football moneyGambling has been around for thousands of years. In fact, some Roman emperors enjoyed betting on chariot races and other activities. There are multiple reasons why people today bet on sports.

The biggest reason is to make money, but some people bet on sports to make them more exciting or simply to bet on their favorite teams. Regardless of why you bet, everybody wants to win.

Here are five sports betting tips to help new handicappers.

Bankroll Management

You can go broke quickly with sports betting. Years ago I used to run through my bankroll in a night chasing losses. Easily the most important factor to becoming a successful bettor is managing your money.

I like to use the Kelly criterion method. Basically, it’s a formula that determines the optimal bet size based on your bankroll size and your assumption on the probability of winning the bet.

Read more about the Kelly criterion on Wikipedia.

Getting the best odds

You’re not going to win every bet, so ensuring you get the best price on your bets is important. Let’s assume I want to bet on point spreads. The standard odds on a point spread bet is -110 (Bet $110 to win $100).

However, some bookmakers offer -105 odds (Bet $105 to win $100). If you win 1000 bets and lose 500 bets, you’d make $45,000 at -110 odds or $47,500 at -105 odds if you bet to win $100 on every wager.

Getting the best line is even more important than getting the best price.

Let’s say the Patriots are -3 at Book A and -3.5 at Book B. Getting the -3 line offers extreme value compared to the -3.5 spread. Spreads move between the time the bookies release the lines and the start of the event.

A good rule of thumb is to bet on favorites once the lines open and to bet on underdogs closer to the start of the game. Why? Well, most of the betting public bets favorites, so the lines on favorites often increase.

For example, let’s say the Patriots open at -2.5 points. 70% of the bets come in on NE to cover ATS, so the books move the line to -3 and then -3.5 by Sunday. You lose a lot of value if you missed out on the -2.5 spread.

Online sports betting for players with Guts is simple. However, smart handicappers will know that they need to follow strict bankroll management guidelines and get the best lines to make consistent money with betting.

Learn to Handicap

Sure, betting on your favorite team is fun and adds excitement. However, it also hurts worse when your team loses and you lose money. You need to be able to be unbiased to be a successful handicapper.

Spend time reading strategy articles, betting models and news. Surprisingly to some, sports betting isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It takes years before everything clicks and you realize how to beat the bookies.

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