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Online sports betting has given many dreams of earning big profits when they place wagers. Yet, sports betting professionals only win about 53% to 55% of their bets.
So, if you expect to enter sports betting for the first time, you need to know how to bet on sports for maximum gain.
There is no secret formula to beating the bookmakers. It takes a practiced eye to make the most of your best sports bets. Some sports give you a better statistical advantage for earning profits. So keep reading if you are new to the game and want sound sports betting tips.
We’ve put together a ten-point guide to increase your odds of getting the best sports bets down at the right time.
1. Start With A Money Plan
Learning to set budgets and not stray from them is the most critical lesson for a beginner in sports betting. Yet, the volume of online sports betting opportunities attracts many to place wagers they should never make. As a result, many lose their stake far too quickly and end up reloading accounts often.
It’s common knowledge that sportsbooks have the edge over casual gamblers. Online sports betting sites are eager to offer a dizzying array of sports betting options. Each enticing scenario is another opportunity to separate you from your money.
Discipline is crucial to success and one of the best sports betting tips you will ever receive. So if you plan to place wagers and maintain your stake, decide on a budget and stick with the plan. Only deposit money you are willing to lose without feeling the pinch if it evaporates.
Successful online sports betting is a long game exercise. If you plan to profit from sports betting, be prepared to last out the season. The best sports bets only occasionally appear so you want to have funds to place wagers when the value opportunities arise.
2. Manage Your Bankroll
Once you establish a comfortable budget, placing wagers in increments is essential. When you begin sports betting, it makes no difference what bankroll size. Think of your stake as an investment you use to increase value.
Only place wagers equalling 2% to 5% of your total stake. For example, if your starting bankroll is $200, your bet will not exceed $10 for each wager. Staying with this plan will ensure more chances to make your best sports bets throughout the season.
Many sports betting professionals stay with this betting scheme no matter how much the stake rises. Yet, some will increase the size of their bets according to the current stake amount.
Regardless, it would be best if you never looked for the big score with an enormous bet. No matter how strong you feel about a pick, anything can happen in sports betting. If you place wagers too high in value, you risk losing your bankroll faster.
Yet, with online sports betting sites clamoring for your deposits, there are some excellent opportunities to augment your bankroll if you use them wisely.
3. Profit From Bonus Promos
Legal sportsbooks compete in the market with bonus offers and sign-up promotions. Some of the industry’s best promotions give you free bets or deposit matches. But it’s critical to read and understand the requirements for each promotion.
Some bonuses must get played through up to 40x to become bankable cash. Other sites require you only to place wagers of specific amounts to engage in the free sports betting bonus. Once you understand the bonus structure, use the free bets with the same philosophy as all online sports betting.
Sportsbooks would like you to place wagers for the entire bonus on one bet. Yet, there is no advantage to making your best sports bets with the whole free bet.
The 2% – 5% rule still applies to promotional funds. However, if you place wagers to spread free bets across more markets, you have a much better chance to keep profits that add to your bankroll. The best part about promos is you won’t need to touch your bankroll while you place wagers with house money.
4. What Sports To Bet
With a 162-game schedule for each team, you might think that 2430 MLB games give you a statistical advantage. Both NHL hockey and NBA basketball also provide over 1220 games to place wagers. Yet, the National Football League, with only 256 games played each season offers the best opportunity to profit from sports betting.
More money is wagered and lost on NFL games than any other sport. But when using statistical analysis, the NFL provides better odds for the best sports bets.
However, knowing your sport is essential for any successful sports betting career. Novice gamblers often place wagers on whims and feelings, which is a recipe for disaster. So the sports betting tips from pros will instruct you to learn more about the betting process.
5. Understanding Sports Betting Lines
Learning how to bet on sports for novices begins with an education on how to read betting lines. Most sports betting sites post lines for games the same way. So when you open a sportsbook account, you will find information about each game with three significant odds for each line.
Sports betting lines for every game include Spreads, Moneylines, and Totals. For example, you might see an upcoming game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. The game might get played in Dallas so that the betting line will look like this:
Spread Moneyline Over/Under
- Green Bay +2.5 (-110) +120 48.5 O (-110)
- Dallas -2.5 (-110) – 110 48.5 U (-110)
Looking at the betting line from left to right, you see that the home team (Cowboys) is on the bottom. Here is how the sports betting numbers break down on this graph.
Point Spread
The plus sign denotes that the oddsmakers have made the visiting Green Bay Packers underdogs at +2,5. Conversely, the Cowboys are the -2.5 favorite at home. With spreads, you must place wagers based on the score differential of the game.
To win a bet on the Cowboys at -2.5, Dallas must win the game by three points or more. You can win with a bet on the underdog Packers if Green Bay loses by two points or less, or they win the game.
