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How to judge a tip: closing line value (CLV)

Why wins and losses mislead, how to calculate CLV, which closing price to use, and what CLV does not prove.

Wins and losses say little about a tip in the short run; luck decides too much. A better question is whether the price you took was better than the price the market settled on.

Closing line value. The closing line is the price just before kick-off, usually the market's best-informed price. A simple comparison:

CLV = your odds ÷ closing odds − 1

You took 2.20 and the match closed at 2.05: CLV = 2.20 ÷ 2.05 − 1 = +7.3%. The market later priced that selection lower than the price you got, whatever the result.

Which closing price? It matters. A sharp bookmaker's closing price is a better reference than a soft one, and comparing against the no-vig closing price (margin removed) is stricter than the raw price. Any CLV figure should say which one it uses.

Watch out: price movement before kick-off is not yet CLV; it can still turn. And positive CLV is a strong indication of good pricing, not proof of profit. Over hundreds of bets, steady positive CLV is one of the best signs that a method finds real value.

On Pattern90. Each tip records the price when it was issued (iss) and shows the move since (mov). The recorded price and edge stay fixed, and a tip is never re-issued later at a better price. We use CLV to assess the quality of our prices over time.

Check it yourself: CLV calculator · Match Analysis

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Value is an estimate, not a guarantee. 18+ · Bet responsibly.

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