Sportsbook Hold Report, Issue 1: October 12 to 18, 2026
By SharpAPI
Hold is the margin a sportsbook builds into its prices: add up the implied probabilities of every outcome in a market, and whatever the total exceeds 100% by is the hold, so a standard -110/-110 line holds 4.76%. On closing lines for games played October 12 to 18, 2026, across ten leagues, Pinnacle had the lowest median hold among the sportsbooks in this sample at 3.79%, with DraftKings (4.93%) and FanDuel (4.96%) close to the standard 4.76%. The highest medians in the sample were Sportzino's (9.09%) and Goldrush's (9.26%), and exchanges and prediction markets showed trading spreads of about 1% to 5%.
The ten leagues combined
Main lines only, at the close, for sportsbooks with at least 100 markets across these leagues: NFL, college football (NCAAF), NBA, NHL, MLB, Premier League, Champions League, MLS, ATP and WTA. A market is one complete moneyline, spread or total on one game.
| Sportsbook | Markets | Median hold | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle | 1,654 | 3.79% | 2.93% to 4.34% |
| bet365 US | 183 | 4.48% | 4.04% to 4.74% |
| Circa Sports | 136 | 4.58% | 3.48% to 4.76% |
| BetOnline | 981 | 4.71% | 3.93% to 6.08% |
| DraftKings | 1,070 | 4.93% | 4.71% to 8.24% |
| FanDuel | 1,066 | 4.96% | 4.73% to 5.96% |
| BetMGM | 1,168 | 5.03% | 4.33% to 7.57% |
| Fanatics | 784 | 5.11% | 4.73% to 6.98% |
| theScore Bet | 745 | 5.23% | 4.55% to 6.92% |
| bwin | 1,102 | 5.39% | 4.32% to 7.62% |
| Caesars | 896 | 5.67% | 4.71% to 6.68% |
| SABA | 538 | 5.69% | 4.76% to 7.84% |
| Ladbrokes | 463 | 6.46% | 5.99% to 6.88% |
| Bovada | 855 | 6.52% | 4.71% to 6.93% |
| BetRivers | 1,876 | 6.71% | 5.41% to 7.65% |
| Hard Rock Bet | 854 | 6.78% | 5.30% to 7.45% |
| Rebet (s) | 739 | 6.92% | 5.03% to 8.03% |
| Bally Bet | 938 | 6.98% | 5.53% to 7.64% |
| GG Bet | 303 | 6.99% | 6.90% to 7.14% |
| betPARX | 811 | 7.13% | 6.42% to 7.79% |
| SBOBET | 622 | 7.20% | 4.06% to 7.72% |
| Stake | 1,272 | 7.94% | 6.10% to 8.97% |
| 1xBet | 1,465 | 7.98% | 5.19% to 9.09% |
| Paddy Power | 1,081 | 7.98% | 6.42% to 9.09% |
| Betway | 1,321 | 8.16% | 5.87% to 8.26% |
| Sportzino (s) | 1,551 | 9.09% | 8.13% to 10.01% |
| Goldrush | 791 | 9.26% | 8.29% to 9.34% |
(s) Sweepstakes sportsbook. Its prices carry a bookmaker margin like any other book's, so it is ranked with the sportsbooks.
Markets is the number of complete main-line markets behind the median. Middle half is the range covering the middle 50% of those markets (25th to 75th percentile).
A book's combined median also depends on which of the ten leagues it prices most. Tennis main lines carry more hold than NFL or NHL lines at most books, so a book with a long tennis slate shows a higher combined median than its football prices alone would suggest. The league tables below compare like with like.
By league
NFL
One week of NFL is 14 games, so each book has about 40 main lines (a moneyline, a spread and a total per game), and many medians land exactly on the standard 4.76%.
| Sportsbook | Markets | Median hold | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle | 42 | 2.75% | 2.46% to 3.10% |
| SBOBET | 42 | 4.06% | 3.70% to 4.55% |
| BetMGM | 42 | 4.30% | 4.06% to 4.44% |
| bwin | 42 | 4.30% | 4.06% to 4.44% |
| Caesars | 42 | 4.58% | 4.28% to 4.74% |
| bet365 US | 38 | 4.71% | 4.51% to 4.76% |
| DraftKings | 36 | 4.71% | 4.50% to 4.75% |
| FanDuel | 42 | 4.71% | 4.17% to 4.75% |
| theScore Bet | 38 | 4.71% | 4.55% to 4.76% |
| BetOnline | 37 | 4.71% | 4.07% to 4.76% |
| Fanatics | 42 | 4.76% | 4.71% to 4.76% |
| Paddy Power | 42 | 4.76% | 4.76% to 5.35% |
| Rebet (s) | 41 | 4.76% | 3.11% to 6.70% |
| betPARX | 36 | 4.97% | 4.76% to 5.10% |
| BetRivers | 41 | 4.97% | 4.76% to 5.11% |
| Stake | 42 | 6.09% | 5.86% to 7.82% |
| Sportzino (s) | 42 | 8.90% | 7.62% to 9.08% |
College football (NCAAF)
A bigger sample than the NFL: up to about 340 main lines per book.
