Staggering price of betting heaviest favorites

Many of you are “weekend warriors” when it comes to newly legalized sports betting. You can’t make the trek out to New Jersey on weekdays because of your job. But you want to have some fun on Saturdays or Sundays.

If you’re new to betting sports besides football, it’s important that you understand the hurdles you must clear at different money-line levels.

Even casual fans are familiar with the standard 11/10 vigorish on football bets (-110 on a money line, risking $11 to win $10). Baseball lines use a much taller scale, as do head-to-head matchups in golf, NASCAR and other sports.

Here are the break-even win percentages at different favorite prices:

If you have a tendency to bet what seem to be “cheap” favorites, you still have to win about 60 percent of your bets to show a profit. If you love backing powers in what appear to be blowout scenarios, that 60 percent won’t be close to enough. You’ll need to win twothirds of your bets around -200 to earn a profit ... and even more if you’re going to take the Yankees near -300 every time they’re a big home favorite versus a non-contender (a poisonous strategy lately).

You also can use this chart to evaluate fairness on props. If you see a head-to-head golf matchup in which both competitors are priced at -130 (or worse), you know you’d be taking the worst of it either way. Pick-em isn’t supposed to be 57 percent (or higher) win scenario for EACH team.

When shopping for value, or for a sports book to make your “home away from home” on weekends, be sure you’re focusing on the prices on the board. Give yourself the shortest hurdles to clear on your bets (or the highest return on underdogs). Don’t frequent locales that charge too big a premium just for the honor of betting there.