Betting strategies

A quick Google search on betting and betting strategies reveals hundreds of sites that promise to equip you with all the skills and knowledge you need to win most, if not all your bets. The number of betting experts, consultants, marketers, mathematicians, and statisticians promising gold in the betting scene is astounding. The interesting bit is that all these pros claim to have the betting success formula to keep you winning from the start of the NBA or NFL season to its end, as well as wins on horse races and hockey in between.

But, have you stopped to ask yourself whether or not these promises are real? Are the experts really good at it? Have you stopped to wonder about why people still lose big, and others turn homeless for believing some of the self-proclaimed experts?

Because, if you do, you will learn that there are things that are (to a large extent) based on chance. If you remember anything about probabilities back in school, you should know you never really know, but, you can get as close to the truth, if you research and study the game you intend to bet on. With that in mind, and your best interests at heart, here are some strategies you could employ to increase your chances of winning.

Betting strategies – step by step

  1. Manage your bankroll – bet on 1-2% of your money

The biggest and the most effective betting strategies have its roots in money management. In this case, bankroll management. And since we can all agree that you don’t want to be rendered homeless by betting, you want to spend the bare minimum on betting.

To do this, bet in a way that lowers the risk your bankroll faces. You might have noticed that the low-stakes bettors will put in huge sums of money into bets. But, even when they do this, their bankrolls are not at risk because they make small wagers. With a small wager, you won’t be worried about losing much money.

As a beginner, however, you need to focus on putting in less money. Betting is all about streaks. You could be on a winning or a losing streak. You don’t want to lose big when starting out.

To be on the right path, learn from the pros, they swear by putting in only 1 or 2 percent of their bankroll into the game to lower the risk of loss, even on a losing streak.

This is a conservative betting strategy, and as long as you have the necessary betting skills and are willing to put in the work and time, then you stand to profit immensely. It’s also less stressful.

The highest you can go when it comes to using your bankroll is 5 percent. Note that betting on 1 percent or 5 percent often means only using 1 percent of your $500.

  1. Keep an edge in the sport you are betting on

In sports betting, you have an edge, something that’s not in gambling. What this means is that you always have an edge in what you do. So, don’t do what everyone else is doing.

To keep your edge, there are two important things you should do: be focused on a single team and always fade the public.

Focusing on one team

Every day, there are hundreds of betting lines across multiple sports, and it’s very easy to get sucked in. Betting on multiple teams might sound like an excellent idea, but it isn’t always, well unless your bankroll has no limit.

As a beginner, focusing on one team means you learn everything about the team and their history. You won’t need to spend too much time on every match. When studying a team, pick up those subtle tendencies that will give you an edge over other bettors. Besides the edge, you also get more time to research on the other team before the match; you’ll have more insights, and increase your chances of winning. It might not be too exciting though.

Fading the public

Here, you only need to bet against the public. Why? Sportsbooks will shade lines as a reflection of the public’s expected opinion. And with the sportsbooks’ objective of setting lines drawing 50-50 action, rather than predict the outcome of a game, it means that there will be soft lines where going against the public results in you gaining an edge.

You will know about the public opinion by researching. People look at history and will often back the team that always wins. Also, look for the team with huge and passionate fans, the team with excessive coverage, and the team with a marquee player – the one drawing in the most attention.

  1. Using ATS Records

This is one of the most common and highly emphasized pieces of information – how teams will fare against ATS or the spread, often as determined by the Vegas lines. Fortunately, this information is easily available as it’s published in several sites.

The bad news is that you require a software because the published trends will only be out when it’s too late.

  1. Using Software applications for advanced strategies

Many companies sell software which will help you come up with your unique betting strategies. The programs are huge databases categorized into team vs. team, moneyline range, opponent rank, month or year they played, team ranks, and favorites or underdogs.

Using different variables, you will see how teams fare against their opponents while spotting trends unknown to the public.

The information from the programs will give you a great competitive edge. Unfortunately, there are no guaranteed wins here, and it might be more work than fun.

  1. Using Betting Systems

There are several betting systems created, but Martingale is the most common one in sports betting.

The Martingale system of betting calls you to double your bet every time you lose, and if you win, your wins will cover all the losses, and you’ll still have a profit that equals your original bet. It might not be the best, but it is one of the easiest.

There’s also the complicated Labouchere system which requires you to write down a series of digits then add them up to place your bet. With every win, you get to cross of the two numbers at the end, and with every loss, you add the losing value at the of your number series. Though complicated, it is fun.

It should be noted that betting systems do not work to a very large intent. Sports betting will always be sport betting where real people will determine the outcome of the game based on their efforts. In an online casino, the house always has the edge of better odds than the player so in the long run you will always lose at an online casino. However, there are of course strategies to improve your chances, but none that works flawlessly.

  1. Value Betting

This is easily one of the best betting strategies out there. If all other strategies fail, consider value betting. This is because you shouldn’t ever bet until you find a selection offering a legit positive value. For this, you need the odds of a team winning then use the value of the odd to calculate the team’s implied probability. You need a specific tool for this. You only get to bet once you get a positive value of implied probability.

  1. Arbitrage Betting

If you know what you are doing, this is the most profitable betting strategies. Arbitrage betting requires exploitation of pricing discrepancies within betting markets which exist when at least two bookmakers offer very different odds and lines for similar outcomes. In case of a significant pricing discrepancy, betting on every possible outcome could result in huge profits.

Conclusion

Winning sports bets goes back to doing your homework. Understanding the game and the team you are betting on or not will increase your chances of winning. Knowledge gives you a winning edge. It’s also important that you stick to one strategy.

And, beware of pitfalls in betting. There are numerous scams out on the internet and offline. An actual probability for your selection cannot be calculated since there are too many factors in play. To be on the safest side, calculate your odds.