Isn't it nice to walk into a tavern and see a dozen or more beers on tap to choose from? Or to look in the phone book and see a dozen (or two) pizza places to pick a pie from? Or to walk through the bakery, and take in all it's got to offer? Someone said “variety is the spice of life.” Well, a little variety can also help you save money. Whether it be ordering a pizza, grabbing some glazed doughnuts or betting sports online.

What fun would it be in a town with one tavern, or one bakery? Not only would you be limited in selection, you're stuck with the price they decide to charge. But we know, fortunately, that's not the case in our two examples, or with online sports betting.

Serious bettors know that variety and advantage can be found by using multiple online sportsbooks. Lines and prices vary among the various sportsbooks, and by doing a little homework and shopping around bettors can find the better numbers with which to play. In turn, those bettors will win more bets and even save money on losing bets.

There's very little variation in opening lines within the online sportsbook universe. The vast majority of books open games with numbers that are very much in line with most other books. But once the betting gets started, theoretically anything could happen. The powers that be at each individual sportsbook move their lines based largely upon the action they've taken in. So any line or price could go in opposite directions at different sportstbooks. Which can be an advantage to bettors who have the wherewithal to shop and compare lines, and get down on the better of them.

In football betting this can be especially important when the lines fall around the key numbers of three, seven and 10. Many football games open with a pointspread of three. It's the standard home-field advantage figure, so games that look like toss-ups are often lined at three. But when action necessitates, bookmakers will drop that line a half-point to 2.5, or add the half-point, in an attempt to balance their books on that particular game.

Same for pointspreads of seven, the standard touchdown, and 10, a touchdown and a field goal. Those who like the favorites in those games will want to find lines of -6.5 or -9.5, while those who like the underdogs should try to find an outlet offering +7.5 or +10.5 points. And those with access to multiple online sportsbooks should have success.

The same goes for the “grease” or “juice” sportsbooks charge. Some books operate with a standard price of 11/10 on spreads and totals. That is, the bettor is risking $11 to win $10. But some books will line games at 12/10 (-120) and worse, while others offer friendlier terms, like -105. It may not seem like much of a difference, but tallied up over the course of a football season, the bettor who uses multiple sportsbooks can find real savings.

So there are several advantages for the sports bettor in using multiple sportsbooks. Every book is a little different, offering a different menu of wagers, bonus and loyalty programs, and different odds on parlays, teasers and other exotics. And smart bettors know that money can be made and saved by shopping around and comparing sportsbook offerings.