Sports Betting is a $200 Billion Dollar Business

There are very few certainties when it comes to sports betting, but one thing you can be sure about is that results will not always go the way you expect. This doesn't have to be a major problem if you are managing your money properly; but if you are not, then you will almost certainly end up going bust at some point.

Betting on your favorite teams or players in the case of some propositions is one of the biggest traps that amateur bettors fall into when betting sports. Sure, we can understand the appeal of betting on your favorite team, kicking back and rooting them on, but if you’re trying to win money at sports betting, this is far from optimal. Not only is wagering disproportionally on your favorite teams a poor decision, but it’s also an area where bettors are missing an important edge because of their bias.

Another of the most common betting mistakes is wagering on too many parlays, or combination bets on more than one result. Parlay bets seem attractive because the bettor can risk a small amount of their stake for a potential big payout. Although teasers seem to give you good odds,  they’re still a combination bet. You can win with Parlays but we recommend not risking more than 1% of your bankroll. If the combination picks are well calculated, they will render a nice profit. 

Chasing a bet is when you try to get back all of your losses from the previous wager on your next bet. It is a problem in sports betting. If you remember one thing from this site, do not chase your losing bets to try and get even. Many  sports losing bettors place bets after a loss out of anger. Betting out of emotion will usually produce losses.

This shotgun betting approach is a perfect example of impulsive gambling. It’s based on emotions rather than a betting system. Other examples are betting on the game you are watching on tv or in person, or betting on the Super Bowl and other Championship games just because they’re exciting and not because you  did your research. Also, don’t ever place a bet while intoxicated. Those are sure losses.

Impulsive and casual bets may be fun, but they’re almost always a losing bet. You are just throwing away money. If you are going to bet on sports , then you need to take it seriously and put aside your emotions.

Be honest, between work and your family and social life, when do you have time to research every match-up each and every day? There is a ton of daily data that needs to be combed over and how do you know if a line passes the eye test if you have never seen either team play. Watching dozens of teams through out the year requires a lot of time and energy. There are three types of sports handicappers. 1.) Stats guys usually subscribe to the likes of StatFox.com types of sites and pour over thousands of rows of data. 2.) The feel players watch 15-20 games per week and develop a 6th sense as to what the true match-up line should be and spring when they spot loose lines. The 3rd type of handicapper is a combination of the stats handicapper and the feel player. To successfully beat the book you need to either be a stats nerd or watching a hundred hours of games every month.