Tips and Tricks for Placing a Sports Bet
Before we look at tips and tricks, remember the basic rules of sports betting:
- Don’t gamble with money you can’t afford to lose. That includes your rent or mortgage, car payment or grocery budget.
- Never gamble with borrowed money. If you lose, you’ll not only lose the wager, but the interest on the borrowed money as well.
- Don’t chase your losses. If you lose $100 bet early in the day or week, don’t “double down” thinking a $200 bet will return your losses.
- Your team is not “due.” Many bettors bet on losing teams because they are “due” for a win. If you continue to bet on losers 2, 3 or more times thinking they are “due,” you will never recoup your losses.
- There is no sure thing. There are always favorites and “best bets,” even proven winners, but there are no guaranteed winners. If there were, all sports bettors would be rich.
Tips and Tricks for Placing a Sports Bet
- No favorites. Who is your favorite team? Your answer should be “the team who wins.” Don’t bet your favorite hometown team or your favorite College team simply because they are your “favorite” or the College you attended. Bet the team your betting skills and research indicate will WIN.
- Become an expert. Chose a sport and learn everything about it. Gather information about players, injuries, how each team performs at “home” and under a variety of weather conditions. When you place your bet, you are doing so because your research says Team A will beat Team B.
- Don’t bet just to place a bet. If you feel two teams are equally matched with no clear winner, don’t bet that game. OR…
- Play the Over/Under. If two teams are equally matched but your research indicates a high scoring game, bet the OVER. You don’t need to pick a winner, just that the game will go over the projected total score. Conversely, if both teams have equally dominant defenses, or if bad weather is predicted (sleet, snow, hard rain) bet the UNDER.
- Understand “value.” There are two types of sports bettors, recreational bettors who gamble for fun or to make an event more interesting, and “serious” bettors who gamble to make money. The serious bettors who actually profit from sports betting do their homework, but also understand “value.” For now, just recognize value as the best return for your investment (wager). As a simple example, you have funds for one of two wagers, the favorite in one game or the underdog in a second matchup. If you are confident that both your choices are winners, you would bet the underdog game as it would have a much higher payout, giving you the best value for your bet.
