Books offer first half wagering for the simple purpose of increasing handle. The more you bet, the more (hopefully) the book earns.
There is not much secret in how First Half lines are derived; it is generally just the pointspread for the game cut in half with a half-point to full-point adjustment against the favorite.
It is very easy to find a team’s total points for and against for the season as a total. Every newspaper and major sports website provides this readily. What is tougher to find is a team’s points for and against broken out by first half and second half. I track this myself every week in a spreadsheet and it helps because interesting mismatches do appear. Remember that a team is playing the same opponent in both half’s of every game so even great and horrible teams will have a stronger half.
Some teams get off to a quick start but fade while others start slowly but finish strong. When you compare two teams that are playing each other and see that one plays better in the first half and their opponent plays better in the second half, there may be an opportunity to exploit the weakness of the first half pointspread. This is by no means a system, but it is definitely something you can easily do in a few minutes every week.
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