Fade

In sports betting the term fade implies betting against something. It is most commonly used when wagering against a particular team regardless of their opponent. It is additionally used to describe betting against the public or the picks of an individual handicapper.

Fading the public

A common misconception is that fading the public is a profitable betting strategy. The public is a general term used to describe casual sports bettors who place emotional uninformed bets without considering a wager's market advantage. Someone who is fading the public is betting against lines that seem too obvious with the reasoning that oddsmakers are trying to trick weaker bettors. An example of this might be a small point spread on a popular favorite. While many self-proclaimed experts will state otherwise, fading the public is in fact not a sound strategy for long term success. High limit sportsbooks have the largest market influence. These bookmaker will not set their lines in anticipation to receiving bets from the public. Sharper sports bettors with larger bankrolls would take advantage of the incorrectly priced lines. This would expose the sportsbook to an undesirable situation where the majority of action on a given market is on the side with positive expected value.

Fading a handicapper

Fading a handicapper implies betting against each of their picks.

Handicappers or touts that are perceived as being losers might find themselves getting faded.