

FIFA

There was a futures bet on the winner of Group A of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Of the four countries to choose from the overall house edge was 8.50%.

Parlays

TopBet is on the stingy end of the spectrum when it comes to parlay odds. The following table shows what each number of picks pays, assuming all picks are balanced (meaning you have to lay 110 on either side as an individual bet).

 

 

* Pays are on a "to one" basis.

My advice on betting parlays is to mix in at least one bet that doesn't have -110 odds by itself. This will cause the computer to calculate the odds on an bet by bet basis, which results in a lower house edge, except for the three-team parlay. With a three-team parlay it is slightly better to take the +260 odds.

Teasers

TopBet conveniently uses the same teaser table for basketball and football. In the column headings the first number applies to the extra points in basketball and the second to football. I compared these odds to my Las Vegas sports book survey. Overall, these teaser odds are on the low end, especially in basketball.

However, I would like to give due credit for the liberal -110 line for a two-team six-point NFL teaser. A nice little advantage play (shut up Wiz!) is to do this crossing the 3- and 7-point margins of victory. For example, teasing a +2 underdog to +8, or a -8 favorite to -2.

 

Banking Options

General

TopBet accepts and caters to U.S. players. At the time of this review, in January 2018, methods of deposit accepted were Visa, Mastercard, and Bitcoin.

Wizard Endorsement Status

Top Bet has not earned endorsement from the Wizard of Odds.