How to Use Sports Betting Guides and Strategies
Betting the Moneyline
Sports fans who enjoy betting on baseball and hockey can sometimes be confused by the numbers and odds used by oddsmakers. Betting on the sports that use moneylines rather than point spreads involves simply picking the winning team. NFL betting and NBA betting gives you the moneyline option with a point spread that most bettors like to use. Instead of seeing a team favored by 2.5 points like in football and basketball, there might be a small moneyline in baseball and hockey such as -120, which means you would need to wager $120 to win $100 or $60 to win $50.
If you get +6.5 points in football and basketball – meaning the team can lose by up to 6 to cash your bet – but a similar +200 moneyline would translate to a $200 profit on a $100 wager if your team wins the game straight up. While you have the opportunity to wager on the moneyline in just about every sport, baseball and hockey are the two team sports that use it as the primary betting option. The main reason is that baseball and hockey results tend to be much lower-scoring final results.
Meanwhile, scores ending 43-27 in football or 110-97 in basketball are examples why it makes more sense to use point spreads for those specific sports. Smaller results lead to moneylines becoming the betting option of choice and larger numbers require them to mainly utilize point spreads. Data tracking trends and relevant statistics are a necessary barometric tools for betting the moneyline or taking the points.
Moneyline Betting in Baseball
Betting the moneyline on baseball is the main option bet provided since there is no point spread. This is an example that you will see on the baseball betting oddsboard based on starting pitching and other factors.
Baltimore Orioles +165 playing at Toronto Blue Jays -185
Just like the minus and plus values on the point spread, those values designate underdogs and favorites in moneyline betting. Toronto is favored at -185 (bet $185 to win $100), and Baltimore is listed as the underdog at +165 (bet $100 to win $165). The concept of moneyline betting is to view the number 100 sitting between the favorite and underdog values as the base number shown here: +165 +100 -185
Because the Blue Jays are favored, the sportsbook needs you to risk more to bet on them. After all, they should win this game. So wagering on baseball favorites with moneylines calls for you to risk a certain number ($185 based on -185) in order to win $100. On the other side, the sportsbook is also willing to reward you for taking the underdog, so they give you an incentive to bet on the Orioles. In this case, you would risk $100 in order to win $165 (+165) on Baltimore.
Moneyline Betting in Hockey
The same principles and same math apply with moneyline betting on the hockey oddsboard. The Boston Bruins may be -130 favorites against the Buffalo Sabres, who may be listed as +110 underdogs. You risk $130 to win $100 on the favored Bruins and wager $100 to win $110 on the underdog Sabres.
It is a pretty simple concept once you get the hang of it, and you will also start to see profitable opportunities in football and hoops where wagering on the moneyline makes more sense than betting the point spread. If you really like an 8-point underdog in the NFL and think they will win, you can take the 8 points and hope they cover the spread. You can check out the moneyline option where they might be +280 and make more money betting them to win ($280) than on the point spread ($100). You have to determine your risk/reward ratio when looking for a value bet.
Betting Strategies
The most important sports betting strategy is staying true to whatever system you use over the long term and not abandoning it at the first sign of a losing streak. The most successful sports bettors realize this and continue using their strategies year after year without ever questioning their logic. They know you can’t win every wager and losing is inevitable at some point. However, the key to winning is staying consistent, so keep that in mind when reviewing the following betting strategies aimed at giving you an edge.
- Fading the public
One of the best strategies for wagering on the NFL is betting against or “fading” the public due to the extreme popularity of the sport. While this can be an effective strategy when betting on other sports as well, nothing beats the impact the public has on pro football. NFL betting is the number one public betting sport. Sportsbooks know what teams are going to be the most heavily bet from week to week, and they adjust their odds accordingly to get bettors to bite on their numbers. And they do, giving “sharps” the opportunity to go the other way and take the opposite side.
The most popular teams are those that get the most media coverage, so they tend to be overly hyped and are often not as good as advertised. Remember this every time you go to the betting window and ask yourself why you personally like one team over another. Always stay unbiased and focus simply on picking winners consistently by blocking out how much a team is featured on the radio or television. Go with your gut and don’t follow the flock of sheep that will try to get you to bet with the masses.
- Handicapping personnel moves
This betting strategy covers off-season, preseason and in-season moves, all of which are equally important and should be followed closely so you remain ahead of the latest news. Did a team lose a star player to free agency, how does it affect the old and new roster. Did a team hire a good or bad head coach. Was there a key injury that could impact a team’s fortunes, or can they overcome the loss because they are so deep at that position. Is there a quarterback battle in training camp that could make the team stronger than a year ago.
These are all examples of moves that can and will happen over the course of a year in any particular sport on which you can wager. Gaining inside info can help you beat the book if you have the right sources.
- Specializing in one sport
Bettors who specialize in one sport are among the most successful you will ever meet. That’s because they do not spread themselves thin by trying to beat multiple sports at the same time. If you seriously think about this specific betting strategy, you will probably want to take a similar approach and narrow your focus as well.
Staying on top of hundreds of college football and/or basketball teams in addition to the pros is more than a grind. It’s nearly impossible to win at everything – even oddsmakers know that – so go with what you know best and study every player on every team to make sure you are smarter than them and can beat them at their own game. Create your own power ratings or rankings and compare them to the sportsbook’s lines when they are released. By becoming a specialist, your confidence will only grow along with your bankroll.
Live Betting Guide
As live betting continues to become more popular in the United States, the interest in handicapping and profiting from it also continues to grow . Like any wagering options, there will always be ways to effectively break down the numbers from a handicapping perspective and gain an advantage over the sportsbook. Live betting is no different and can be more beatable and profitable if you are able to accurately predict what will happen next over a shorter period within the game. Oddsmakers can only do so much to set live betting lines and cannot follow every play of every game in order to make the perfect number. But you can before you bet.
Learning Basic Live Betting Strategies
One of the best and most basic live sports betting strategies is to wager on the heavy favorite that trails in a game but still has a good opportunity to win straight up. Bettors backing the favorite may have had to lay -300 on the moneyline before the game started, but now you may be able to get that same team at +100 in live betting. Of course this requires you to pay very close attention to the momentum of the game and determine if the team really has a chance to rally. However, it is fairly common for the better team to get behind early and still come back to win without covering the spread.
Advanced Live Betting Strategies
Sometimes, you may even get the chance to middle a bet you placed beforehand or guarantee yourself a profit by hedging, which is taking the other side of your original wager at an attractive price. While these are live betting strategies for more advanced professionals who know what they are doing, understanding the basic concepts are essential to learning how to profit from it. The more live betting opportunities you take advantage of, the more you will likely end up winning.
You may become a live betting pro in no time and be able to create your own strategies based on what you learn. The choices are yours when you participate in your live betting experience.
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