free online sports betting guide

During the 1980’s, I was part of a group, that used computers to win millions in sports wagers from Las Vegas Casinos. This was before personal computers were in everyday use. The invention we not call the internet was years away from having access to handicapping stats and data.

We were successful for two reasons. First we were ahead of the odds makers in collecting important information. They were still doing things the old way, and we took advantage of that loophole. Those days are gone forever. The second key to success, is to understand how the numbers really work.

ODDS DO NOT PREDICT THE WINNER

Think of it this way. “Odds do not predict who will win. They are actually predicting who the public THINKS will win.” Most sports punters, both professional and novice, do not understand the secrets of the bookmakers.

Two-way sports wagers, (meaning two teams with a 50-50 chance of winning with no ties) are posted at odds of 11-10. This means you wager £11 to win £10. Half the punters select team A, and collect their £10 when they win. The other punters choose team B, and lose the contest paying their bookie £11. You would think this gives the house or bookmaker a 4.55% advantage. You would be wrong with this assumption, but do not feel bad, 99.5% of the bettors think like you do.

THE BIG MISCONCEPTION

General thinking goes something like this. The bookmakers, insure themselves a profit only by balancing their books. In other words, they hope to get half the bets on each of the teams, thus they win every time. In reality, they hardly ever balance their books, or even come close. Your may find small local bookmakers, with small bankrolls, try to operate in this manner, but with so many internet shops available, even they can even up lopsided books. Many small bookmakers do not even know the secret. They are like the rest of the cattle and travel along with the herd.

The erroneous belief that large sports bookmaking operations need to balance their bets is the big secret in the industry. What they do need to accomplish, is secure plenty of volume on both sides, without actually balancing the books.

THE BOOKMAKER’S SECRET REVEALED

Suppose the bettors in our example game, risked £165,000 to win £150,000 on the favourite.

But the public only bet £82,500 on the underdog trying to win £75,000. This looks like a mismatch, with the bookmaker heading for big trouble if the favourite wins.

If the dog prevails, the sports book makes a profit of £90,000. He wins £165,000 from the favourite bettors, and pays out £75,000 to the Dog winners.

If the Favourite wins, the bookmaker loses £67,500. He will win £82,500 from the underdog backers, but lose £150,000 to the fans who bet the favourite. This results in a loss of £67,500.

Now you may be saying too yourself that math does not make the house a winner. So let us review, when the Underdog wins, the bookmaker wins £82,500 but if the favourite wins, he loses £67,500. Favourites and underdogs usually split the winning equally and each side 50% winning of the time. Half of the time he will lose £67,500, the other half he will win £82,500, so his profit is £15,000 no matter who wins.

So in our example, what is the bookmaker really risking? The bookmaker is really risking £67,500 to win £82,500. In simple terms, he is essentially laying £75 to win £100. That means he does not have to even win 50% of the time to break even. The house only needs a 42.9% strike rate, after that, it is all profit.

TAKE DOWN A 33% PROFIT NO MATTER WHO WINS

Give me odds of losing £75 and winning £100 on a 50-50 coin flip wager. I will beat you every time with this huge house advantage. To most fans, the general thinking is the bookmaker needs to balance his books with equal wagers. From my example, you can see this is not true. When you have bettors risking twice as much on the favourite side, you are getting a 33% return on every dollar.

Sports betting has a long and glorious history. From the time men first starting playing sports, there have been wagers made about the outcome of the game. In the beginning, it was a simple process. You merely bet on one team, and if they won, you made some money.

Nowadays, the process has gotten a bit more complicated. One of the first concerns is the legality of sports betting. In the United States, the only legal gambling is from Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the rise of Internet gambling has made that line a bit fuzzier. In the rest of the world, sports betting is legal for the most part, although it is highly regulated.

The process of betting has also become more complicated. Bookies seek to make money off the bets, so they developed a complicated system. Now, you will find the odds are weighted so that one team pays more if they win. Also, there are spreads where one team has to win by a certain number of points in order for the bet to be considered a winner.

There are numerous places you can place your bets. In the United States, you need to go through Vegas, but you can do so online. In other countries, you need to follow their protocol. Most of the time, you will not receive trouble from the government – illegal casinos receive the brunt of any punishment handed down. However, you may want to investigate the casino you are going through before you place a bet, just to ensure your own legality.

Betting on sports is an ancient way of gambling. Since the dawn of sports, betting has been dominating sports fans. Many sports fans are attracted to it because it increases their excitement towards the game. Although illegal in some countries, sports betting continues to dwell in many places worldwide. It is a game of odds that has sensationalized the sporting scene. Many people love to take chances, which is why they want to put their money at stake to get the best out of the chances they have. There are many types of sports betting that you can try to put your chances on.

The first type of sports bet is a straight bet. It is a kind of betting wherein you can choose to put a stake on your favorite team or athlete to win in a certain event. Your bet will be based on point spreads that includes a minus sign that represents the favorite spots. On the other hand, a plus sign represents underdog points. Another type of sports bet is the future bet or the future wager. These are money line bets wherein the odds on the match’s results are provided ahead of time before the actual results. These are usually long-term bets that can be adjusted during the betting session.

