Sports Betting Strategy

Sports Betting Strategy & Tips

Like most online gambling opportunities, sports betting strategies can be applied to give a bettor a more productive expectation to their online sports betting experience. However, you cannot expect to win every bet, no matter how much time and effort you put into each and every wager. A good sports betting strategy is one that is based on long term expectations.

If you look at the best rated handicappers in the world, you’ll find that even they have substantial losing streaks. It is their extensive winning streaks that turn the tides into their favor, bringing punters back time and time again for advice.

Speaking of handicapping, that brings us straight to our first sports betting strategy tip:

Sports Betting Strategy Tip #1: Handicapping

A handicapper is a person or organization who puts a great deal of time and effort into researching sporting events to predict the outcome of each sporting event. Handicappers can come up with exact scoring and winning expectations, basing their predictions on past performances, current situations like injuries and hot streaks, and other factors that can affect the outcome of a particular match-up.

The best handicappers have at least an 80% rate of accuracy. Getting your hands on such information does not come without a price, but if you’re serious about your online sports betting strategy, it can be well worth the price, especially in relation to long term success.

Sports Betting Strategy Tip #2: Place Equal Bets

Because you’re working on a long term sports betting strategy, it is best to place equal bet amounts on all sports. If you win 7 of 10 bets, you’ll come out way ahead if all bets were evenly placed. If you wagered $50 on 8 bets, including all winners, but $250 on two of your losing bets, you only make $200 (minus commissions). Betting $100 on all bets would have resulted in a $400 profit (minus commissions).

Sports Betting Strategy Tip #3: Know Your Sports/Bets

Stick to betting on sporting events and bet types you are familiar with. If you know nothing about rugby, don’t bother placing a bet on it. If you’re not educated on Teasers, don’t bet on them. You should know exactly what you’re looking at when you read a betting slip, with a full understanding of each and every bet you place. As you gain more experience in online sports betting, your knowledge will grow extensively. Your education and range of bets should progress simultaneously.

Sports Betting Strategy Tip #4: Avoid Parlays

Parlay bets have some very enticing payout rates, often enough to make a less experienced sports bettor make a very bad decision. The high payouts come with an extremely high house edge, which is why online sportsbooks advertise them so readily.

A parlay bet is a combination bet, where the punter picks 2 or more match-ups to place a single wager on. All contestants picked must win their match-up in order for the bettor to win. If you place a bet on 5 different NFL games, and 4 of your picks win but the 5th loses, you’ve lost your wager. Such a wager carries a house edge of 20-35%, depending on the sportsbook you are wagering at.