| Sportsbook | Markets | Median hold | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle | 189 | 3.74% | 2.91% to 3.85% |
| BetMGM | 288 | 4.30% | 4.05% to 4.30% |
| bwin | 281 | 4.30% | 4.05% to 4.30% |
| BetOnline | 98 | 4.71% | 4.03% to 4.76% |
| DraftKings | 132 | 4.71% | 4.32% to 4.75% |
| Caesars | 188 | 4.75% | 4.58% to 5.19% |
| Bovada | 80 | 4.76% | 4.71% to 6.13% |
| FanDuel | 325 | 4.76% | 4.71% to 4.95% |
| 1xBet | 179 | 4.76% | 4.74% to 6.54% |
| theScore Bet | 157 | 4.76% | 4.55% to 4.76% |
| Hard Rock Bet | 103 | 4.76% | 4.71% to 5.58% |
| Circa Sports | 37 | 4.76% | 3.63% to 4.76% |
| SABA | 100 | 4.76% | 4.71% to 4.76% |
| Fanatics | 48 | 4.76% | 4.55% to 4.76% |
| betPARX | 30 | 4.97% | 4.76% to 5.10% |
| Bally Bet | 64 | 4.98% | 4.94% to 5.21% |
| BetRivers | 322 | 5.32% | 4.97% to 5.43% |
| Ladbrokes | 49 | 5.38% | 5.27% to 5.66% |
| Rebet (s) | 79 | 6.54% | 4.20% to 6.54% |
| Betway | 30 | 6.98% | 4.76% to 13.22% |
| Goldrush | 42 | 8.04% | 8.03% to 8.16% |
| SBOBET | 62 | 8.04% | 8.03% to 8.32% |
| Sportzino (s) | 260 | 9.09% | 8.57% to 9.09% |
| Paddy Power | 343 | 9.89% | 9.09% to 10.10% |
| Stake | 201 | 9.89% | 6.10% to 10.10% |
NHL
About 50 games in the window, so up to 150 main lines per book. Only the full-game moneyline, puck line and total count; the regulation-time (60 minute) three-way line that some books also offer is left out.
| Sportsbook | Markets | Median hold | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle | 150 | 2.90% | 2.60% to 3.08% |
| BetOnline | 144 | 3.47% | 3.16% to 3.77% |
| DraftKings | 123 | 4.27% | 4.18% to 4.35% |
| theScore Bet | 149 | 4.34% | 3.98% to 4.63% |
| Paddy Power | 48 | 4.34% | 4.17% to 4.56% |
| bet365 US | 61 | 4.35% | 4.10% to 4.62% |
| Bovada | 100 | 4.39% | 4.05% to 4.66% |
| bwin | 100 | 4.62% | 4.55% to 4.76% |
| Caesars | 127 | 4.62% | 4.28% to 5.02% |
| BetMGM | 150 | 4.67% | 4.55% to 4.78% |
| Fanatics | 150 | 4.73% | 4.55% to 5.07% |
| FanDuel | 150 | 4.88% | 4.57% to 5.04% |
| Bally Bet | 64 | 4.92% | 4.37% to 5.41% |
| Stake | 100 | 4.95% | 4.91% to 5.09% |
| Hard Rock Bet | 51 | 5.30% | 4.55% to 6.06% |
| BetRivers | 149 | 5.34% | 4.51% to 5.66% |
| Rebet (s) | 80 | 5.35% | 4.06% to 6.07% |
| Betway | 100 | 5.87% | 5.56% to 6.25% |
| Ladbrokes | 50 | 6.03% | 5.96% to 6.31% |
| Goldrush | 32 | 7.05% | 6.96% to 7.10% |
| Sportzino (s) | 150 | 7.82% | 7.62% to 8.30% |
Champions League
18 matches, up to about 90 main lines per book. Soccer medians mix three-way moneylines with Asian handicap and total lines, which some books price much tighter than others, so read the middle half too: a low median can sit on a wide range.
