Sports betting has become a huge industry in recent years, with millions placed on who will win each game.
For those looking to get involved, there are many different strategies to consider. Here are five tips to help you make the best of your bets, whether you’re playing for real or practicing with free bets:
1) The Spread Betting Strategy
This strategy involves betting on a team that is either over or under what they were expected to do, based upon their record at this point in time and how well they should be performing against an opponent with a given record.
For example, say the Seattle Mariners are playing against the Detroit Tigers. The spread for this game would be something like “Seattle -255” versus a +235 wager on the Tigers.
The payout is calculated by taking your bet and dividing it over what you could win (in our case 255). In this case, that would be $255/235. If you bet on the Mariners to win (which is a good decision because they are likely to), and it pays out more than what we calculated above ($105) then you have made money from your wager.
2) The Moneyline Betting Strategy
This strategy involves simply picking a team to win the game, without regard for whether they have been over or underperforming thus far into their season. The payout is calculated by taking your bet and dividing it by what you could potentially lose in that particular wager ($100). If you bet on the Mariners and it loses, then the payout is $100/105.
It’s important to remember that under this strategy you will only win money if your team wins outright or beats the spread (the Mariners are +110 for example). This means picking a good underdog can sometimes be more lucrative than choosing an overrated favorite.
3) The Totals Betting Strategy
This strategy involves picking a game that is expected to have an over/under of 7.5 runs or more for baseball, 10 points in the NFL and 9 total goals scored in NHL play (hockey).
For example: Team A versus Team B; it’s being predicted by Vegas odds makers there will be 13 points scored. If you bet on the over, and there are 14 or more total goals then your wager is a winner; if not then it’s considered to have been under-par.
4) The Point Spread Betting Strategy
There may well come a time when you find yourself in a situation where you want to wager on your favorite team, but don’t like their betting odds. For some of the more die-hard fans out there, this may be unacceptable and force them into placing an action against their own team just for the sake of getting involved.
The payout is calculated by taking your bet and dividing it over what you could potentially earn in that particular wager. For example, say the Yankees are playing against their cross-town rivals The Mets:
If a player were to place an action on New York -1 1/2 runs (on top of their bet on the Yankees), then they could potentially earn $30/15, which can be quite lucrative should they win.
If a player were to place an action against their favorite team and it ended up winning outright in this case (the Mets) then you would lose money ($220 -$200). Say the Mets ended up winning by a run, you would lose that bet but still be able to collect on the action against your team.
5) The Proposition Betting Strategy
Proposition bets can be a fun way to spend your money, especially when it is on something like who will score the first goal in an NHL game. This strategy involves betting that one player or team over another based upon their past performances and records against each other (i.e.: they’re playing divisional rivals).
Proposition bets can also be a great way to make some quick cash, as they are often under-valued with lower payouts than other types of wagers.
For example: Team A is playing against team B and in the last five games between them; three have ended up being decided by 3 or less goals, one was a 4-1 win and the last an 8-3 blowout. This means that both teams are playing close games against each other (especially if you factor in how they’ve been performing this season) which is something to consider when placing your wager on Team A instead.
We hope you’ve liked the article! Are you looking for more information about sports betting? FreeBets.org.uk is an excellent place to start as they categorise the smallest to the largest welcome incentives in the industry, which will help you getting started. Best of luck!
