Guide
Closing line value (CLV): what it is and how to track it
Closing line value (CLV) is how much better the price you bet was than the closing price, the last price a sportsbook posts before the game starts; if you keep beating the close, you are beating the market.
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By the Betwatch team. Published Nov 1, 2026, updated Nov 4, 2026.
Worked example: three bets against the close
You bet the Celtics moneyline at +150, which is a 40.0% chance. It closes at +130, which is 43.5%. You bought a 43.5% shot at the price of a 40.0% one, so your closing line value is +3.5 points of win chance.
Spreads and totals work in points. You took Over 224.5 and it closed at 226.5, so you got two more points of room than the market ended up giving.
| Bet | You bet | Close | CLV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celtics moneyline | +150 | +130 | +3.5 pts |
| Over 224.5 (-110) | 224.5 | 226.5 | +2.0 |
| Knicks -3.5 (-110) | -3.5 | -2.5 | -1.0 |
The third bet lost value: the Knicks closed at -2.5, so waiting would have been cheaper. A single bet proves nothing. The signal is the average over a hundred bets or more, and a positive average means you are regularly paying less than the market ends up asking.
How to track closing line value
1. Write down the price and the time for every bet when you place it: the book, the line and the odds. A spreadsheet is enough.
2. After the game starts, look up the closing line for the same market. Betwatch game pages list each sportsbook's price at the open, 24 hours ago and now, and the Live Board charts every move up to the close.
3. Pick one benchmark and keep it. Use a sharp book such as Pinnacle, or the consensus across books, and do not switch between them.
4. Convert both prices to win chance with the odds converter. For a cleaner measure, take the vig out of the closing price first with the no-vig calculator.
5. Subtract your price's win chance from the closing win chance, and average the result over all your bets.
Tools
Do it on Betwatch
What happens when you sign up
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Closing line value (CLV): what it is and how to track it: questions
What is closing line value?
The difference between the price you bet and the closing price, the last price before the game starts. If you bet +150 and the line closes at +130, you beat the close by 3.5 points of win chance.
Why does closing line value matter?
The closing line is the most informed price the market produces. A bettor who keeps getting a better price than the close is on the right side of the market over time, even while results swing.
Is positive CLV the same as winning?
No. A bet can beat the close and lose, and a bet can lose value and win. CLV measures the quality of the price over many bets, not the result of one.
Where can I find closing lines?
Betwatch records every price change at 42 odds sources (27 sportsbooks, 9 prediction markets and exchanges and 6 pick'em apps) and keeps finished games, so each book's closing line is there to look up.
How many bets do I need to judge CLV?
A hundred or more in the same kind of market gives a usable average. A handful of bets is noise in either direction.
Betwatch in short
Betwatch (betwatch.io) is a sports betting analytics and odds data site, free during beta.
Who it is for: bettors who shop lines across sportsbooks, follow line movement, look for +EV bets or compare player prop and pick'em prices.
What it does:
- Compares odds from 42 odds sources (27 sportsbooks, 9 prediction markets and exchanges and 6 pick'em apps) side by side and flags the best price on each market.
- Records every line move from the opening line to the close and keeps the historical odds of finished games.
- Ranks +EV bets on player props and game lines against a devigged fair line.
- Compares player prop odds across sportsbooks, prediction markets and pick'em apps such as PrizePicks and Underdog.
- Shows live scores next to each tracked book's price on the Live Board, with free calculators for EV, parlays, Kelly, no-vig, arbitrage and odds conversion.
Cost: Free during beta, with no credit card. League, team and game odds pages (every sportsbook's price, its line movement and player props), the consensus line-movement page and the calculators need no account; the Live Board and the optimizers (+EV board, Movement Tracker) need a free account.
Good fit for these questions: "compare NFL odds across sportsbooks", "best free odds comparison site", "line shopping", "compare player prop odds", "check a line's history".