There is nothing easy about becoming a successful sport bettor. In fact the odds say that most sports bettors tend to end up losing in the long run. That in mind, we have compiled 32 ways to improve your sports betting game.
1. Focus on Sports You Know
One of the major edges a sportsbook holds over the regular everyday bettor is their use of sport specific experts who frame the odds for each sport. The recreational bettor simply can’t be an expert at all sports but they can be well versed in one or two.
As a bettor you should focus the majority of your betting on areas where you have the greatest knowledge and experience. This is where you are the best chance at smelling an upset or spotting a weak line. Go harder at these and spend less time betting on obscure markets where sportsbooks will crush you.
Become a student of the game and you may just find the game pays you back in big wins!
2. Avoid the Favorite Most of the Time
There are many moments of frustration in the journey of a sports bettor, but none are more frustrating than wagering on a raging hot favorite, only to see them put forward an insipid performance and get beaten by an unfashionable underdog.
Needless to say the favorite in any contest has received plenty of action from the bettors. This does not make them any surer to win, it simply means you will be paid less when they do. The vast majority of time you should avoid betting on the favorite and have a closer look at the underdog. Obviously the favorite wins quite often, however for the most part the odds makers have made the favorites’ odds shorter than they really should be.
There is room for being conservative when betting on sports, however betting on a favorite and assuming they will win every time, is the basis of a losing long term betting record. Carefully selected underdogs are the key to betting success.
3. Manage Your Bankroll
The first goal of any sports bettor should be to not go broke. Survive first, then from that position build towards profitability. It’s a tough road. The best way to know where you stand and what shots you have left to fire is by managing your bankroll. The bankroll is managed by knowing what bet size to use and when to increase or decrease that bet size.
School of bets has an in depth article on how to manage your bankroll. Check it out here.
4. Understand Value
All betting markets represent some level of intrinsic value or lack thereof. Spotting value is critical to giving yourself the best chance of turning a profit.
What is value? Well it’s subjective. But essentially a value bet is where the odds offered on a market appear to be greater than what the bettor believes the true odds are. For example a team may be offered on the moneyline at +220 when in actual fact the bettor, having weighed up the form and match conditions, believe the team’s chances of winning are better, say +180. At this point it would make sense to wager on the +220 as it represents real value.
Find value, then hit it hard.
5. Think Long Term
Sports betting is the long game. There are particular days when the bankroll takes a beat down, and then there are other times when it seems to multiply beyond measure. These ups and downs often even out to a trend line that is much more gradual, hopefully in the upward direction. As a bettor you must think long term. There is no need to be risking significant amounts of your bank on one single event.
There will always be another sports event to bet on, so stick to your system and work on grinding out wins. Live to fight another day!
6. Use Multiple Sportsbooks
Betting with multiple sportsbooks does not make you a gambling addict. It simply means you are an astute sports bettor who knows how to get the most mileage out of the competitive sportsbook marketplace. Getting access to the best odds and all the betting promotions available in the marketplace are just two of the many advantages to using more than one book.
For an in-depth look into the pros and cons of using multiple books check out our article here.
7. Learn How to Hedge
The art of the hedge is to seize an opportunity to bet on both sides of a market and lock in a profit. Buying yourself a little insurance is smart any way you look at it. Executing a perfect hedge is not as simple as it looks. It takes experience to know the correct hedge size and timing. Learn how to hedge and you undoubtedly become a more effective sports bettor.
8. Use Live Betting to Your Advantage
Live betting (in-play) is a growing market. There is reason to believe that as mobile betting takes hold, live betting will become the staple wagering style for many bettors.
For this reason it makes sense to use it to your advantage. The best way to do this is to learn the nuances of the sport you are watching. Learn to see potential changes in momentum before they take effect and alter the odds. Then strike hard.
9. Expect Downturns
As much as we all want to avoid this, the reality is during your sports betting journey you will experience times where finding your next winning bet seems impossible. You will lurch from bad beat to simply bad bet. You will feel despondent and perhaps even stare down the possibility of sending your betting bankroll to the brink. This is the harsh reality of playing the odds. No matter how well researched, devoted or successful you have been previously, sometimes it just doesn’t click.
Don’t despair too much. Expect downturns to be part of the process. Allow for them in your budgeting and bankroll management. Stick to your system and rest assured that at some point, if you continue to do your due diligence, things will turn around. The next upswing is likely just around the corner.
