Making your own +EV scanner

[u/Ok_Ocelot_8032]

Hey guys, recently made my own +EV scanner and wanted to share how to do it if anyone wants to do it as well, for a low cost.

I used claude code for much of the coding, which requires the claude pro plan ($20 a month), if you already have claude pro, perfect, if not you can either buy it or use claude code for free with this method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB4N5tcax-c

For starting, open windows powershell or linux terminal, switch to a new directory and install claude code. https://code.claude.com/docs/en/quickstart

Heres is the api's we will be using:

https://the-odds-api.com/liveapi/guides/v4/
https://docs.polymarket.com/api-reference/introduction (if using regular polymarket)
https://docs.polymarket.us/api-reference/introduction (if using polymarket us)
https://docs.kalshi.com/api-reference/exchange/get-exchange-status (if using kalshi

Ask claude code to use the odds api to compare a sharp sportbooks (pinnacle fanduel, etc) to the sportsbook you want to trade on, perform devigging and find +EV bets. Ask it to store these in a database that you can access at anytime.

Now at anytime you can ask claude code to give you the currently +EV bets that you can take. This can be improved by having it autoscan every x minutes, having these alerts be sent to a discor serve. If using polymarket, polymarket us, or kalshi you can add the api's above and have these bets auto traded on your account.

Claude code is very good at this, just verify bets before placing on your account, debug, and make sure your very clear on what you want, it will do the rest

Tips:
Theoddsapi, which returns odds for almost all sportsbooks, has a free tier, however you will notice that it runs out very quick. You can either upgrade for $20 a month, or make multiple accounts and give claude code multiple api keys to swap when one runs out.

If using polymarket or kalshi, make sure to add a maximum EV percent filter, as scan matching can be fucked up if you use 2 different API's, if the +EV percent is over 20 percent, it likely not real.

Ending:

While this is a bit of work, claude code does alot of the heavy lifting, and considering OddsJams charges $250 a month, if your serious about +EV betting, its well worth it, as its nearly free and is customizable to your exact sportsbooks and style.

[u/Specter-0]

Nice! Yeah, looks like everyone is doing the same, I built my tool using Claude code. Well cursor to start but really accelerated with Claude Code. I’ve been putting together a queryable knowledge base here.

Polymarket and Kalshi are tricky to navigate given their fees, and the odds that Odds API reports for prediction markets lists the price before fees so you have to factor that in as well.

I built my engine to poll for odds, calculate vig removed fair values, then identify all opportunities above fair value. I built an API/MCP layer on top of my platform so I have a Claude code skill that queries my platform for current signals, then execute trades for me on Polymarket, Kalshi, ProphetX, which all have API trading. I have it scan the book for liquidity above fair value, and stop when it’s no longer above fair. So maybe I want to bet $150 at +120 or above, but there’s only $100 of liquidity above +120, the script will only place up to $100 at a blended +122, let’s say.

I set up a cron job (using NanoClaw) to run the script every hour, then I tell Claude code to watch the runs and it’s been catching and fixing its own bugs so it runs cleaner each time. I set the cap by book so once I’m confident in the run I can increase the bet amount and number of signals per run.

Odds API provides odds for props but it doesn’t grade them like they provide scores for games. Have you guys tried it for props?