Why Is Sports Betting So Hard

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• Why Is Sports Betting So Hard
• Why Is Sports Betting So Harder
• Is Sports Betting A Good Idea
• Why Is Sports Betting So Harder

So is the sports betting market efficient? Not entirely, but it’s a spectrum. Sports with the highest betting limits and most available information, like the NFL, have the most efficient betting markets. That’s why it’s so hard to beat NFL point spreads if you’re betting on Sunday mornings when numbers are as accurate as possible.

That’s why we’ve put together our comprehensive guide to sports betting strategy. It’s packed full of useful information and advice that can help anyone go from a losing bettor to a winning one: if they’re prepared to work hard enough that is. In an April 2019 procurement memo (which has since been removed from its website), the lottery indicated that SBTech would receive 9%-11% of its revenue from sports betting. That is, so far, the only public insight into the revenue-sharing agreement between the parties.

Sports betting can reveal many things to bettors as they progress from beginner, to average, to winning.

Some of these things may not be surprising, but some of them can be downright shocking.

Here's a list of things you may learn from betting on sports:

1 – Picking Winning Teams with the Spread Is Hard

Most sports bettors get started by betting on their favorite teams with other fans. Usually point spreads and vig aren't involved. They just bet on who will win the game.

If you start winning more often than you lose, you might start thinking it isn't that hard to pick winners.

When you start adding point spreads and vig, it gets a lot harder to win consistently.

It makes it so difficult that most sports bettors end up losing money in the long run.

2 – There's No Such Thing as a Sure Thing

You can find numerous opportunities that are heavily in your favor, but the existence of a sure thing in sports betting doesn't exist.

Never over-bet your bankroll--no matter how good a betting situation may appear.

Find someone giving you advice on a game that's a sure thing?

Be instantly skeptical.

Can the person benefit in any way from giving you the information?

Usually the person with the sure thing is trying to sell me something.

3 – Home Teams Win More Often, But Not More Often Enough

Home teams have an advantage in just about all sports.

But it isn't enough to be used in a profitable nature by sports bettors.

When they set the lines, books factor in home field advantage. So you have to find other things to use when handicapping games. You need to use the home team advantage in your calculations as well--so you can see where a sports book may be giving a home team too much or too little credit.

4 – Betting on Sports Is Hard Work - If You Want To Win, Anyway

Betting on sports is easy

But becoming a winning sports bettor requires a lot of work.

Want to win?

You have to study players, teams, games, statistics, models (the statistical kind, not the swimsuit wearing ones), and anything else that might give you an edge.

Hoping to get an edge while spending a few hours a week watching games or looking at stats online is a quick route to the poor house. Even if you're lucky enough to win for a while, your luck will run out eventually--unless you put in the required work to be a winner.

5 – Being a Stats Nerd Helps

I don't know why so many people associate the word nerd with something bad. It might not be the best occupation in high school, but most of the people with big money could be called nerds. Computer and software companies make lots of cash.

Sports bettors need to find and process a great deal of statistical data. It helps if you're already a stats person. You don't HAVE to be a stats nerd to become a winning sports bettor.

But you're probably going to have to hire out the work or learn how to process numbers.

6 – Bankroll Management Is Almost as Important as Picking Winners

If you can't pick winners, it doesn't matter how you manage your bankroll. Even if you're an overall winner, mismanage your bankroll, and you'll still lose.

You have to have enough money to bet on every game that gives you an edge without risking too much on any single event.

7 – Picking 50% Winners Is Easy - Picking 53% Winners Is the Holy Grail

It's amazing how much more difficult it is to pick winners 53% of the time than it is to pick them 50% of the time.

You can pick winners by flipping a coin, and you'll win 50% of the time in the long run.

Assuming a standard 10% vig, you need to win 53% of the time to profit in the long run.

Only a select few sports bettors pick 53% or better. You don't find many of them.

Start tracking your sports betting results immediately. See how often you currently win. See if you can figure out how to start climbing toward the magical 53% mark.

8 – Your Favorite Team Sucks

Once you start betting in a serious manner, you often start seeing all of the flaws your favorite team has. As a fan you can usually ignore minor flaws, but as a sports bettor you have to see every flaw to make smart bets.

9 – You Can't Bet on Games Involving Your Favorite Team

Only the best sports bettors are able to ignore their personal feelings about their favorite team and bet for or against them. I've been betting on sports for years. I still won't bet on a game involving my favorite team. I have a hard time being objective when evaluating their play, so I avoid the conflict.

