Boosts
How to enter a sportsbook profit boost on a bet, how SmartStake recalculates the boosted odds and EV, and when a boost flips a negative-EV bet positive.
What a boost is
Sportsbooks regularly offer profit boosts — a promotion that increases your winnings on a qualifying bet by a fixed percentage, say 25% or 50%. A boost only lifts the profit portion of a bet, not your returned stake, so it changes the effective odds and therefore the expected value. SmartStake lets you fold a boost into any +EV bet so the feed shows the real edge you'd be getting.
Entering a boost
Expand a pre-game bet in the feed and you'll find a boost field next to the book's icon. Type the boost percentage the sportsbook is offering. The bet's odds and EV immediately recalculate and are flagged with a lightning-bolt marker so a boosted figure is never mistaken for the raw one. Clearing the field returns the bet to its unboosted numbers.
On in-play bets the expanded card shows the live game situation instead, so the inline field isn't there — enter the boost in the calculator (the calculator icon on the bet) and it recalculates the same way.
How the boosted figures are computed
A boost applies only to the profit, never the stake. In decimal terms, the profit portion of odds is everything above 1. SmartStake multiplies that profit by the boost and adds it back:
- A 2.00 bet (even money) has 1.00 of profit. A 50% boost lifts the profit to 1.50, giving boosted odds of 2.50.
- A 1.50 bet has 0.50 of profit. A 25% boost lifts it to 0.625, giving boosted odds of 1.625.
The expected value is then recomputed against the same no-vig fair probability the bet already used — only the payout side changes. A bigger payout against an unchanged win probability means higher EV. When you take a boosted bet, the boost carries through to the slip so the recorded wager reflects the boosted odds.
When a boost flips a bet positive
Because EV is driven by the gap between the offered price and the fair price, a large enough boost can turn a bet that is slightly negative EV at its raw odds into a positive-EV bet. A line priced just short of fair value might lose you a fraction of a cent per dollar on its own; a 30% profit boost can widen the payout enough to push it over the line into a genuine edge.
Boosts don't change the win probability
A boost only enlarges the payout. The bet's true chance of winning — SmartStake's fair probability — is untouched. That is exactly why a boost can create EV where none existed: same odds of winning, more money when you do.
This makes the boost field a fast way to evaluate the promos a book emails you: enter the percentage, and the feed tells you whether the boosted bet is actually worth placing.
- Odds, prices, expected value, conversion rates, and profit figures shown are estimates based on the last data we retrieved. They can change at any time — confirm the current price at the book before you bet, as odds may move and entry errors can occur.
- Any numbers, screenshots, and worked examples shown are illustrative only. They are not representative of typical results and your results may differ.