If you want to make money from gambling, sports betting is your best bet.
Sure, poker, blackjack, craps, and slots all have their place in a gambler’s heart, but they aren’t consistent. Everyone knows that the house always wins. Even if you’re up, you know that you’ll be down eventually.
However, sports betting is a game of statistics. Yes, there are upsets and things can always take a turn for those worse. But, with sports betting, you’ll likely have more control over your own money.
Their world of sports betting isn’t vague, it’s extremely specific. There are many sites to use, sports to be on, and a variety of betting methods.
If you’re new to the game, it can be frustrating to not know the best ways to play.
Betting tips and tricks are always useful, and you should be constantly on the hunt to improve your play whenever you can.
With that in mind, I’ve created this guide to show you 20 betting tips and tricks to win your bet while sports betting.
1. Set Your Yearly Goals
Setting yearly, monthly, or weekly goals are always a great idea when sports betting.
You’ll want to keep yourself on the right track and focus on improving your betting strategy rather than hoping for the big one that rakes in all your money.
By setting realistic goals for yourself, you’ll be able to see yourself improve and know what you need to focus on and what you’re already excelling at.
2. Use Two-Sided Lines When Handicapping
Setting at least one line for both sides of a game is an easy way to increase your od of at least recovering some of your lost money.
If you’re not developing two-side lines then you’re selling yourself short when it comes to handicapping.
If you’re having a hard time justifying betting the opposite side of a game, it may be better to not even bet on the game, to begin with.
3. Live and Breathe Your Sports Bets
Sports betting is the superior form of gambling compared to casinos because of the amount of control you have over your bets.
You have the power to decide what is good and what is a bad bet. Your judgment is ultimately what makes you and a winner and a loser.
If you’re not confident in your understanding of the sport you’re betting on, it’s probably best to avoid betting on it. If you can’t understand why you should bet on something, you might be making a mistake.
By living and breathing the game you bet on, you’ll increase your odds of getting returns on your investments.
4. Use Multiple Sportsbooks
Using multiple sportsbooks when it comes to sports betting should be a no brainer.
Each betting operator is going to have their bonuses, their odds, and types of bets. If you’re wanting to make the most of each game, and your time, using multiple sportsbooks is the only way.
You won’t even have to worry about having multiple accounts with money in them and having to handle all of them at once. Modern times have come and instant payment methods such as Skrill and PayPal have made life easy and you can access your funds, from one single account, incredibly easily.
5. Keep Yourself in the Loop
Knowing the basics won’t cut it if you want to immerse yourself in the world of sports betting and hope to make any sort of reasonable profit from it.
You should be keeping yourself in the loop with modern strategies and theories to make the best bets possible.
You should be looking up articles on betting, information online, and be interested in what the pros are doing to make the most money.
6. Math is Your Friend
Probability makes the world go around.
At least, if you’re hoping to be profitable at sports betting.
All betting is a probability, it’s not only sports betting, so understanding the mathematics behind probability is going to be your friend no matter what type of betting you’re interested in.
If you’re new to betting you likely only recognize the odds as a marking of how much money you’re going to rake in if you win. Unfortunately, if that’s you, you’re in for a world of surprise.
A sports betting professional will understand that those odds are the probability that the bookmaker chose for that particular event.
Understanding how and why that bookmaker got to that probability is imperative for you to understand to make the most profits possible through sports betting.
7. Pick Your Odds Well
If you want to be a successful gambler, you should know the basic rule of sports betting – you need to beat the bookmaker.
Those who find success often have at least one thing in common with each other: they have more knowledge about the event than the bookmaker.
This might be news from a different source, an update received faster than others, or understand the dynamics of the sport better than the bookie.
These are called value bets because you know that you’re more likely to win these.
Ensure you’re making as many of these as possible by following the other tips in this guide.
8. The Underdog Pays
Far too often you’ll find sports better who think that being on the underdog is a waste of money.
And, often time, it is. The underdog is the underdog for a reason, they’re more than likely going to lose.
However, never betting on the underdog should never be an option.
By having a better knowledge of the sport you’re betting on, you’re already putting yourself at an advantage. A 14-2 NFL team can still fall in the playoffs, and having a small bet on awful odds is can be a great way to recap some of your losses or strike gold with a risky bet
9. Set Maximums
Keeping your bankroll in check is one of the most important aspects of gambling in general, not just sports betting.
Set a maximum bet for yourself and stick to it, no matter how juicy or incentivizing the odds may seem for you.
By setting limits for yourself, you’ll be ensuring that you aren’t going in the hole more than a comfortable amount.
If you fail to control this, you may find yourself with a much bigger problem than losing $50 on the Patriots game.
10. Sports Betting is Better Long Term
Sports betting can be a great way to make money, especially for advanced betters.
However, it’s not a get rich quick scheme. You should never think of gambling as a way to make a few quick bucks or a way to get tons of money in a weekend. If you have that mindset, you’ll almost surely find yourself with no money in your bank account and a plethora of problems.