10 – Watching Games Isn't Fun Anymore

It's hard to watch games for enjoyment once you start betting on sports. You find yourself looking for ways to gain an advantage and have a hard time getting into 'fan' mode.

11 – Anyone Can Bet - Few Can Win

Anyone can find someone to take their bets, but only a few actually win in the long run.

The real winners in the sports betting industry are the books who charge a percentage on losing wagers.

Do you really want to start raking in the money?

Figure out how you can set up a legal bookmaking operation.

12 – It's Not a Hobby

Winning sports bettors act like betting on sports is a business or a job, not a hobby.

What's the difference?

Hobbies cost money.

Businesses earn money.

13 – It's Only a Problem if You Lose

In no way do I support problem gamblers placing wagers. If you have a problem, find help right now.

But many of the sports bettors I thought had a problem said this to me:

'It's only a problem if you're losing.'

A problem gambler might be aware that he has a problem.

But he only recognizes it as a possible problem if he's losing.

Here's the thought process:

If you're winning you can't possibly have a gambling problem.

Not sure if you have a problem, even though you're winning?

14 – Football Is Popular - but Baseball and Regular Season Basketball Can Be Gold Mines

Most bets are placed during football season. The sports books spend most of their resources making sure they put out the best betting lines possible for football games.

They want to publish good lines during baseball and basketball season, too.

But you can find many wagering opportunities during baseball and basketball season. Both games are easier to profit from than professional football.

15 – College Sports Are Easier to Handicap than Pro Sports

College sports are easier to handicap than professional sports. The sports books focus on pro sports before they look at college games.

It's the same reason why baseball and basketball can be profitable—only more so.

16 – Getting Large Bets Down Can Be as Hard as Picking Winners

Why Is Sports Betting So Hard

When you start winning on a consistent basis, your bankroll starts growing. Eventually you can reach a point where the bets you want to place become bigger than your betting limits.

The next thing you do is start placing bets in more than one place. Eventually even this can become hard to manage.

This is a good problem to have. It means you're winning.

But when you have an edge, you want to get as much money as you can down on a game (while maintaining safe bankroll considerations).

17 – A Regular Job Might Be More Profitable

Few sports bettors actually win in the long run.

Even some of the profitable sports bettors don't make enough to make it a better option than a job.

If you track all of your sports betting action, you can get an idea if you're better off financially than working.

18 – Specialize Before You Run

You need to walk before you run.

You also need to pick a sport and start winning consistently before you start betting on other sports.

Dividing your attention between two or more sports can keep you from winning in any of them.

19 – You CAN Do It Alone - But Outside Help Can Be Valuable

Most sports bettors start their betting career on their own, but as they grow they have the opportunity to use other people to help them get better. Instead of doing all of the research yourself, consider outsourcing it using a freelancer or part time employee.

20 – Amateurs Pick Games - Pros Handicap Games

If you want to be a professional sports bettor, focus on handicapping games, not picking them.

When you handicap a game you look at both sides, the line, and all of the information you have. Using all of these things you decide if the line offers an edge on either side.

If you just pick games, you aren't taking it seriously enough. Eventually you'll start losing.

21 – You Might Be Better Off Playing Roulette

Most sports bettors only pick winners about 50% of the time. If you're no better than average, you could just bet on red or black on the roulette wheel. You'd have roughly the same chance of winning.

22 – Paying Less Vig Is the Same as Winning More

When you pay the normal 10% vig on losing wagers, it means you have to win more to show a profit. Any lower amount of vig you can pay reduces the amount you need to win in order to come out ahead.

You can find special deals offering reduced vig by shopping around with different sports books--both land based and online.

23 – Inside Information Is Great - But It's Not Everything

Professional sports bettors are always trying to find inside information. They know if they can get the right kind of information before the sports books, it can be worth a great deal of money.

But they also understand that inside information, no matter how valuable it may seem, is only a part of their overall handicapping equation.

Don't put too much faith in any single thing about a game. Evaluate everything you know to make a winning decision before placing a bet.

Conclusion

Learning about these unexpected truths can help you avoid losing money in your own sports betting career.