A money line bet is also another kind of sports bet. This is quite similar to the straight bet but the odds are expressed per one hundred dollars. The results of this betting system are determined according to the fixed money value on the varying teams or athletes. Another type of sports bet that is more interesting than the others is parlay. This type requires the bettor to win a succession of bets. This is a better way of betting because it brings higher payoffs and minor hassles as compared to having individual bets.

Another type of sports betting is totals. This is where a person wagers on the combined score of two teams in respect to the total set. Additionally, if you want a multi-team gambling approach in sports betting you should try teasers. This can offer you the opportunity to combine your bets on two various games with the points spread out in their favor. Besides these mentioned types of sports bets, you can also choose other forms. This sports betting types include propositions or exotics, each way bets, tricast, and betting without.

Baseball is one of the many interesting sports in online betting. However, not many enjoy engaging in baseball betting because, among other sports, baseball is easiest to handicap; which means, more money making opportunities. Not a very attractive prospect for hard-core bettors. Here are free sports betting tips which are very helpful for bettors of all levels.

Tip #1. Contrary to popular belief that baseball is not a good sport to bet on because of its high money-making possibilities, betting on baseball are perfect for first time bettors. As it is the sport easiest to manipulate, one can surely have a memorable first winning moment. Free sports betting tips always include baseball because it is the no-sweat way to earn from your hobby, or earn while passing time.

Tip #2. Sports betting is not just a game of luck, but of skill. The challenge lies not on how good one is able to make a winning guess, but on how much information is gathered and analyzed; how one weighs the odds of winning teams, and opinion comparison with the oddsmaker. Reading free sports betting tips online or in magazines is one way of gathering useful information.

Tip #3. Early Baseball season is not the best time to bet. These are the games that happen before June. Why? The weather is bad, which surely affect the team’s performance (or players’ performance); and such force is clearly beyond their control. Even if they give 200% of their best, the chances of winning are dim. The early season is also the season for experimenting. Coaches at this time study and try different approaches to the game as well as with their line-ups.

Tip #4. Although it is not wise to best on baseball in the early season, do not take this for granted. Study the games during the first season and gather information that will be useful in future bets.

Tip #5. Team comparison is always one of the free sports betting tips given to bettors. Comparing teams is necessary because it helps you pinpoint each team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Tip #6. Discipline is a must. In other words, one must have self-control. All free sports betting tips always assert the importance of discipline. You cannot just go on betting in all baseball games, you have to select which game to bet on. Most importantly, if you are experiencing a series of winning bets, do not get too cocky. Know when to bet and when to stop betting. Otherwise, you will end up frustrated, or worse in debt.

These free sports betting tips can help you a great deal in making a wise and profitable bet. However, as you go on betting, you will soon discover other theories that contributed to your winnings. In addition, to ensure consistent winnings on baseball bets or any other sport for that matter, investing in a handicapper or in a system that uses trends angles, experience, and a proven system is a great idea is it increases your chances of winning.

For the life of me I can’t understand it. Why do people bet so much more money on Sports than Horse Racing?

I mean to make any real money betting sports you not only have to win over 53% of your wagers, you have to bet big. Whereas with horse racing a measly $1 wager can make you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Think I’m kidding? Look at the 2009 Kentucky Derby payouts. A $2 exacta on Mine That Bird and Pioneer of the Nile returned a cool $2,074.80. Now some of you may say, “Come on Denny no one had Mine that Bird.” True. But many people DID have Pioneer of the Nile. A simple $2 back and front wheel for $76 got you back over 2 grand.

Please tell me what Sport you can bet on and get that kind of return? A 15 team parlay? Here you only needed to get one position right and the 18 others WRONG. And you still got back over 2 grand for a $2 bet!

But let’s not stop there. A $1 TRI (BOX) paid $20,750.30 and a $1 SPR (8/16/2/7) paid $278,503.20. Again, what sport will give you that kind of return in 2 minutes?

And to say it’s impossible is really an ignorant statement. Why? Because people cashed in! Otherwise there would be no payout!!

My biggest gripe with sports betting is I’m playing against the book who makes the lines. They have experts determined to make lines that make me lose more than I win. Not only that, I have to pay 10% for the privilege of being suckered by the 1/2 point hook.

Whereas with horse racing I’m betting against the other players. There is no incentive for the track or the handle to cheat or take away any edge I may have. They don’t care if I win or lose, as long as I bet.

Sure they take a bigger cut out of the pools, but at least the odds are controlled by the amount of money in the pools. Not by some sharp that has hidden information about injuries and such.

Call me silly but I’ll stick with horse racing any day of the year. You can take your less than even money bets. I’ll take my shot at big money while limiting my capital risk.

I’d like to finish with a quote from one of my favorite movies, “Let it Ride” There’s a fine line between winning and losing – Yeah. The finish line.