Why do DraftKings and Pinnacle prop lines differ?
Short answer: The two books run different businesses. Pinnacle prices for professional bettors and moves quickly on informed money; DraftKings prices for a recreational audience, shades popular sides and updates on its own schedule. Gaps also open when news such as an injury or rest decision reaches one book before the other.
Different customers, different prices
Pinnacle earns a thin margin on a large volume and lets professional bettors shape its lines, so its prices react to informed money. DraftKings earns more per bet from a recreational audience; it can shade the popular side (often Overs and star players) and limit the accounts that move markets. Two books with those models will rarely post the same probability.
Timing
The books update on their own schedules. A price change at one book can take minutes or hours to appear at the other, and a quote read an hour ago can make a gap look bigger than it is. OpenSlate marks a comparison as an old quote when the two books' prices were read more than 90 minutes apart.
News
Injury and rest news is the largest single cause of big gaps. When a player is ruled out, the book that reacts first moves his props and his teammates'; the other book's stale price creates a wide gap until it catches up (see how injury reports move lines).
Today, measured
Live figures appear here while today's lines are posted.
Margins are similar on props, so most of the difference is in where each book centres the line, not in how much it charges. Compare them yourself on tonight's props.
Different numbers, not just different prices
Sometimes the books do not even post the same line: DraftKings may hang 24.5 points while Pinnacle hangs 25.5. Those are different bets and cannot be compared directly. OpenSlate only compares lines both books post at the identical number, which is why the count of comparable lines is smaller than the total number of props each book offers.
Is a gap an opportunity?
Not by itself. A gap is a disagreement between two books, and the explanation is often mundane: one price is older, one book is shading a popular side, or news has reached one book first. Treat a large gap as a reason to check the news and the time of each price, not as a recommendation. The line movement page explains why gaps tend to close quickly.
Margins and centring
Each book also chooses how to split its margin between the two sides. One may price both sides evenly around its estimate; another may load more of the margin onto the side its customers prefer. That alone can make two books with the same underlying view show different prices, which is why comparing no-vig probabilities, not raw prices, is the fair test.
Related questions
- What is a Trap Over?: why a cheap-looking Over is listed apart instead of treated as value.
- Are NBA rebound unders profitable?: an honest answer, and how to judge any claim that a market wins.
- How do I compare prop odds for free?: a step-by-step method and the free page that does it.
- How often do prop lines move?: today's measured share of lines whose price changed at each book.
Every answer on these pages is market data and education. OpenSlate does not publish free picks and does not tell you what to bet; it shows prices and measurements.
More: Removing the vig: how to turn two prices into a fair probability · Why Pinnacle is the reference price · Closing line value, explained · Why parlays cost more than the same bets straight · Why player prop lines move · Is DraftKings or Pinnacle sharper on NBA player props? · How do I calculate a no-vig price? · What is a +EV player prop? · What is a Trap Over? · Are NBA rebound unders profitable? · How do I compare sportsbook prop odds for free? · What does closing line value tell me? · How often do prop lines move before tip-off? · What is the vig on DraftKings player props? · How do injury reports move NBA prop lines? · What is a market-maker sportsbook? · Is it better to bet the over or the under on player props? · Can you make money betting player props? · Can you bet at Pinnacle from the US? · What free tools help with player prop betting? · Does betting DraftKings when it disagrees with Pinnacle work? · What does over/under mean on a player prop? · How do sportsbooks set player prop lines? · What is a sharp bettor? · How do I convert American odds to implied probability? · What is a steam move in sports betting? · What are alternate lines on player props?
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