CLV (Closing Line Value)

CLV is the difference between the odds you bet at and the odds when the game started, and it is the number one thing sportsbooks use to decide whether you look sharp. Here is the CLV tracking on the hedges I placed and why placing bets right before game time keeps your CLV low, which is what keeps you from getting limited.

What CLV measures

Closing line value, or CLV, is the difference between the price or odds you bet at and the final price or odds when the game started.

By waiting until right before the game starts to place your bets, you minimize the difference between those two numbers and get low, or ideally negative, CLV.

CLV on your hedges

Here are two settled hedge sets I placed.

Expand them and every bet shows its CLV. For both of these sets I got zero CLV on every single bet. The way I did that was by waiting until right before the game started to place them.

Why it matters

CLV is the number one metric sportsbooks look at to decide how sharp or square you look. The more CLV you accumulate, the higher their confidence that you are a sharp bettor who is probably going to win in the long run. That leads to them limiting you, and if you continue to beat them and continue to get CLV, they can ban you.