Why choose sports gambling over other forms of gambling?
Putting aside the entertainment factor, there is one simple reason. You have a better chance of winning consistently. Over the long term, most casino games cannot be beat. If you play long enough, you will lose.
The possible exceptions are poker, which involves elements of skill and psychology, and blackjack for those who are skilled at counting cards.
Sports gambling offers a unique skill based opportunity for winning. Sports betting essentially involves two opposing bets by individuals with the sportsbook acting as a sort of broker. The sportsbook makes its money from the broker fees - the "juice" - and will adjust the odds and betting lines up or down to try and assure a roughly equal number of bettors on both sides of any proposition. The individual bettor is pitting his judgment on the outcome of an event against the judgment of another bettor. By doing your homework before making a bet, you can directly increase the chances of winning your bets - particularly over the long run.
How Much Should You Bet
Like most forms of gambling, money management is an important element of sports gambling. At the outset, it is important to define your objective.
For many people, sports gambling is primarily entertainment.
You might have a small budget set aside for your favorite sports season and you simply want to place some bets every week to add excitement to watching the games. Of course you want to win your bet, but losing the bet is not the end of the world.
For this type of sports betting, you may want to use a simple budgetary type of money management. Give some serious thought to your budget for the season. Then divide that budget by the number of weeks in the season. This is your betting budget for the week. Stick to it even when you come across that game that you think is a sure thing.
If you like, you can readjust your budget by adding your winnings to your remaining budget and dividing the total by the number of weeks left in the season. Recognize that if you do this, you increase your risk of volatility.
You will have larger bets being placed on fewer games. Therefore, it is more likely that you will have won more money or lost more money at the end of the season. The more conservative strategy is to avoid readjusting your bets and place smaller bets over the entire season.
Sports Betting for Professionals
The professional sports gambler is interested in maximizing his betting return. This requires a more disciplined approach to sports betting that primarily focuses on spreading smaller bet amounts across a larger number of bets. The goal here is to minimize volatility and never put the bankroll in jeopardy.
You will generally want to keep your individual bets to less than 3% of your bankroll, with 1% to 2% being ideal.
Betting Pitfalls
Chasing Losses
Do not increase your bets or bet on more games in order to make up losses. You will lose bets. You will experience losing streaks as well as winning streaks. You must stay disciplined. By chasing losses all you do is put your bankroll at risk.
If you experience a losing streak, reassess your research and handicapping efforts. If in hindsight you would still make the same bets, then relax and stay consistent. If you see gaps in your skills, then spend some time learning. Frankly, the learning experience never ends.
Winning Exuberance
Do not increase your bets or bet on more games because you are on a winning streak and can't lose. You can and will lose.
The natural temptation when you have a great week, is to start doubling your bet amounts and the number of games you are betting on. Do not do it. You must stay disciplined.
How to Win
Would you like to know the one secret to winning sports betting? Here is the secret - don't tell anyone else. Look for anomalies in the system. Your job as a sports bettor is to do your research and look for things that have not been appropriately factored into the odds or the betting line.
This takes work. You cannot bet on feelings, or your general impressions of what happened last year. You need to keep abreast of the latest news. Carefully review the team and player statistics. Look over the recent injury reports. Is the game going to take place outdoors or in an indoor stadium? If it is outdoors, what is the weather going to be on game day? You need information and analysis, and you are best off doing it yourself.
Also, look for anomalies based on the psychology of public opinion. Remember, the sportsbook is adjusting the odds so that there are roughly an equal number of bettors on both sides of the game outcome. If a large percentage of the population is betting on a team to win simply because it is a popular team, the sportsbook may give the underdog better odds than it deserves to even out the betting - so take the underdog.
In summary, the key to winning is to educate yourself.
How Often Should You Win
Ready for another sports gambling secret? This one will probably surprise you. Professional handicappers and sports bettors rarely have a long term winning percentage higher than 58 percent. So, do not set your expectations so high that you get discouraged.
Your goal is to use consistent money management and win more than half your bets.
Now, this also says something about all those services selling you their sports picks with the pitch that their handicappers are winning at 70% or 80%. They are selling you snake oil. They make their money selling advice to sports gamblers. If they were consistently hitting those percentages, they would be making their money gambling themselves. They sure wouldn't be sharing the information. Be very careful buying sports gambling advice. If you do pay for picks, be sure you are also provided with the analysis supporting the picks so you can make your own decisions.
