Updated Sep 7, 2026 · Week 1 board.
Same game, three books, three cuts
Pinnacle prices Browns at Jaguars (Sunday, Sep 13, 1:00 PM ET kickoff) at -391 for the Jaguars and +316 for the Browns. DraftKings has the same game at -440 and +340. Bovada has it at -420 and +315. One game, three books, three different moneylines, all quoted inside the same stretch of one afternoon. No read on either team accounts for that. Each book picked its own price.
Converting each book's pair
Two formulas do all of it. A negative price gets its size divided by itself plus 100. A positive one gets 100 put over the price plus 100. Pinnacle's Jaguars -391 gives 79.63%. Its Browns +316 gives 24.04%. Those sum to 103.67%, so the cut is 3.67%. DraftKings' Jaguars -440 gives 81.48% and its Browns +340 gives 22.73%, summing to 104.21% for a 4.21% cut. Bovada's Jaguars -420 gives 80.77%, its Browns +315 gives 24.10%, and that sums to 104.87%, a 4.87% cut.
A second game, the same pattern
Buccaneers at Bengals (Sunday, Sep 13, 1:00 PM ET kickoff) does the same thing. Pinnacle is -208 Bengals and +180 Buccaneers, which converts to 67.53% and 35.71%, a 103.24% sum and a 3.25% cut. DraftKings is -205 and +170, converting to 67.21% and 37.04%, a 104.25% sum and a 4.25% cut. Bovada is -225 and +185, converting to 69.23% and 35.09%, a 104.32% sum and a 4.32% cut. The order doesn't repeat cleanly across the two games. Bovada is widest on both. Pinnacle and DraftKings trade places on which of them sits closer to Bovada.
| Game | Book | Favorite price | Favorite probability | Underdog probability | Hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland at Jacksonville | Pinnacle | -391 | 79.63% | 24.04% | 3.67% |
| Cleveland at Jacksonville | DraftKings | -440 | 81.48% | 22.73% | 4.21% |
| Cleveland at Jacksonville | Bovada | -420 | 80.77% | 24.10% | 4.87% |
| Tampa Bay at Cincinnati | Pinnacle | -208 | 67.53% | 35.71% | 3.25% |
| Tampa Bay at Cincinnati | DraftKings | -205 | 67.21% | 37.04% | 4.25% |
| Tampa Bay at Cincinnati | Bovada | -225 | 69.23% | 35.09% | 4.32% |
What the hold figure actually measures
Hold is the raw two-side sum minus 100%. It is arithmetic on the book's own quoted pair. Across these two games and three books it runs from 3.25% to 4.87%. Bovada carries the widest cut on both games. Pinnacle carries the narrowest on both. That difference is real money, paid every time you bet, and no take on either team touches it. Say whatever you like about the Jaguars. The six hold numbers above don't move, because the book's own two prices set them and nothing else does.
On Cleveland-Jacksonville the distance between the widest cut and the narrowest is 4.87% minus 3.67%, which is 1.20 points. All three books quoted those same two teams within about 75 minutes of each other. On Tampa Bay-Cincinnati it is 4.32% minus 3.25%, or 1.07 points. Neither gap is about which book likes which team. Each one set its own cut, on its own, before a hot take about either game could reach it.
The odds converter turns any single price into a chance. Comparing the hold across books is a separate step, done here by hand off the live NFL odds board and the wider odds hub. A companion piece on book-shopping the hold runs this comparison across the whole slate.
These are quoted prices as they stood today. No spread, no total and no player prop went into a single number above.
What the Number Says
Six numbers, two games, three books, and Bovada charges the most on both while Pinnacle charges the least on both. Two books disagreeing on a favorite's price by 50 cents is an ordinary Tuesday. Two books disagreeing by 1.2 points of pure cut, on the same two teams, inside the same hour, is a standing tax you pay for sitting still. So shop the favorite side at Pinnacle first on either game above. In dollars per ticket it is small. Across a season it isn't. What would change the read is either book widening its cut as kickoff nears, so watch those two prices rather than the team news.