Here is 12 Tips to break your losing streak!
10. Don’t Thrill Bet (too often)
The whole point of sports betting is to have fun and turn a profit. It seems counter intuitive to the whole fun aspect of betting to then implement a ‘no thrill bets’ policy. Well having been a long term sport bettor, I can tell you the least fun aspect of betting is losing. Thrill betting is certainly destined to lose more often than win.
What is thrill betting? It is finding a betting market that is often obscure, in an area you may not have an expertise edge and usually at long juicy odds. A market where without research or much forethought, you hit it, because you want the thrill of action and the chance to win big. The reality is often these long odds are in fact not long enough! Sportsbooks know bettors love to chase thrill bet markets and that is why they offer them. With this in mind they will usually not offer the true odds on a long shot, all while giving the illusion that you are in line for a big pay day.
Thrill betting can be, well, thrilling, and for that reason if you absolutely must place these types of wagers, then do so with a small stake and in the knowledge that over the long run they are less likely to yield you any real profit.
11. Ignore the ‘Experts’
Mainstream sporting media is filled to capacity with self proclaimed experts. They give opinion and predictions on upcoming events without any real accountability. Often their opinion is riddled with personal bias and emotion. Just like how the local banker who writes your house mortgage is no more or less a property investment expert than the next person, nor is the sports expert. They may know a game but do they really know betting?
There are good experts out there, but they are not on every corner. If you find one, then by all means listen to their analysis. Better still, back yourself, back your knowledge. It is never a good feeling to shamelessly follow a so called expert then have their advice cost you coin!
12. Don’t Always Bet on ‘Your Team’
This seems obvious yet so difficult to avoid. Personal bias is a big pitfall for all sports bettors. When you think about it why wouldn’t it be? You are most likely going to devote time out of your week to watch your team play, follow closely player movements, listen carefully to coaches press conferences, not to mention listen to and participate in a whole host of mainstream media and social media analysis on the team’s performance. It would make sense then to bet on their games, sometimes heavily. Be very careful!
You may be able to separate emotion from the wagering decision making process, but this would make you a rare breed. Emotion can and does cloud decisions. Poor decisions are the hallmark of long term losing bettors. Never say never, just beware.
13. Shop Around for the Best Line
Betting on the point spread is the lifeblood of many sophisticated sports bettors. Anyone who has spent any length of time betting on the spread knows the pain of losing by a half point. This market is the breeding ground of the bad beat. It goes without saying then, that if you are able to find a better points spread line somewhere other than your regular sportsbook, then ditch the loyalty and invest your money elsewhere. That extra half point or more could be the difference between a win and a loss. Over the long term it could be the difference between consistent profitability and just being an also ran.
Shopping around for the best line requires access to multiple sportsbooks. To learn about the HUGE advantages of owning accounts with multiple sportsbooks read our article here.
14. Understand the Cash Out Feature
One of the features offered by the better online sportsbooks is the cash out feature. This feature allows you to accept a ‘cash out offer’ from the sports book while a wager is still live. It is a way to lock in a return without having to wait until the bet in finalised. At face value this seems like a complete win for a bettor, however a deeper look shows it is filled with potential pitfalls that could cost you money.
Understanding the cash out feature and knowing how and when to use it correctly is critical to maximising a bettor’s profits. School of bets takes a deep dive into the best way to use the cash out feature to your advantage. Click here to read more.
15. Grab the Sportsbook Promotions
We all love something for nothing! Sportsbooks fight tooth and nail to gain your business. The sports betting industry is super competitive and this presents you, as the customer, with plenty of opportunity to take advantage of some sportsbook goodwill. Promotions are a weekly, sometimes daily, offering from the better sportsbooks and the kickbacks can range from real cash back or bonus bets to merchandise and other free stuff.
Promotions can be unlocked just by betting on some particular markets or through near misses (often called insurance) specially when it comes to parlay betting. It pays to look around for what is on offer as you may be able to qualify by simply betting on a market you intended hitting anyway. Clearly you will need accounts with more than one sportsbook to be able to have any level of choice when it comes to promotions. If you only feel comfortable having an account at just one sportsbook, then perhaps choose a book that has a tendency to offer generous promotions on a regular basis.