I hope you have enjoyed these tips. Follow them, and you are well on your way to winning sports gambling.
http://sportsgambling.about.com
Putting aside the entertainment factor, there is one simple reason. You have a better chance of winning consistently. Over the long term, most casino games cannot be beat. If you play long enough, you will lose.
The possible exceptions are poker, which involves elements of skill and psychology, and blackjack for those who are skilled at counting cards.
Sports gambling offers a unique skill based opportunity for winning. Sports betting essentially involves two opposing bets by individuals with the sportsbook acting as a sort of broker. The sportsbook makes its money from the broker fees - the "juice" - and will adjust the odds and betting lines up or down to try and assure a roughly equal number of bettors on both sides of any proposition. The individual bettor is pitting his judgment on the outcome of an event against the judgment of another bettor. By doing your homework before making a bet, you can directly increase the chances of winning your bets - particularly over the long run.
How Much Should You Bet
Like most forms of gambling, money management is an important element of sports gambling. At the outset, it is important to define your objective.
For many people, sports gambling is primarily entertainment.
You might have a small budget set aside for your favorite sports season and you simply want to place some bets every week to add excitement to watching the games. Of course you want to win your bet, but losing the bet is not the end of the world.
For this type of sports betting, you may want to use a simple budgetary type of money management. Give some serious thought to your budget for the season. Then divide that budget by the number of weeks in the season. This is your betting budget for the week. Stick to it even when you come across that game that you think is a sure thing.
If you like, you can readjust your budget by adding your winnings to your remaining budget and dividing the total by the number of weeks left in the season. Recognize that if you do this, you increase your risk of volatility.
You will have larger bets being placed on fewer games. Therefore, it is more likely that you will have won more money or lost more money at the end of the season. The more conservative strategy is to avoid readjusting your bets and place smaller bets over the entire season.
Sports Betting for Professionals
The professional sports gambler is interested in maximizing his betting return. This requires a more disciplined approach to sports betting that primarily focuses on spreading smaller bet amounts across a larger number of bets. The goal here is to minimize volatility and never put the bankroll in jeopardy.
You will generally want to keep your individual bets to less than 3% of your bankroll, with 1% to 2% being ideal.
Betting Pitfalls
Chasing Losses
Do not increase your bets or bet on more games in order to make up losses. You will lose bets. You will experience losing streaks as well as winning streaks. You must stay disciplined. By chasing losses all you do is put your bankroll at risk.
If you experience a losing streak, reassess your research and handicapping efforts. If in hindsight you would still make the same bets, then relax and stay consistent. If you see gaps in your skills, then spend some time learning. Frankly, the learning experience never ends.
Winning Exuberance
Do not increase your bets or bet on more games because you are on a winning streak and can't lose. You can and will lose.
The natural temptation when you have a great week, is to start doubling your bet amounts and the number of games you are betting on. Do not do it. You must stay disciplined.
How to Win
Would you like to know the one secret to winning sports betting? Here is the secret - don't tell anyone else. Look for anomalies in the system. Your job as a sports bettor is to do your research and look for things that have not been appropriately factored into the odds or the betting line.
This takes work. You cannot bet on feelings, or your general impressions of what happened last year. You need to keep abreast of the latest news. Carefully review the team and player statistics. Look over the recent injury reports. Is the game going to take place outdoors or in an indoor stadium? If it is outdoors, what is the weather going to be on game day? You need information and analysis, and you are best off doing it yourself.
Also, look for anomalies based on the psychology of public opinion. Remember, the sportsbook is adjusting the odds so that there are roughly an equal number of bettors on both sides of the game outcome. If a large percentage of the population is betting on a team to win simply because it is a popular team, the sportsbook may give the underdog better odds than it deserves to even out the betting - so take the underdog.
In summary, the key to winning is to educate yourself.
How Often Should You Win
Ready for another sports gambling secret? This one will probably surprise you. Professional handicappers and sports bettors rarely have a long term winning percentage higher than 58 percent. So, do not set your expectations so high that you get discouraged.
Your goal is to use consistent money management and win more than half your bets.
Now, this also says something about all those services selling you their sports picks with the pitch that their handicappers are winning at 70% or 80%. They are selling you snake oil. They make their money selling advice to sports gamblers. If they were consistently hitting those percentages, they would be making their money gambling themselves. They sure wouldn't be sharing the information. Be very careful buying sports gambling advice. If you do pay for picks, be sure you are also provided with the analysis supporting the picks so you can make your own decisions.
I hope you have enjoyed these tips. Follow them, and you are well on your way to winning sports gambling.
http://sportsgambling.about.com
