Odds and prices
What is a standard betting line?
The standard line is the handicap or total set so both sides are roughly equally likely, then priced at about 1.91 each way. That price is the default across most North American markets.
1.91 on both sides is a hold of about 4.8%. It is the number a book falls back on when it has no reason to do anything else.
Why 1.91 and not 2.00
Two coin-flip outcomes at true odds would be 2.00 each. Set both to 1.91 instead and the book keeps a slice regardless of the result. In American notation that is −110 a side, which is the number you see quoted everywhere.
Some books trim it. A 1.95 line each way is a hold of about 2.6%, and over a season of ordinary betting that difference outweighs anything a promotion will hand you.
Standard, then moved
Books usually move the price before they move the line. A spread sitting on a key number is expensive to shift, so the price gets nudged to 1.83 and 2.00 first and only then does the handicap step.
Watch which one moved. A price change is the book managing its exposure. A line change is the book changing its mind about the game.
Comparing lines on a phone
Two apps side by side is the whole method. It takes about eight seconds and it is the only edge available to somebody who is not doing this professionally.
Most books let you pin favourite leagues so the same market is one tap from the app opening. Set that up once and comparing stops being a chore you skip.