Sports betting. It is a rising trend in the United States, gaining popularity every year.
In 2021, over 18 million people placed a bet on a game. That is only expected to increase in 2022.
With so many people new to gambling on sports, they may be looking for a system or specific bets to wager their money on. To do this, they need access to sports betting tips.
So, what gambling tips should you use when it comes to betting on sports? What are the best things that you can do to increase your chances of success?
These are nine tips for how to bet on sports.
1. Fade the Public
One of the first things that you can do to improve your odds of winning is to ignore what the public likes. Sportsbooks design lines to take money away from more people than not.
However, they also like to have a sweet spot where close to 50% of the action is going on each side. Normally, sportsbooks will shift lines to make sure that close to 50% of the bets are on each side. However, sometimes they do not.
Take 2021’s SEC Championship Game for example. Here, Georgia was favored by 6.5 points to beat Alabama. About 94% of those bets were on Georgia.
Normally, this would force the sportsbook to move the lineup. It did not move all week. Most of the public thought that they had an easy bet on Georgia.
What happened? Alabama won the game outright and sportsbooks made out with 94% of all the money that was bet on that spread.
Sometimes, the best thing that you can do is ignore public opinion and go your own way.
2. Avoid Parlays
The next thing that you may be tempted to do as a new sports bettor is to put money on parlays. They tend to be appealing because there is a better chance that you can win more money while putting up less money.
You may hear about these people that bet $10 on a 3-leg parlay and go on to win tens of thousands of dollars. Well, those people are the exception and not the rule.
By that, we mean do not fall into that trap. There is a reason parlays are out there and that reason is that they are much more difficult to win.
When it comes to parlays, you have to get every single leg of the parlay correct to win the overall bet. So, you could bet on five teams but if one of them loses, you lose the entire bet.
However, if you bet on those five teams separately at $50 each and win four of them, you just made $150.
Parlays may be more tempting and the reward that you can get from them is definitely more attractive. However, in terms of the odds of hitting those, it is much lower than betting teams separately. This is especially true when you add more teams to a parlay.
3. Shop for Lines
Due to all of the sportsbooks that are popping up, you now have more options than ever on what sportsbook you should do business with. This works out for you because it allows you to shop for the best line that you can get for a game.
Let’s use football as an example. The Kansas City Chiefs are favorites by seven points against the Las Vegas Raiders in the first sportsbook that you look at.
However, you go to another sportsbook and you see that same game has the Chiefs as favorites by 6.5 points.
In this situation, if you want to bet on the Chiefs, use the second sportsbook. Winning by exactly seven points gives you a win instead of a push.
If you want to get a better idea of what sportsbooks offer friendly lines, check https://www.bookmakersreview.com/guides/texas/.
4. Avoid Heavy Favorites
Some people think teams are such a lock that they are willing to bet on them with any odds attached to them. This is a bad mindset to have in gambling because it can often cost you a lot of money.
Let’s say you thought there was no way that the Buffalo Bills could lose a football game to the New York Jets. The money line on the bills is -450.
This means that you have to put up $450 to win $100. The risk in this situation far outweighs the reward. If the Jets win, you are out $450 and that is money that you could have used on at least four separate bets.
Even if you cannot imagine a team losing a particular game, avoid these types of odds.
5. Set a Budget
Something dangerous that some gamblers do is not set a strict budget for how much money they are willing to allocate to sports betting. If you bet more than you can afford, you can put your financial living situation in jeopardy.
Say you have $20,000 in your bank account. You decide that you are willing to put $2,000 aside for sports betting for the year.
That means that you have just over $166 a month for placing bets. You need to stick to that budget, which could mean not making more than four bets per week around $10 each.
If you start sidetracking from this system, you can notice more of your money disappearing quickly. Remember, this is just for fun. Do not put money that you cannot afford to lose into this.
6. Bet in Units
Along with setting a budget, you need to know how much money you are willing to bet on per game. In the sports betting world, this is called betting in units.
A unit is typically about 1% of your entire bankroll. So, say you decided to put $2,000 aside as your bankroll for sports betting. Here, you could bet up to $20 a game if you want to bet in units.
Betting in units protects you from an unexpected loss or losing streak. This is because it gives you more time to recover and a better chance at making a profit from sports betting.
You can adjust how much you make a unit as your bankroll increases or decreases. But, betting a unit consistently is the way to go with betting.
7. Know Your Sports
If you are using a sportsbook for the first time, you will realize that there are dozens of different sports leagues available to bet on. You may be overwhelmed and tempted to bet on everything that you see.
While you have the option to bet on a lot of sports, you should stick to specializing in one or two sports. That will help you get better at reading lines, knowing what shifts them, and having more knowledge of the teams and players that you are betting on.
When you specialize in sports, you are also more likely to pick up on betting trends that teams and players have. Use this information to your advantage.
8. Know the Trends
Along with knowing what sports you are good at betting comes knowing the trends happening within the sports. Sometimes, it can take a few games for the sportsbooks to catch up with a trend that is happening live. This is your time to strike and make a profit.
For example, let’s say that the Seattle Seahawks covered the over/under point total about 50% of the time last season. This season, they go under the point total for the first three games of the season.
Here, you notice a pattern developing that Seahawks games typically do not have a lot of points scored. You can ride this wave and bet the under in their games for a few weeks in a row. Most likely, it will make you some money.
9. Know When to Walk Away
Sometimes, the best bet you can make is the bet that you do not make. What this means is that betting can be an emotional experience, and you may not always have the most rational mindset when you are trying to make betting decisions.
For example, let’s say that you had a bad beat and are on a losing streak. You come up with an idea to place a bet that you would not normally make to try and get some or all of your money back.
This is what is called “betting on tilt.” It means that you are betting for the wrong reasons rather than for rational reasons. Know when it is time to walk away from a sportsbook and save your energy for another day.
See More Sports Betting Tips Today
These are just nine sports betting tips that you can use to become a better gambler. Set a budget, know your odds, remain disciplined, and know when it is time to walk away. If you do this, you should see better results in no time.
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