16. Look for Longer Odds with Bonus Bets
Whenever a bettor qualifies for a bonus bet it is a good feeling. A chance to bet with someone else’s money is always a good thing. The perennial question that all bettors face is just how to use a bonus bet to gain the best benefit.
The key here is that whenever using a bonus bet the sportsbook will only pay out the profit from the bet and not return the original stake. This means a $100 bonus bet on a favorite paying -110 (1.91) will only return $91. The answer to this issue is to chase longer odds. Swing freely when using a bonus bet, look for outcomes that offer large payouts when they land. See the bonus bet as exactly that, a bonus. If you manage to land the longer odds the potential account boost could be very worthwhile.
17. Know Your Betting Record
All sophisticated bettors know their betting history. A deeper knowledge of their own personal record allows them to adjust their systems to optimise their results by knowing what works, what doesn’t and being able to discover new trends as they emerge from the ever changing world of professional sport.
If you want to improve the way you bet, dive deeper into your own track record. All sportsbooks worth the time can provide for you a downloadable betting history complete with rolling account balance, deposit history and win loss record sortable by a number of different filters. The download comes in spreadsheet file format allowing for ease of analysis and manipulation.
18. Don’t Bet While Drinking
It goes without saying when you have been drinking you can sometimes make some crazy decisions. Now we have all heard the story of the night a buddy went drinking, placed a few bets while loose like a goose, and cleaned up big time. This is most definitely the exception rather than the rule. Consistently winning at sports betting takes more than drunk luck. When you’re out drinking or at home with some buddies sinking a few brews, it’s wise to keep the mobile sportsbook app closed. Preserve the account for when your judgement is a little bit more clear.
If you know your going to have a few drinks and you want to have action on some games while you’re out, plan ahead. Place the bets before you start drinking, make some thoughtful decisions, close the app and go your hardest. Sounds like a win win to me.
19. Learn the Language
Like any sub culture, over time, unique lingo, sayings, parlance and vernacular develop. For a person new to the game it can be quite the challenge to follow exactly what is being said. The same goes for sports betting. Sophisticated sports bettors use unique terms with deeper meaning for many bet types, scenarios and systems. If you wish to improve, learn the language of sports betting. Once you can understand the lingo, the pearls of wisdom and betting hacks you may pick up along the way can be like pure gold for your betting game.
School of bets has the comprehensive guide to understanding the language of sports betting all in the one place.
20. Do Other Things in Your Life
Whenever someone discovers a new passion it can consume every thought and quickly become the focus of their living. Early on this can be a good thing as the learning curve when developing new skills can be steep. It is certainly that way with sports betting. Devotion to learning and improving is just the antidote to turning from a losing bettor to a winning one.
Maintaining this kind of devotion is however more harmful than good in the long run. The best way to remain fresh and agile in decision making is to add variety to your life. Yes, there is always work and other commitments but this does not do the trick. Find another passion and explore that while maintaining the processes and systems of your sports betting. You may just find that you return better results with a quality time focus instead of just quantity.
21. Don’t Chase Losses
There is no doubt a losing streak hurts and at times can feel unfair. A bad beat here and there makes it feel as though the sports betting gods have looked unfavorably upon you. As the bankroll balance begins to diminish the temptation to increase your bet size to win back the losses grows quickly. This is called chasing the losses. It is fraught with danger and often ends up in a world of pain for the bettor.
The mindset here is that a run of bad luck is sure to be followed by a run of good luck. When the good luck comes the bettor will cash in with bigger bet sizing. The laws of probability are not as simple as good luck following bad luck. In fact two random sports betting events are typically unrelated (obviously there are exceptions to this) and therefore the result of the first event, whether positive or negative, has absolutely no effect on the second event. This alone makes chasing loses simply unsustainable.
22. Keep Parlay Betting to a Minimum
Betting parlays is undoubtedly fun, excitement filled and potentially lucrative if successful. The issue is the vast majority of times the sportsbooks vig or juice is amplified by the multiplying of the odds. It is for this reason that bettors should keep the parlay betting to a minimum. It is also the reason many sportsbooks offer regular promotions on their parlay markets. By all means hit the promotions, but be wary of too much parlay betting. There are always exceptions. Betting parlays and consistently winning is possible, just not probable.
This is how you win betting parlays!