A good sport better knows that profits come in small lumps over a longer period. Rarely will they invest a large stake into a game unless the odds are stacked in their favor.
Knowing this will help you make better decisions and focus on increasing your bank account slowly, but surely.
11. Bet at the Right Time
This typically will mean earlier rather than later.
As the event comes closer and closer to happening, more information will be revealed. Usually, this will mean odds become heavily skewed to one side or the other.
Find out when the bets are added and make your bet as soon as the odds come out. These odds are typically more attractive and will have less information associated with them, making them better payouts for you.
Be warned, betting earlier can be riskier. In the event, someone is injured or a suspension occurs, your bet may be severely hampered and you run the risk of playing on unfavorable odds.
12. Keep a Cool Head
In the world of gambling, and many other activities, you’ll hear the world ‘tilting’ frequently.
Tilting is what happens when you make angry or frustrated from previous bets or mistakes. This causes your mind to be clouded and focus on overcoming your losses rather than making the best decisions possible.
Don’t tilt.
Sports betting can become frustrating, and you should recognize that. It’s never in your favor to decide with a hot head and a mind full of anger.
Networking Applies to Bet Too
Just like in your career, sports betters should be on the prowl to network with as many other successful sports betters as possible.
Keeping this network of peers will allow you to discuss strategies, upcoming games, and any other information they may have available. By exchanging thoughts and ideas with others, you increase their chances of winning bets, and they increase your chances of winning bets.
It’s a win-win scenario for everyone. Plus, it’s never a bad thing to learn from someone else.
13. Don’t Forget About E-Sports
With all the new video games and tech that spew forth from companies, it’s easy to get lost in the updates.
However, you should know that e-sports have become an increasingly popular way for people to gamble.
These video games can be League of Legends, Counterstrike: GO, and many others. You’ll also find that upsets happen as much, if not more, in these video games than with other sports.
This new territory of sports betting can be an adventure for a gambling pioneer and an easy way to introduce yourself to sports betting if you’re more of a computer-gaming person rather than a sports one.
14. Watch the Games Live
Beyond the fact that you should be watching your games because you want to learn more about the teams, watching the game live can be a nice way to add in more bets to your portfolio.
Often, many games will have live bets that occur on a single play or quarter. Because you can judge the game for yourself, this can be a good time to get some value bets out.
15. Bet With Your Brain, Not Your Heart
If you’re a sport better and a Browns fan, you can relate.
It shouldn’t need to be said, but it does. We all want our favorite team to win the World Series or the Super Bowl. But, we need to face it now – they probably won’t. And, you shouldn’t be risking your money on that dream.
It might feel weird, but if you care about your bank account, betting against your team may be the best decision.
Numbers don’t lie, but your heart might.
16. Learn From Your Mistakes
This is the most crucial aspect of becoming a great sports better rather than a good one.
If you think you know it all already, you don’t. You should be constantly looking to improve your knowledge, strategies, and tactics when approaching your bets. If you’re not, you’ll soon find yourself losing out on a lot of profits that others are taking advantage of.
Start keeping a record of your bets and how you did on them. Take notes from the game and see what happened and how it affected your bet. By compiling all of this information as well as your betting methods, you’ll soon find yourself learning and making better decisions in the future.
17. Small Profits Are Still Profits
Don’t be afraid of small bets or betting on stacked odds. Money is money and that’s what you’re after, isn’t it?
Unless you’ve got a stacked bankroll, you likely won’t find yourself dropping thousands, or even hundreds, of dollars on your bets. This is especially true for newcomers.
Focus on winning your bets and making some sort of profit to be proud of. Once you fully understand the best betting strategies for you, then it’s time to bring out a bigger bankroll and capitalize on your knowledge.
18. Don’t Become Obsessed
Sports betting is fun. Everyone knows it.
It’s a thrill to win and it’s an opportunity to learn when you lose. It’s great. However, don’t let it encompass too much of your time.
Set time limits on how much time you spend involved with sports betting. Taking breaks is a healthy way to readjust your mind and come back sharper than ever.
Those who let sports betting overtake much of their lives will soon find themselves constantly stressed with no other interests in their daily lives. It’s not healthy and it won’t help you become a great better.
19. Keep Up With the Media
Keeping up with the media is one of the most useful ways of understanding who to bet on if you understand the media.
Don’t ever forget that the media’s job is to make money. Outside of news, they’re likely going to print what’s going to make them money. You can often see this strategy in many tabloids and entertainment websites. These will often have hot takes that are published to get a reaction, not to entertain you.
Be wary of these and understand that there still may be a grain of truth in what they’re publishing.
Other more reputable sites, such as ESPN, the Associated Press, and others are a great way to keep up with injury reports and happenings that could affect the outcome of a game you’re interested in betting on.
The Twitterverse Tells All
Social media is another form of media that’s worth your time as well. Twitter and other social media platforms are great for receiving live news updates.
Often, these updates come directly from players or coaches so you can adjust your bet as soon as it happens to get the best odds.
