Most Americans feel like they don’t make enough money. Most people also feel like they don’t have enough time to enjoy their hobbies.
This puts people in a pickle. They know they need to spend some of their free time trying to earn extra money, but they also want to spend more time watching sports. So what should they do?
They should get really good a betting on football. Sports betting has become hugely popular in the US since a few states have legalized betting on sports. And with so many people betting, and making terrible decisions, that means there’s a lot of money left on the table.
If you knew what you were doing, you could regularly scoop up your fair share of that money. So what are the sports betting tips you need to practice? Keep reading below for the best gambling advice you’ve ever heard.
1. Stick to Your Budget
One of the most important gambling tips is to never gamble with more money than you are willing to lose. Because at least in the beginning, you’re going to lose a lot.
Never gamble with your rent or mortgage money. Don’t risk your grocery budget. Instead, save up some extra funds and set them aside in your gambling account.
2. Don’t Gamble on Bad Days
Unfortunately, many people gamble as a result of a bad day. But this is when gambling becomes an addiction and a problem.
If you’ve had a terrible day, been in a fight with your partner, or otherwise don’t feel like yourself, don’t place any bets. You’re not going to be thinking clearly, and you’ll ultimately waste your money.
3. Limit Your Bets
Don’t bet your entire account on one game. Sure, if you win, you’ll be sitting pretty. But if you lose, you’re all out of funds.
Instead, limit each individual bet to no more than 5% or 10% of your total gambling budget. This ensures you always have money to gamble with, and never feel the need to take money from other important areas of your life.
4. Try Multiple Websites
Not all sports betting websites are created equal. Some are more user-friendly than others. Some are catered to beginners, while others offer more advanced features for experienced players.
Hop around and try a few different companies out. Many offer new signup bonuses as well, allowing you to place some risk-free bets, earning some free money. Take advantage of these offers until you find your favorite betting site. You can find a list and comparison of the best sites to try on the sports betting website here.
5. Bet on the Home Team
The easiest way to bet on football games, and increase your chances of winning, is to bet on the home team. In the NFL, teams average wins at home more than 50% of the time.
If you can win more than 50% of your sports bets then you are essentially a professional. You’ll do better than most other players.
The problem, though, is that this strategy is too simple. It’s not sexy, and the payouts aren’t usually great. But for consistent wins, it’s hard to go wrong with this strategy.
6. Document Your Bets
One of the best ways to become a better sports bettor is by taking notes. Make a simple, free spreadsheet with Google or Excel, and track the date, the game, and odds, and what your bet was.
Record the outcomes, and you’ll be able to see how much you are winning or losing over time, and which types of bets are working most often for you.
7. Hedge Your Bets
Hedging is the process of placing multiple different bets, which reduces your risk of loss if one or more of your bets goes south. If you were to place a pre-match bet on a draw, but during the game, the odds move greatly in the favor of a particular team to win, a hedge could be to place an in-game bet, to hedge against your original bet.
8. Choose a Speciality
With modern sports betting platforms, there are countless different ways to place bets. From totals to parlays, and money line to futures, there’s no shortage of options.
If you want to lose a lot of money, try using all of these strategies. If you want to start making money, however, then you need to choose one or two strategies and go deep. The more you know about a particular strategy, the more you can develop an edge over casual bettors.
9. Never Assume
Players get into trouble when they play the assumption game. If a team dominated one game, many players assume that their will dominate the next, respective of all other factors.
But football games are far more complex. It depends on where the game is played, what the weather conditions are like, which team is suffering from injuries, which team just flew across the country, and so forth.
10. Research Constantly
To have an edge over most bettors, who just place a random wager, you want to spend your time researching. Watch post-match commentary. The research team and player statistics, both for the current season and for previous seasons.
The more you know about the game, and what the strengths and weaknesses of each team are, the more you can place informed bets, pushing the odds ever closer in your favor.
11. Find a Trusted Tipster
There are a lot of people out there that are successful football bettors. And many of them share their betting ideas and tips every single week.
While you shouldn’t blindly follow anybody, you should take hints from the most reliable bettors in the industry, especially while you are still new to the world of betting. This can provide you with a free betting education, that may even put some money in your pocket.
Betting on Football Is Fun
Or at least, betting on football is supposed to be fun. If you aren’t having fun, you’re doing it wrong. Most people don’t make consistent money over time, so if sports betting is a drag, find another hobby, or learn how to be emotionally detached from the results.
If you don’t you’ll be pretty miserable all the time, and that’s certainly not fun.
Looking for other helpful tips like this? Head over to our blog now to keep reading.