This guide is for a new account. It shows the fastest path from opening the dashboard to logging your first bet, tracking your results, and understanding what each product area is for.

THE LINEUP is not a sportsbook. It helps you find, compare, and track betting opportunities. You still place any wager inside your sportsbook account.

What is EV+ betting?

Expected value (EV) measures whether a bet is priced in your favor. When a sportsbook offers odds that are better than the fair probability of an outcome, that bet is +EV -- you have an edge. THE LINEUP finds these edges by comparing sportsbook prices against fair odds derived from sharper market sources.

One +EV bet can still lose. But over hundreds of bets, the math works in your favor -- the same way a casino has an edge on every hand of blackjack. Your job is to find +EV bets consistently and let volume do the rest.

First setup

Choose your sport

When the sport picker appears, choose the sport you care about most. You can switch later from the sidebar or by using the sport parameter on supported pages.

Supported sport IDs include NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, NCAAB, PGA, EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, MLS, Ligue 1, and UCL. Some tools are deeper for mature sports than newer coverage areas, so use the visible data on each page as the source of truth.

Set My Sportsbooks

On Best Bets, use My Sportsbooks or the sportsbook filter to keep the board focused on books where you actually have accounts. This matters because the best theoretical edge is only useful if you can place it at that book and price.

Set your bankroll

When prompted, enter the bankroll you use for this strategy. THE LINEUP uses it to size recommended stakes. You can still choose your own stake, but the recommended amount gives you a consistent starting point.

Finding your first bet on Best Bets

Navigate to Best Bets in the dashboard. The board is built to answer four questions quickly:

What is the current edge?
Which sportsbook has the best price?
What line and side should I compare in my sportsbook?
Have I already logged or handled this bet?

Reading a bet card

Each card shows everything you need to decide whether to place a bet:

Player or market -- For props, this is usually the player. For game lines, it is the team, total, spread, moneyline, or matchup.

Market, line, and side -- You might see Points Over 27.5, MIA ML, NYK +4.5, or Over 8.5. Match this exactly in your sportsbook before placing anything.

EV% -- The edge estimate compares the sportsbook price against fair value. Higher is better, but price accuracy and market quality matter too.

Fair and implied probability -- Fair probability comes from market-derived pricing. Implied probability comes from the sportsbook odds you can bet. The gap is the edge.

Sportsbook offers -- Compare the books and odds listed on the card. If your sportsbook no longer shows the same line or price, do not treat the stale price as actionable.

Tracked status -- Use the visible tracking state on the card or in My Bets. If status is not shown, confirm in My Bets before assuming the bet is already logged.

Filters and sorting

The default filters are designed for a useful first pass. A practical setup for a new user:

Start with your real sportsbooks selected
Keep EV filters conservative until you trust your process
Compare the exact line and odds before logging
Skip anything you cannot place at the displayed price

Use sorting and filters to narrow by EV, sportsbook, odds range, and market type. Your saved sportsbook choices help keep future sessions focused.

Tracking your bets (Log Bet)

You can track bets in three ways.

1. Log a pick from Best Bets

When you find a bet you want to track, open the pick from Best Bets. From the bet dialog:

Confirm the player, team, market, line, side, odds, and sportsbook
Enter your bet amount
Change the sportsbook if you placed it somewhere else
Tap Log Bet

This records the bet in your account. It does not place an actual wager.

2. Upload a screenshot with AI bet upload

If you already placed bets at a sportsbook, use Upload bets on Best Bets or Import Bets on My Bets.

Choose the sportsbook if you want to help detection, or leave it on auto-detect
Choose the sport if you know it, or leave it on auto-detect
Open the Screenshot tab
Upload a bet slip, settled bet screen, or bet history screenshot
Review the AI-extracted bets
Edit anything that looks wrong
Tap Import Bets

AI bet upload is meant to save typing, not remove review. Always check the sport, player or team, market, line, side, odds, stake, result, and date before importing.

3. Paste bet history text

Use Import Bets on My Bets and open Paste Text when copying from a sportsbook account, notes app, spreadsheet, or settled-bet export.

Paste as much detail as possible: sportsbook, sport, matchup, player or team, market, line, odds, stake, payout, and result. The more complete the text is, the less cleanup you will need.

After the game, THE LINEUP can grade supported bets and update your record. Over time, My Bets becomes your personal history for win rate, profit, ROI, and how closely your actual betting follows the board.

Player Projections

The Projections page shows machine-learning-projected stats for players with a game that day. This is separate from EV+. EV+ is market-priced. Projections are model predictions.

Use projections to research players and compare stat expectations against sportsbook lines. Use Best Bets to find market-priced edges. They answer different questions.

My Bets

Use My Bets as your personal ledger. This is where you can:

Review pending, won, lost, pushed, and void bets
Add a bet manually
Import bets from screenshot or text
Settle completed bets when supported results are available
Audit your own profit, ROI, and betting volume

Good tracking is part of the product. If you only look at picks and never log what you actually bet, you cannot tell whether your execution is improving.

Verify our results

Explore thelineup.pro/results to review the public track record. The results page shows performance by sport, book, market type, daily bets, and closing line value where available.

Use public results to understand the strategy. Use My Bets to understand your own execution.