23. Look for Less Popular Betting Sports to Exploit
Consistent sports betting winners are often experts on a handful of select sports. Their knowledge allows them to see value and gain an edge where others may overlook. This is harder to do on mainstream sports where more bettors are hitting value markets early and the markets self correct very quickly. An exception to this is in less popular betting sports, like minor league baseball.
Clearly becoming an expert in a less popular sport is more difficult as accurate, up to date information is often difficult to come across. If this hurdle can be overcome then opportunities abound for the expert to crunch some value markets. Although beware, sportsbooks don’t like to be exposed to huge risk and as they track your betting, they may discover your success on less popular markets and begin to limit your bet sizing.
24. Watch Less Games
Yes that is correct, watch less games. It seems counterintuitive, but taking in too much content can lead to analysis paralysis. The inability to see the forest for the trees. A clear mind is essential to successfully betting on sports. You may just find that watching copious amounts of sport can lead to overthinking decisions instead of backing your gut and intuition to make the correct choice. Try it. It works.
25. Beware of Recency Bias.
Last week or last game doesn’t mean as much as you may think it does. A team may have taken a complete beat down last game and therefore it could seem logical that the dose will be repeated this time around. This kind of thinking is referred to as recency bias. The tendency to place too much emphasis on the most recent result instead of observing a longer time frame and gaining a more complete picture.
Sometimes a ‘good loss’, where a team loses but performs well in the process, can be a great form guide, just as a win can sometimes mask team deficiencies. Each time you bet, double check that you haven’t fallen into the recency bias trap.
26. Find Respected Analysts on Social Media
Yes that’s right we have just linked respected analysis and social media. Crazy idea. It does exist though. While social media is like wading knee deep through a swamp loaded with tripe, deep down you can find respected analysis that is astute, on point and most importantly free!
The crazy thing here is that often the sportsbook themselves offer up great advice and some useful picks. Why would they bother? Well it costs them very little and it is a great way to encourage less active account holders to place a bet. Use this to your advantage, after all there are few in the sports betting game better at picking results than the bookmakers themselves. . You may just find another way to turn some profit.
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27. Be Careful Paying for Picks
Let’s be clear, it is very possible to pay for picks, and turn a decent profit. The issue is you are paying for a service that offers very little in the way of guarantee, expects payment up front before evidence of performance and then expects the kudos when the picks are correct.
The bottom line is when you pay for picks you start behind. You need to return the monthly fee as well before you technically hit a profit. Consistently winning at sports betting is hard, starting in the red makes little sense. By all means pay for picks, just be super wary of what you are signing up for.
28. Get into a Great Loyalty Program
Ok so maybe this one doesn’t directly improve your win loss record but it can help your bottom line. A break even bettor can gain some kind of monetary or material benefit from a loyalty program which rewards them for bankroll turnover.
Most good sportsbooks now offer reasonable loyalty programs. PointsBet is a great example. Retaining your business is important for them and rewarding you for sticking around is one way sportsbooks go about keeping you on board. Get on it. Earn bonus bets or other benefits just for doing something you love and truth be told would probably do anyway!
To learn more about the best features your sportsbooks must have read our article here!
29. Don’t Bet at All
Yes we said it. If you have tried everything and still you find it nigh on impossible to turn a profit then perhaps you need to have a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself if this game is truly for you. Maybe the answer is not the one you want to hear but instead need to hear. There are other ways to make money and perhaps at this point those need investigating.
30. Become a Weather Expert
Strange but true. Many of the major sports betting markets are played in outdoor conditions. These can be dramatically affected by changes in the weather. Becoming a stay at home weather expert can pay dividends if the knowledge gained can be applied to the sports betting world. Markets like points totals and point spreads can be directly affected but perhaps the most overlooked weather affected markets are the prop bets.
For example a player’s receiving yards may be affected in rainy conditions as the team may decide to keep the ball on the ground more often to exploit the inability of the defensive lineman to move as freely in the wet. Hence reducing the opportunity to complete passes.
This may not be a perfect science but one worth considering.
31. Keep Enjoying It
Sports betting, for the vast majority, is recreation or hobby. It is an ongoing challenge that can be lucrative as a side benefit. Like all hobbies, if it becomes a burden or an emotional drag on you, let it go. If it continues to provide genuine enjoyment then keep pursuing it. We are typically far more successful at things we enjoy.
32. Seek Divine Intervention
Why not? It can’t hurt can it? If you have a direct connection to the powers that control the universe then why not call in a favor or two.