Quick start: your first +EV bet

From zero to your first tracked bet

This walkthrough covers the shortest path to a tracked +EV bet. It assumes you have a SmartStake account and at least one sportsbook account you can place bets with. The whole process takes about five minutes once your books are set up.

Step 1 — Choose your sportsbooks

SmartStake reads odds from 70+ sportsbooks, exchanges, and DFS sites, but you only want to see bets at books where you actually hold an account. Open Settings → Bookmaker selection and enable the books you use.

This filter matters: the Positive EV feed will only surface bets at the books you have selected, so every edge you see is one you can act on immediately. If you add or close a sportsbook account later, update this list. For help deciding which books to prioritise, see Choosing your sportsbooks.

Step 2 — Open Positive EV

Navigate to the Positive EV tool from the main sidebar. The feed loads automatically in Pre-game mode. Press the round refresh button at the left of the header to update it, or set an automatic refresh interval in Positive EV settings. Switch to Live mode (the Live tab in the header, or the mode selector at the top of the page on a phone) to watch in-play odds stream continuously.

Before you take a bet, set your bankroll: click or tap the bankroll figure in the header (it starts at $0) and enter the amount you have set aside for betting. SmartStake uses it, with your Kelly multiplier, to suggest a stake on every bet. See Bankroll, Kelly and stake sizing.

Each row in the table is one bet at one sportsbook where the offered odds are currently beating the estimated fair (no-vig) price. The rows are sorted by EV% by default, putting the strongest mathematical edges at the top.

Step 3 — Read a bet card

Before taking any bet, understand what the numbers are telling you.

• EV % — expected value as a percentage of your stake. A 3% EV bet returns an average of three cents per dollar staked over a large enough sample. This is the primary signal; higher is better.
• Book odds — the price the listed sportsbook is currently offering you. These are the odds you will actually bet at.
• Fair odds — SmartStake's no-vig estimate of the true price for this outcome, derived by devigging the sharpest available books. When the book odds are longer (better for you) than the fair odds, the gap is positive expected value.

Next to the fair value, the card shows the Vig of the sharp market it came from. A low vig means the fair price is well-agreed; a high vig means more uncertainty in the edge. For a full breakdown of every column, see Reading the Positive EV table.

Step 4 — Add the bet with one click

When you find a bet you want to take, click the Add to Bet Tracker button on that row. SmartStake opens a slip pre-filled with the book, the market, the line, and a suggested stake. Review the details, adjust the stake if needed, and confirm.

That confirmation records the bet as a Wager in the Bet Tracker. For more on how the slip works and how to edit a wager after the fact, see One-click add.

Step 5 — Watch it settle

Once the game is over, the Bet Tracker grades your wager automatically. Moneyline, spread, total, and common player props (including combo props like PRA) all settle without any action from you. The result rolls into your running profit and loss.

Open the Bet Tracker at any time to see the status of open wagers, review graded results, and check your overall return on investment. See Bet Tracker overview for a full tour.

Where to go next

You now have the core loop: find an edge, understand the numbers, add the bet, track the result. From here:

• Finding positive EV bets — how the fair price is built and what qualifies a bet.
• Reading the Positive EV table — every column and filter explained in detail.
• Choosing your sportsbooks — how to build an account portfolio that maximises the edges you can reach.
• Bet Tracker overview — grading, profit and loss, and everything the tracker records.