If there was an exact science to sports betting, a lot of bettors would be millionaires by now. But that’s not how the business works. The whole thing can be considered a science alright, but it’s one where there aren’t any real answers to. In place of a concrete blueprint is a smorgasbord of theories, trends, and system plays, all created by people who are looking to get a leg up over sports books. Some of these practices have their merits to them, but more often than not, a lot of ‘em don’t.
In this space, we’re going to look at a number of betting tips you may have heard at one point or another from somebody else. The intention is to help you win your share of bets, but for all the supposed appeal these tips have on the surface lies some overarching truths you probably should know about before immersing yourself and your bets on these tips.
The exercise is to weed out the tips that you should follow from those that you shouldn’t. We’re going to make it easier for you and just tell you what tips you should stay away from, if only to give yourself a chance of not burning through your betting finances faster than Wile E. Coyote sticking dynamite down his throat.
Star systems are full-proof bets
You often see bettors put “stars” on their picks depending on how confident they are in the team they’re putting money on. In a lot of cases, these stars also represent a given amount of money those people are willing to bet on. A 1-star bet typically means laying down one unit; a 3-star bet is a three-unit play; a 5-star bet is a five-unit play, and so on and so forth. Following this type of betting formula isn’t a recipe for positive gains in the long run. Sure, you can cash in a 5-star bet or two, but how about the ones that fall on the other side? When you win a 1-star play and lose a 3-star play, you’re still staring at a big loss. The lesson here is to make the amount of your bets consistent depending on your bankroll. A smart bettor usually plays no more than five percent of his/her bankroll on a given bet; that way, he/she can slowly build up the winnings without having to worry about crashing and losing his entire bankroll on one or two losses.
There’s thrill in the chase
The above adage holds some truth to it if you’re a professional race car driver or you enjoy the occasional bursts of speed along a deserted country road. But in gambling, the “chase” often leads to a debilitating crash. You often see gamblers try to recoup their initial loss by doubling up on the next bet and when that goes to the toilet, they double the next bet, and, well, you get the picture. There are times when the gamble pays off, but doing so means risking a whole lot of money in the process just so you could say that you managed to draw even at the end of the day. The chase is not worth the risk, it never was, and it will never be.
Trends have prophetic powers
Make no mistake: betting trends have their usefulness when it comes to making a right pick. But just because one team has lost 10 straight games against another team, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to lose the next one. Always account for game-day circumstances that could swing momentum to another team even before the game starts. Late-game scratches are always an underrated yet very important aspect to look into. Take hockey for example. The goalie for Team has won his last 10 games against Team B, posting a 1.02 GAA and a .975 save percentage. Seems ripe to take him again, right?
Then, you turn on the TV and you see that he’s not even minding the net for the game. Instead, the back-up with a 2.87 GAA and a .902 save percentage is in the game. Those trends did you some good?
Go with the consensus
There’s a reason why the phrase “the house always wins” also holds true in sports betting. For every 1 sharp that nows what he’s doing, there are 10 or so that don’t know a whole lot about what they’re putting money on, hence inflating what does look like a majority belief of a game going a certain way. But like we said, the consensus pick often has hollow value, meaning that the appeal is merely superficial and lacks anything of substantive value. Unless you really do your homework on a particular and you see that the majority of the public is on your side, don’t take the bait of seeing a team receiving 91 percent of the public’s backing.
Parlays pay big
Yes they do. You won’t find any arguments coming from us about that. But on the flip side to that huge financial windfall, parlays, teasers, and whatever kind of exotic bet, are always harder to win. Whenever you’re itching to put some money down on a multi-team parlay, you need to understand that you’re not just rooting for one game to go a certain way, you’re actually rooting for ALL three to go your way. It’s always tempting when you’re staring at 10/1 odds for all three teams to win, but you only need to lose one of those three to see your bet go up in smoke. Parlays are tempting, but you’re better off in the long run to stick to single-game bets. If you do bet on parlays, the most you ought to do is a two-teamer. It doesn’t pay as handsomely, but it’s easier to get some value out of.
