Becoming a successful sports bettor, or even a professional, requires a substantial amount of knowledge. Since American football is one of the most wagered sporting events around the world, let’s use it as our first example. It’s important to realize this is much more than simply cheering for your favorite team or going with the “sexy” pick.
Studying the Wager
It all begins with understanding the rules of the wager. For instance, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos play Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens in week 1 of the 2015 NFL season. Taking an educated guess, by the time the line comes out, it will most likely be somewhere around 7 1/2 points (DENVER -7 1/2 Baltimore). If you are just starting out as a sports bettor, taking Denver and giving the points means, they will need to win by 8 points in order for you to win the bet.
There are several ways to bet on a professional football game like:
a. Spreads
b. Teasers
c. Parlays
d. Money Lines
e. Props
If a sports bettor doesn’t understand how each one of these work, there is a good possibility he or she will lose money. I could break down each one of these down for you, but you can read the instructions on any online betting site before you get started.
Knowing more about the Teams
The next step is learning as much as possible about the teams, heading into the first game of the season (or whatever time of year you are betting). In our example, both of these teams have had several changes during the off-season. One if not more of these changes could make the difference in the upcoming wager. For instance, John Fox is no longer the coach of the Denver Broncos.
Anytime a new head coach comes in, there are bound to be changes. Whether it’s to each game’s plan of attack, the offensive and defensive playbooks, hiring in new coaches in other areas of the team, and the list goes on and on. I hate to admit it, but about twenty years ago I wagered on the San Francisco 49ers and lost big. Why? One of the biggest reasons is because their quarterback was hurt and couldn’t play (at the time the quarterback was Steve Young, so maybe even longer than 20 years). [Read more…]