The popularity of sports betting has grown over the last few years. People have realized that betting on their favorite sports can be exciting and profitable. Numerous professional sports bettors are making a good living from betting on sports.
Although luck plays a crucial role in sports betting, long-term success requires significant skill and strategy. You need to understand the various wagers you can place, know the odds, make smart bets, and keep away from potentially harmful bets. You should also remember that sports betting needs time and dedication.
The following tips will help you identify a suitable sports betting strategy for you:
Focus on a Single Team
Although it may sound simple, focusing on one team is more powerful than you think. It is better if you are an expert on one team than have a small amount of knowledge on various teams. Expertise on a particular team means that you can identify great value when determining the latest betting odds.
In most instances, you will be in the loop regarding any new news if you are an expert on your team or a particular competition. You can make profits by spotting something before betting operators change lines. This is particularly true in minor leagues, events, or competitions. However, you can limit yourself to a single league when you find wagering on one team too restricting.
Look For the Best Lines and Odds
Some players overlook this sports betting strategy since it involves a lot of research. However, you can get the most out of your bets if you exercise diligence regarding shopping lines. It does not matter what type of wager you want; chances are that it is available in various betting establishments. Fortunately, you can easily compare and select the best odds and betting sites because of online betting.
Some players think shopping for a slight edge is tedious compared to the significantly small difference in profit margins. However, you need to consider the additional value in the long run. For example, if you earn an extra $10 from line shopping each week, you will win an additional $520 by the end of one year.
Study a Team’s ATS
ATS (against the spread) is a common term in sports betting. You must understand how a team performs regarding the loss/win column. However, this is not sufficient. You must also gauge its performance against a casino and sportsbooks’ point spread. Regarding sports betting, you can consider the point spread as a lower level competition for teams.
Professional sports teams are always looking for as many wins as possible. But in terms of betting, you should be aware of their performances in comparison to the oddsmakers’ predictions besides only their opponents. This is known as a team against the spread’s stat. An excellent betting opportunity is when a team beats the spread averagely more than 50% of the time.
Respect Bankroll Management
The concept of bankroll management is vital in any activity requiring you to make money investment decisions. Apart from the teams or competitions you wager on, you also need to consider the size and frequency of your wagers.
Excellent bankroll management will protect you from losing streaks common in all forms of gambling. The first step towards effective bankroll management is creating a betting budget that is not part of your regular day-to-day expenditure.
For instance, if your sports betting budget is more than $200, your average bet amount should be around 2% of your total budget. On the other hand, sports betting experts recommend a maximum bet size of $5 for budgets below $200. Always try to make more wagers with a lesser percentage of your bankroll riding on each bet.
Utilize Winning Streaks
In most cases, the performance of a player and team is striated with either winning or losing streaks. You can utilize these variations in form in your betting if you can recognize them quicker than the oddsmakers. It offers you a great chance to profit from sports betting.
Besides evaluating all the factors correctly, you also need to ensure that the odds represent the correct value. For instance, it would be wrong to bet on a team that beats smaller teams while playing at home in succession if their next match is against a better opponent.
Ensure you understand factors and schedules that can be crucial in keeping a streak going. When you want to wager on a spread rather than a moneyline, determine the team’s performance against the spread in recent matches.
Proven Sports betting Strategies
After understanding what it takes to formulate a successful sports betting strategy, you need to look at some proven techniques.
Hedging Your Wagers
Sports betting allows you to place bets opposite to your initial bet. Although it may seem unusual to wager against your initial bet, it is profitable when done correctly. Hedging typically applies to future wagers where odds turn significantly in your favor as the season progresses. Regardless of the final result, you can wager against your original bet and gain profits.
Middling
This practice, also known as betting in the middle, is when a player makes an early point spread wager, but the line moves later. It is especially common when you are line shopping and realize varying point spreads for the same game. Using the line change, you can place opposite wagers to your first bet and occasionally win both.
Betting Against the Public
Also known as ‘fading the public,’ this strategy involves wagering opposite to most of the betting public. Some players refer to it as “betting against the public underdog” since most people typically place their money on the favorite team.
You must understand that sportsbooks do not set odds and lines based on their predictions of the game’s result only. Since most players wager on the favorite, the oddsmaker has to shift the line in favor of the underdogs to make them attractive.
However, you need to consider the line movements carefully. A line movement favoring the underdog means that most people are betting on the favorite.