Start here

Five minutes to read, once. By the end you'll know what this app does, how much to bet, and exactly what to do when your phone buzzes.

What this app does, in one minute

Sportsbooks (FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM…) all set their own prices, and they don't move at the same speed. One book, Pinnacle, is run for professional bettors: it lets the best bettors in the world bet big, so its prices end up the most accurate in the business. We don't bet at Pinnacle; we use it as the answer key.

The app watches every game all day. When one of your books is still offering a better price than Pinnacle says the bet is worth (usually because Pinnacle just moved and your book hasn't caught up yet), it tells you to take it now, before your book fixes it.

This is not picking winners. You'll still lose plenty of bets, often several in a row. The idea is that you keep buying bets for less than they're worth, and over hundreds of bets that adds up. Think of it like buying things on sale: any one thing might break, but you keep paying less than the price.

Step 1 · Decide your betting money and your unit

Your bankroll is the money you set aside for betting: money you could lose all of without it hurting your rent, bills or sleep. Don't add to it after a bad week.

Your unit is your standard bet size, written as how much you're trying to win. The app uses 1% of your bankroll. It sounds small, and that's on purpose: losing streaks of 8 or 10 bets happen even when you're doing everything right, and small bets mean a streak can't knock you out.

My betting money (bankroll) $

Your unit: $100 to win (1% of $10,000).

A 1 unit bet at -110 = risk about $110 to win $100.
A half unit bet = risk about $55 to win $50.
The biggest bet the app ever suggests is 2 units: about $220 at risk. That's about 2.2% of your money.

(You're the owner: your unit is fixed at $100.)

You can change your unit any time at the top of My Bets. A good rule: only change it when your bankroll changes a lot, never to win back losses.

Step 2 · Put the app on your phone and turn on alerts

Open sharpstieri.app in Safari (on Android: Chrome).
Tap the Share button (the square with the arrow), then Add to Home Screen, then Add.
Close Safari and open Sharpstieri from the new icon on your home screen. (iPhones only allow alerts from the icon, not from Safari.)
Come back to this page (Start here: at the top of My Bets, and at the bottom of every page) and tap Turn on alerts below, then Allow.
Tap Send a test. Your phone should buzz within a few seconds.

Alerts are free (they come from the app, not by text message). Only “Take it now” alerts buzz your phone. They can come at any hour, because prices move at any hour.

Step 3 · Have accounts at the books

The app compares FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM, BetRivers, theScore Bet and Bally Bet. Each alert names one book, the one with the good price. The more of these you have money in, the more alerts you can actually use. Two or three is a fine start (FanDuel and Caesars come up the most).

Step 4 · When your phone buzzes “Take it now”

An alert looks something like this:

Take it now
Browns +2.5 (-108) at Caesars · Browns @ Ravens, Sun 1:00 PM. Risk $55 to win $50, about 0.5 unit.

Tap the alert. It opens that game in the app.
Open the book it names (Caesars here) and find the game.
Check the price is the same or better. Same number (+2.5) and the odds no worse (-108, or -105, or +100…). If it's worse (+2 or -115), don't bet. The deal is gone; that's normal and fine.
Bet the amount it says. Not more because you “like” it, not less because you lost yesterday. The size is already worked out for how good the price is.
Back in the app, tap ✓ Got it. That logs the bet to My Bets for you. If it was gone, tap It was gone instead.

Speed matters: these prices usually last minutes, not hours. If you see the alert an hour later, open the game first; the app will say if it's still worth it.

What the words mean

Spread (e.g. Browns +2.5): A head start. Browns +2.5 wins if the Browns win, or lose by 1 or 2. Ravens -2.5 has to win by 3 or more.
Moneyline: Just pick who wins the game. No head start.
Total, Over / Under (e.g. Under 44.5): Bet on the two teams' combined score. Under 44.5 wins if they score 44 or fewer together. In baseball it's runs.
Odds: -110: A minus number is what you risk to win $100. -110: risk $110 to win $100.
Odds: +150: A plus number is what you win on a $100 bet. +150: risk $100 to win $150.
Juice (or vig): The book's cut, built into the odds. -105 is less juice than -110, so it's a better price for the same bet.
Unit (u): Your standard bet, in dollars to win. 0.5u = half of it. Yours is $100 to win.
Bankroll: The money you set aside only for betting.
Pinnacle: The sportsbook professional bettors use. Its prices are the most accurate, so the app uses it as the answer key. You don't need an account there.
Sharp: A professional, winning bettor. “Sharp money” is their bets, which is what moves Pinnacle.
Closing line: The final price right before the game starts. It's the most accurate price there is, so “beating the close” (your bet was at a better price than that) is the best sign you're betting well, long before wins and losses tell you.
Line move: When a book changes its price, usually because sharps bet one side.
Wait / No bet / Pass / Too late: On a game page: Wait means the sharps like a side but the price isn't good enough yet. No bet and Pass mean nothing to do. Too late means the good price is gone. Only Take it now is a bet.
Parlay: Several bets on one ticket; every one has to win. Big payouts, but the book keeps a much bigger cut. The app doesn't suggest them, except to get the most out of a boost.
Boost / Bonus bet: Promos from the book. A boost pays more than normal on one bet; a bonus bet is a free bet (you keep only the winnings). The Boost calculator finds the best bet to use them on. They're tracked apart from your real record.

Where things are

Home: today's Take it now bets, if any. Most of the time there are none; that's normal.
Games: every game, with what the sharps think. Tap one for the full story.
Record: every call the app has made and how it did. It's shared, so you can see it isn't cherry-picked.
My Bets: your own bets (only you see them). Got it adds them for you, or tap + Add a bet I placed. It shows your win-loss, profit, and how often you beat the closing line.
Alerts (link at the bottom of every page): every alert, in case you missed one.

Five rules

Only bet what the app says, at the price it says or better.
Never bet more to win back a loss.
Judge yourself on the closing line (My Bets), not on this week's wins. It takes hundreds of bets for luck to even out.
Don't add bets of your own “for fun” out of the same bankroll. If you do, log them so you see what they cost.
If betting stops being fun or you're chasing, stop. Help is free and private: in New York call or text 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369), anywhere else 1-800-GAMBLER.

Done: go to Home →