Sports betting is one of the most favorite activities among people. That especially counts when we talk about sports lovers. Supporting your favorite club is already entertaining. However, sports betting will make things more interesting for people. Despite that, it will also allow them to get some additional earnings and potentially ensure financial stability.

In theory, everything around sports betting seems amazing. Unfortunately, not all people will manage to reach their goals. We all need to go through a couple of stages to consistently make money on sports betting. Knowledge improvement plays a key role in the path to success. Because of that, we would like to share a couple of ways how you can ensure regular sports betting earnings.

Let’s get started!

1. Forget about luck, rather improve your betting skills!

Whoever starts to bet usually has beginner’s luck and starts to win a lot. However, as time passes, you need to focus more on your knowledge and betting skills. Even though gambling and betting are very fun and exciting activities that provide an opportunity to earn big amounts of money, you need to know how to approach them. For instance, you need to take into consideration which matches are quality and which ones you should avoid.

As we said, the question is whether luck will follow you always or not. You need it, but you can’t count it will always follow you. For that reason, you need to work hard on improving betting skills. We will suggest you collaborate with tipsters. They are true experts in the betting field, so they can help you expand your knowledge. Other than that, they can teach you some betting tricks and help you establish some new strategies. You can consider finding a betting mentor or simply start analyzing the games alone.

2. The focus will bring you profit

One of the crucial things that many betters forget about is to be focused on one sport or even better one league. In other words, even though there are numerous sport listed you can bet on, you need to choose smartly what can be profitable. The key is not to bet on all of them and see which one will be effective. If you want to make money, you need to analyze and choose one specific competition. You can always consult with experts and see what their suggestions will be in case you do not know what you should bet on.

3. You need to consider betting odds

You need to put aside your emotions when it comes to betting. Also, as much as you are a fan of some team and players, you should not let that lead you in the wrong way. The main role in this field play odds. In other words, they will guide you to opportunities that you should consider when betting. You need to invest money only if you are sure you will get good value.

Why Is Sports Betting So Harder

When you are looking for a site where you can bet, you need to be aware of the fact that all of them provide different odds. For that reason, you need to research and find the best offerings instead of investing your money immediately when you see the betting site. Let’s be honest, it is hard enough to win, so you should not miss a chance to earn as much money you can.

4. Think about your discipline and control of your stakes

Maybe you are surprised, but if you stay committed and disciplined, you have a chance to achieve your goal when it comes to sports betting. For instance, if you start losing bets in a row, you should not chase the lost money and invest it in some silly and reckless bets. Also, if you start to win, you should not let emotions take you away so you start putting enormous stakes.

We suggest you start tracking all of your best activities and then analyze them. If you do this, you will have a clear picture of what things you should change and how to make those changes properly. On the other hand, it will show you which strategies you used were profitable and try them out once again. One more good idea is to set a bankroll. Many betters do this because it keeps your stakes in control. More precisely, you should take your stakes approximately between 1-3% of your bankroll. In that way, you will not put big amounts of money as your regular stakes.

6. Take advantages of the free offer

Many betting sites provide all kinds of different free offers, bonuses, and other bet promotions. It would be worth it to look at them and take advantage of them. Those promotions come in different forms. For instance, if you are a new member on a betting site, you can get welcome bonuses. Despite that, if you are regular better on the site, you can also get some promotions, free bets, and deposit bonuses. This could be very beneficial, so you should keep an eye on the sector where promotions could appear daily.

Is Sports Betting A Good Idea

7. Researching is very important for success

Before you invest money, you need to follow some steps. In other words, you need to be dedicated to researching! The main question is what you should cover before you put the stake? Let’s see.

The first thing you need to do is find a reliable and reputable online site, and avoid fall into the scam. If you are interested to find an online site that you can trust and that has credibility, you can visit onlinesportsbetting.net. Every betting website that is verified will have the necessary information in one of the sections where you can see their lists of the rules, payment methods, and terms and conditions. In that way, you see whether you want to register and be a part of their community.

After that, you need to pay attention to the list of the available teams and matches you can bet on. Also, you need to analyze their history and successes and try to predict certain things in that way. We suggest you rely on your own knowledge and improving your skills and strategies. This mostly counts for the bettors who say they are not interested in maths. Mathematics is essential for sports betting, and it can give you some answers. If you do not want to invest in yourself, you should not expect to make a profit out of this activity. You need to make plans, analyze the odds, so you can have success in the long run.

Why Is Sports Betting So Harder