The -110 figure in brackets indicates the price of a winning bet. All American sports betting lines base the figure on a $100 wager, but you don’t have to bet that amount. So in this game, you would need to bet $110 to win $100 plus your original bet.
Moneyline Bets
With Moneylines, you are only betting on the winner of the game, no matter the score. Since Green Bay is the underdog at +120, a $100 wager will pay $120 plus the bet amount if the Packers win.
The favored Cowboys require a $110 bet plus your wager to get $100 back. Moneylines vary with the oddsmaker’s position on the matchup.
Betting Totals
The Over/Under bet has nothing to do with the winner of the game. With this style of sports betting, you are looking at the combined total score of the match. For example, bet the Over if you think the Packers and Cowboys will score 49 points or more. If you think the score will end with less than 48 points, the Under bet pays based on the bracketed figure.
6. Go Deeper
Nothing prepares you for learning how to bet on sports than doing effective research. Online sports betting is like investing in stocks. The more you know about the contestants in a matchup, the better choices you will make when you place wagers.
The NFL provides more actual data than any other sports league. Unlike hockey and basketball, the ball isn’t continuously in play.
Football allows you to study matchups by position, scoring trends, and player stats. The NFL season plays out on a reliable, fixed schedule with lines posted in advance each week. The regimen of games gives you ample time to study every game.
Yet, if baseball is the game you know better, use your knowledge and go even deeper into the games. First, the best sports bets get placed with a confident understanding of implied odds. Then, armed with statistical proof to back up your predictions, you can place wagers with a better chance of winning.
7. Know What Not To Bet
One critical element with experience is knowing when not to place wagers on games. Betting with patience and purpose is crucial only when factors are suitable. Yet even more significant is understanding the types of sports bets that reduce your odds of profiting.
Sportsbooks provide odds for many other types of wagers that attract novices with the promise of higher payouts. But professional sports bettors generally avoid props, parlays, and teaser bets.
There are prop bets worth considering when player matchups show favorable conditions. Yet, spreading your bankroll thin with various wagers that don’t add value will increase your risk.
Parlays are generally the least favorable due to the nature of the wager. It’s challenging enough to pick one winner on the schedule. A parlay asks you to choose two or more winning plays and only pay if you get them all correct.
Teaser bets include futures and boosted odds for specific games. However, if you want to place wagers on the outcome of a season, you have pieces of your stake tied up for extended periods, not earning profit.
And in general, most of us don’t have the foresight to see that far into the future. Anything can happen during a long season in professional sports. So your stake gets better used with single wagers in tiny increments.
8. Sports Betting Tips On Timing
If you have already placed wagers on the NFL, you might have heard about the benefits of watching line movement leading up to a game. Yet, some of the best sports bets get placed on the opening odds. Both philosophies have merit, but with openers, you will need to be quick.
Sportsbooks post next week’s opening NFL lines for the following week while this week’s games are still in play. So you can jump on odds that seem off with your estimates. However, oddsmakers quickly become aware of these discrepancies, and lines get moved without delay.
Watching lines move during the week can provide insights into a game’s changing conditions. For example, you might see the Buffalo Bills at -7.5 against Miami on the opening line. However, the game might be scheduled for mid-December, and as the week progresses, the weather in Buffalo worsens.
Inclement weather might lead you to believe a line change to -6 indicates a lower scoring game due to snowy conditions. But if you believe Buffalo is better equipped to deal with the weather, your best sports bets might go with the lower spread.
Watch odds change for various reasons during the week. But don’t be fooled by the notion that sharp bettors move the lines with more significant wagers. Sportsbooks do watch the sharp money, but many factors could affect a line movement.
9. Diversify Your Bankroll
Where to place wagers is one of the best tools a professional bettor uses. Sharp bettors shop for odds at various sportsbooks to gain the slightest advantage. A half-point margin saved at one site can make the difference in value for the best sports bets.
Over time, these tiny margins add up to benefit your bankroll. So it is recommended to split your bankrolls with more than one online sports betting establishment. Of course, not all games will show differing odds, but the one with the better value might add to your profit capabilities.
10. Place Wagers Without Ego
Maintaining an even temperament is critical in sports betting. Therefore, the final sports betting tips involve keeping your emotions in check throughout the season.
Losing streaks happen to everybody, so don’t chase losses with larger bets. Instead, stick with the management plan to avoid further damage to your bankroll.
It’s also essential not to get overconfident when riding a winning streak. What goes up must come down, so take your profits and build on them gradually with bankroll management.
The key to successful sports betting is a practiced approach with a long-term goal. And if you need more game insights during the season, keep checking our site for regular insights.