If you want to win big at sports betting, you should start with the fundamentals. Your prospects of winning large at sports betting are minimal if you don’t have a firm foundation. Understanding how things work and how to use that information to your advantage is what we mean by starting with the basics. In this post, we’ll give you a quick rundown of what sports betting entails, as well as a rundown of some key websites where you can get started right away.
What is sports betting?
Sports betting is a form of gambling that involves predicting sports results. If a person bets on a team or a player to win, and that team or player does so, the bettor wins money. If the team or player loses, the bettor loses money. People tend to make sports bets to earn money, but they can also be made for fun. Do I Need to Know Anything to Play at All?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, you need to know how betting works to play. For example, if you put $100 on the Indianapolis Colts to win the Super Bowl and the team earns a victory, you automatically won $100. If Malcolm Butler makes a diving tackle for the winning touchdown, you could be looking at a decent value, as well. That is not the same as if the Baltimore Ravens beat the Steelers to win the Super Bowl — you could be looking at a whopping $1,000!
That said, once you start playing, know that you will need to read a considerable amount of material to fully master the details. It’s not just about knowing how things work, but also about interpreting the odds and determining the proper payout. Odds and odds alone won’t save you if you get caught off guard by a smart opponent, so the appropriate knowledge of proper payout will often reap the rewards.
The Right Kind of Betting Material
The right kind of wagering material is important because it provides a benchmark. Typically, in a sports bet, you’ll be paying money to determine if a team or player will win or lose (or if you might be willing to risk money on something that doesn’t happen at all). If a bettor starts at betting amounts he generally isn’t comfortable with, he won’t know to call the appropriate shots and end up giving away a good deal. I usually recommend that anyone who bets on a team to win the game (or on a player) at least covers a substantial amount of expenses for this kind of bet (ATM fees, concession cost and insurance.)
How do you make money by playing sports?
There are two ways to put odds on something. The simplest is measuring the likelihood of something happening. Want extra odds on your favourite NBA team? Just multiply the point spread by the number of games left in the season. Want to feel more confident about your Super Bowl odds? Just add the point spread to the odds of getting the ball first down the field. If you’re serious about winning big with sports betting, you’ll need to understand the odds.
On the flip side, you also gain the advantage of understanding how the outcomes are determined. Two of the most prominent rules for betting are the UNDER/OVER prediction line and the UNDER/UP prediction line. If you want to know how these lines were first developed, check out this referred article from Betting History. While we won’t dive into the nuts and bolts of each prediction line, we will explain how things work today.
Focusing on odds
Just because you gain an understanding of how the outcomes are determined, doesn’t mean you should go all out every time. It’s important to work within your limits. For example, if you are putting up 80% odds on the Bears beating the Saints, consider that you’re only 1 point away from winning that game. Going all-in too much can have bad consequences, so you don’t want to miss out on a great bet just because you over-bet.
Below is an illustration of the basic difference between odds and probabilities. A bell curve represents the likelihood of something happening, while the probability is the actual chance. Your odds refer to the lower and mid-point of the curve. For example, your odds of winning the Super Bowl are 10-1 (80% chance).
Conclusion:
A good bettor sets very clear goals and objectives for their efforts for sports betting. A good bettor makes an objective bet that is informed by all the available information. They also make sure the stakes are appropriately low, to begin with, and remove any element of chance to bring that to an end. Knowledge is the foundation that allows the skills to grow and for those skills to shine. The knowledge of the bettor is augmented with years of experience which will produce that knowledge. Experience is when you have the opportunity to apply what you learn to a new situation and to produce an outcome.
