To fade is to bet the opposite. You might fade a team on a hot streak you think is due to fall, or fade the public.
"Fade me" is a joke cappers make after a losing run. Some followers fade cappers on purpose, betting against their picks.
The opposite of fading a capper is to tail them.
How it works
Fading means taking the opposite side of something on purpose. You can fade a team, a trend, the public or a specific person.
Common reasons to fade:
- A team on a hot streak whose results look better than their play.
- Overreaction after one big win or loss, where the line has moved too far.
- A capper with a poor record, where some followers bet against them.
Fading a capper is popular as a joke and sometimes for real. The catch is that a bad past record doesn't mean future picks will lose. If a capper is unlucky rather than bad, their picks may be close to coin flips, and fading them just means paying the vig on the other side.
You also can't always get the other side at a fair price. If a capper bets a team at -110 and you fade at -110, the sportsbook still takes its margin from both of you. The opposite of fading someone is to tail them.
Examples
- Example 1
Fading a cold capper. Over 100 picks at -110, a capper goes 40-60, which is -23.6 units. A follower who had bet the other side of every pick at -110 would be up about +14.5 units. That past result doesn't guarantee the next 100 picks follow the same pattern.
- Example 2
Fading an overreaction. A team wins by 30 on national TV and their next spread jumps from -3 to -6. A bettor fades the move and takes the underdog at +6, believing one blowout changed the line too much.
Common questions
What does fade mean in betting?
To fade is to bet against something, like a team, a trend or another bettor's pick.
Is fading a bad capper profitable?
Not reliably. A losing record can be bad luck, and when you fade you still pay the sportsbook's margin, so you need the other side to win more than half the time.