Develop a Sports Betting Strategy for Better Success

A sports betting strategy is something you need if you want to win.

Key Points

– One of the first things a sports bettor can do is to learn the basics of betting.

– Sports betting strategies for success will surprise the average bettor.

Face it. The goal of every bettor, whether an experienced professional or a green newbie, is to win. You just want to win more bets. To do so, you need to develop a sports betting strategy for better success. 

Newer, more recreational bettors might think there is some magic pill or unique strategy that produces win after win. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Developing a winning sports betting strategy isn’t rocket science. In fact, it’s not really science at all. It’s simply following a few simple concepts and having the discipline to stay with it.

Want to win more bets and add to your bankroll? Add these elements to your betting strategy and reap the benefits.

ICYMI > BETTING HEAVY FAVORITES IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

If you are new to betting, you shouldn’t be making mistakes on the basics. You have to know how odds work. You should understand the concept of value and how to find it as it relates to sports betting.

One of the big things every bettor should know is how sportsbooks work and how they make their money. Sportsbooks set odds and lines to attract equal action on both sides of a bet. That way when it’s all said and done the sportsbook walks away with the juice, or the commission for taking the bet.

There are also numerous betting markets and bet types. Bettors should understand what they are betting before they randomly place wagers.

There might not be anything more important in sports betting than managing one’s money. First off, bettors should have a budget and that budget does not include betting with the rent money or the car payment. 

Choose an amount that you are comfortable losing each week or each month. That’s it. That’s your betting budget. Only bet money you can afford to lose. One thing is certain is sports betting. You will lose at some point.

Now, once you have a budget, the next thing is to consider your bet size. If your budget is $100 for the month, you don’t want to blow it all on one bet. It is recommended that bettors wager 1 to 5 percent of their bankroll. 

With a $100 budget, that means you would bet $1 on bets you are not so sure of and $5 on bets that you really like and feel like you have a great chance of winning. Betting in this fashion will protect against losing streaks.

Never chase bad bets. If you lose 10 in a row, don’t randomly bet $10 the next time out thinking you’ll make up for it. Losing streaks happen. Ride them out, because eventually you will win.

This can take time as bettors must develop a way to estimate the probability of a betting win. If you are betting on the moneyline, you need to have a method of estimating the probability of a team winning, for example.

You compare your estimated probability with that of a sportsbook. If you find a large discrepancy and your probability is more favorable, you may have a value bet worth considering. It’s important to remember that just because you find some value it doesn’t mean that you have to place a bet. Be selective, which brings us to the next element of betting strategies for success.

Too many bettors look at an NFL or MLB schedule and want to place a bet on every game. There isn’t value in every game. There are some bets that simply aren’t worth making. 

Plus, your bankroll will dwindle week by week if you bet on every single NFL game. If you place just 10 bets, keep in mind that even the best bettors in the business win 5 to 6 of those on average. If you continually bet on favorites or on bets with negative odds, your bankroll will decrease very quickly.

The bottom line is to choose your bets wisely.

What do winning sports teams do? They go back and look at what made them successful. Bettors should do the same. They can do so by tracking bets.

Most online sportsbooks do this for you. You just have to know how to access your past bets. Or, you can go old school and write everything down or make your own spreadsheet with all of the crucial information. 

Bettors can gain some valuable insight by going back and seeing where they won and lost. Track every single bet so you have a large sample size. This will give bettors a good picture of what they are doing right or wrong.

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The best sports bettors, as mentioned, will win roughly 55 to 60 percent of the time in the long run. They will go on some incredible runs, but they will have their share of losses too.

One of the reasons why they win consistently is that they don’t bet with emotion. If you are a fan of a certain NFL team for example, you cannot let your emotions steer you to bet on that team. You really can’t do it when the numbers say otherwise. 

One of the hardest things to do as a bettor is to remove personal biases from a betting decision. Let’s say you grew up with a strong hatred of a team. How about the Yankees? Fans love to hate the Yankees because they have won so much.

A bettor can’t let his hatred of the Yankees stop him from following the numbers that lead him to bet on the Yankees. Always bet with the head, never the heart.

You are not – and may never be – a sports handicapper. There’s a good chance you are not your buddy who has been betting on sports for over two decades. You have to learn not to compare yourself to anyone.’

If you want to compare, pull out the tracking of your bets and compare yourself to a previous version of you. Strive to improve as a bettor, but don’t compare yourself to others, especially professionals. Professional handicappers spend hours each day poring over data, analyzing statistics, and more to make good betting decisions. 

None of these strategies are anything mind-blowing. They are not science, but they are concepts that, if followed, can help produce favorable results for sports bettors.