Eilers & Krejcik Gaming research firm estimates the United States has 15 million active sports bettors, but says that number could triple by 2029 at legal sportsbooks.
The company has labeled seven unique sports-bettor personas as part of a study: sharps, high rollers, would-be pros, action chasers, superfans, status seekers and casual dabblers.
“We have a different set of profiles that range from the most generic public player to the sharpest of sharps and everything in between,” Westgate sportsbook vice president Jay Kornegay said.
Sharps are players who hold a persistent edge over the books and are primarily motivated by making a profit from sports betting.
“Sharps are winners, or aspire to be winners,” said Chris Grove, managing director of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. “They’re investing the time, doing the work, getting the information, and they have the motivation as well. If your motivation is winning money, you’re going to bet in a different way and approach betting in a different way than someone who is looking for entertainment or has an affinity for a given sport.”
Sharps bet on numbers, not teams, and generally can be separated into two groups: market makers and steam chasers. The former represent the first bettors to wager on a game or prop and potentially move a line based on their own opinions, power ratings and models. Steam chasers bet on a game after the line moves.
Bookmakers and sharp bettors alike keep close watch on the odds screen at DonBest.com, which offers a service that provides real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore books. When a line moves, the board will turn red and, typically within 30 seconds, virtually all of the books will change the point spread to the same number.
“Then all of these guys will try as fast as possible to get to their apps and bet their limits and they’re chasing steam,” said sports bettor David Halpern, a semiretired private equity investor who was featured on the Showtime docu-series Action.
Halpern said if you follow the money, you’re going to miss the best number by a point or two and the game will land on that point.
The betting public or recreational bettors make up the vast majority of the sports betting market and typically wager on the favorite.
“Casual players represent the largest sheer number of bettors,” Grove said. “But the greatest amount of activity or handle probably comes from the sharps, simply because they put in so much volume and are betting so often.”
Eilers & Krejcik defines would-be pros as aspiring sharps who can’t afford to devote the same amount of money, time and resources into betting.
- Action chasers are gamblers first and foremost and the most likely sports bettor persona to cross over to any form of gambling. “For action chasers, the primary motivation is just because they enjoy the action. They like gambling,” Grove said.
- High rollers typically wager large amounts of money on a small number of bets.
- Superfans are sports fans first and bettors second and more heavily influenced by emotional connections to teams and players than sharps. “Gambling is just a way to add some additional flavor to the sports fan experience,” Grove said. “It makes the game a little more interesting.”
- Status seekers thrive on public recognition, whether it’s winning a handicapping contest or bragging about their wins on Twitter.
- Casual dabblers typically bet only on major sports events such as the Super Bowl. But they can develop into action chasers and move between other personas.
