Sports gamblers have all sorts of tricks and tips that they use in an attempt to beat the bookmakers. Unfortunately, most of these tactics are futile and based on faulty logic. To win over the long term, you need to create an edge. To create an edge you need a viable strategy. Check out below some of the most effective sports wagering strategies:
Don’t Ignore The Moneyline
The moneyline refers to the odds a bettor receives for picking a winner in a particular sporting event. For example, Arsenal (1.5) is the favourite to beat Burnley (3:1). This means if you wager $100 on Arsenal to win, you will receive $150, and if you place $100 on Burnley, you’ll walk away with $300. The moneyline is the perfect betting strategy, to begin with, if you are a new gambler because you are just trying to pick a winner, which does involve advanced calculations of research. This wager is also available on every kind of sport, so it can be applied no matter your chosen event.
A lot of professional gamblers avoid moneyline bets as they think they are too simplistic and don’t offer enough value. This is actually a good thing for you as many pros completely ignore this style of gambling, making it more likely you will find hidden value. If you know a league or team really well, there is no reason that you can’t consistently beat the moneyline.
Master The Point Spread
Point spread or handicapping wagering is like an advanced form of moneyline gambling. Instead of selecting a winner, you are choosing a team to win or lose by a certain margin. In point spread betting, you are hoping the favourite can win by a higher amount than set by the bookmaker and when wagering on the underdog, you are hoping they can stay under the handicap.
For example, if the Los Angeles Lakers are +9 point favourite over the Dallas Mavericks, who are a -9 points underdog, then if you wager on the Lakers, they need to win by 10 points or more. A winning score would be Lakers – 90 Dallas – 80. In contrast, if you gamble on Dallas, they don’t have to win for your bet to be paid out. They just have to lose by less than the spread. If the Lakers beat Dallas 90-85, your Dallas bet wins.
Professionals regularly gamble on point spreads as they are harder for bookmakers to create accurately. A bookmaker is more likely to make a mistake when creating a point spread than when publishing a moneyline. Due to this, there is more opportunity to place high-value bets.
Be A Contrarian
One of the most popular strategies used all over the world is playing the role of the contrarian. This involves letting the largely uneducated public establish their positions which can cause the odds to shift dramatically in a particular direction and then taking the opposite side of the bet. By placing a wager late after the direction of betting has been established, you can get odds that you could only dream of if you placed a bet when the markets first opened.
Remember, though, that the public doesn’t always get it wrong, so don’t blindly bet against the herd. Only make a contrarian bet when you evidence the public has got it wrong. This strategy is used frequently in the American football and basketball markets. Keep an eye on the totals and handicap markets, and when you see a sportsbook pushing odds too far in a particular direction, quickly take the other side.
Predicting The Effects Of Events On A Sporting Contest
Is Man City playing on a wet pitch? Did Lebron get hurt, or is Ronaldo being rested? If you can calculate the impact of certain circumstances that influence a match more effectively than the bookmakers, you can create an edge, turning yourself into a long-term winner.
The first strategy in predicting the effect of an event on a match is studying the historical data. When looking at the data, you are looking for irregularities that the bookmakers aren’t fully pricing into their odds. For example, maybe you are able to determine that Man City plays significantly worse when it’s raining, and the sports betting sites are only slightly raising the underdog’s odds. In this scenario, you could place a sharp bet on Man City’s opponent in the handicap markets.
Focus On A Particular Sport
While sporting gambling sites are experts at setting odds, they do make mistakes. Creating perfect odds is impossible, especially when they offer hundreds of different sports and thousands of different leagues. If you specialize in a particular sport, ideally a niche sport or league, you increase your chance of being a better oddsmaker than the site you are betting against.
For example, let’s say you are an expert on Costa Rica’s professional football league and have in-depth knowledge of certain teams, players, coaches and weather. Armed with this knowledge, you give yourself a great chance at being able to predict matches more effectively than a bookmaker who can’t dedicate much time to such a small market.
The secret to becoming a specialist is finding a small sport and or league that you truly have a passion for and has decently sized gambling markets. Once you have found this niche, you then need to focus on accumulating in-depth knowledge that can’t be easily accessed by the public and calculate the effect of this knowledge on the outcome of matches. Then you just need to identify matches with great odds and place your bet!
Time To Try A Sports Gambling Strategy
Now you understand some of the most effective sports gambling strategies, it is time to test them out. Start by focusing on one and keep your initial bets small. Once you can gain some experience, you can try some other strategies and raise your stakes!