| Sportsbook | Markets | Median hold | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1xBet | 54 | 1.66% | 1.56% to 7.13% |
| SBOBET | 54 | 2.13% | 1.78% to 5.17% |
| Pinnacle | 72 | 2.82% | 2.40% to 3.38% |
| Goldrush | 51 | 3.12% | 2.99% to 5.16% |
| Rebet (s) | 52 | 5.45% | 4.27% to 6.17% |
| DraftKings | 46 | 5.76% | 4.97% to 7.74% |
| Caesars | 36 | 6.06% | 5.98% to 6.37% |
| FanDuel | 54 | 6.08% | 4.99% to 9.18% |
| BetRivers | 89 | 6.81% | 5.54% to 7.07% |
| GG Bet | 36 | 7.02% | 6.93% to 8.12% |
| Sportzino (s) | 36 | 7.52% | 7.35% to 7.81% |
| BetMGM | 53 | 7.74% | 6.16% to 8.67% |
| bwin | 53 | 7.74% | 6.16% to 8.67% |
| Paddy Power | 36 | 7.99% | 6.77% to 8.25% |
| Betway | 36 | 8.72% | 6.72% to 15.53% |
NBA games this week were preseason and MLB had only a handful of postseason games, so neither has a table of its own this month. The Premier League (10 fixtures this week), MLS and the ATP and WTA tours are in the combined table but also get no separate table in this issue.
Exchanges and prediction markets
On an exchange or a prediction market, the gap between the two sides is a trading spread set by the people placing orders, not a margin set by a bookmaker. These figures are computed exactly like the sportsbook tables, on the same ten leagues and the same main lines, so they show what that spread costs at the close.
| Venue | Type | Markets | Median | Middle half | Price used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novig | Exchange | 1,122 | 1.13% | 0.87% to 1.97% | best available price on each side |
| SX Bet | Exchange | 878 | 1.48% | 1.06% to 2.42% | best available price on each side |
| ProphetX | Exchange | 1,056 | 2.09% | 1.61% to 2.75% | best available price on each side |
| Matchbook | Exchange | 599 | 2.75% | 2.07% to 4.27% | back price, before commission |
| Betfair | Exchange | 952 | 3.60% | 3.15% to 4.18% | back price, before commission |
| Kalshi | Prediction market | 1,278 | 4.53% | 4.35% to 5.37% | ask price, including the taker fee |
| Smarkets | Exchange | 763 | 4.87% | 2.40% to 8.89% | back price, before commission |
Betfair, Matchbook and Smarkets also charge commission on net winnings, which is not included above.
Not included this month
- Fanatics Markets and Gemini: their prices this week mixed two pricing methods, so a hold figure would not be meaningful.
- Fliff: its listings this week could not be matched reliably to real kickoff times, so its prices are not treated as closing lines.
Why ten leagues, not every market
Across every market in the data, medians run higher, because table tennis, esports simulations and lower-tier soccer carry higher margins and make up much of some books' volume, so a ranking over all markets would mostly show what each book covers.
Method
This is the fixed method for every monthly issue.
- Closing price. A book's last pre-game price for each event, market, selection and line. A price counts only if it was recorded at the moment the book moved the event to in-play or at the scheduled start time. Prices recorded later, for example when a book pulled a market, are left out.
- Markets. Full-game moneylines (two-way, or three-way where a draw is a possible result), point spreads, run lines, puck lines, Asian handicaps and game totals.
- Not included. Player props, futures, period, half, quarter and set markets, regulation-time-only hockey lines, team totals, corners and cards, live prices, exchange lay prices and alternate lines. Virtual and simulated matches are left out too, and so are specials a book files under a league that are not games, such as a day's home goals against away goals.
- Relisted games. If a book lists the same game at three or more different start times in one week, those listings are not closing prices, so that game is left out for that book.
- Complete outcome sets. A moneyline needs every outcome (home and away, plus the draw where a draw is possible). A spread pairs the home side at a line with the away side at the opposite line (home -3.5 with away +3.5). A total pairs the over and the under at the same line.
- Hold. Convert each outcome's decimal odds to an implied probability (1 divided by the odds, margin not removed), add up the complete set and subtract 100%. Sets that add up to less than 100% or more than 125% are treated as incomplete or bad data and dropped.
- Main line. For spreads and totals, a book's main line on a game is the line whose two sides are priced closest to each other; a tie goes to the line closer to zero. Only the main line counts.
- Medians. Each figure is the median across a book's markets, with the middle half (25th to 75th percentile) shown beside it.
- Minimums. 100 markets for the combined table and 30 for a league table.
- Exchanges and prediction markets are reported separately, because their spread is set by traders, not a bookmaker. A prediction market appears only when the price recorded for it (bid, ask or midpoint) is documented and consistent for the whole week.
- Every figure is counted from recorded closing prices. Nothing is estimated or modeled.
Data: SharpAPI closing-line data, events starting October 12 to 18, 2026, Eastern Time.