Even those who play shark fishing games will likely dabble in some sports betting this fall, especially when it comes to the NFL as football is easily the most popular play in online sportsbooks. Here are a few tips to get you through the season, one that is unique as we had to deal with a lockout and a shortened training camp. However, the basic principles remain the same.
Learn The Rosters
This seems so simple, but especially in a short offseason where many big names switched jerseys or aren’t playing at all. Take, for example, Carson Palmer. If you went into the season thinking he was still a Cincinnati Bengal, well…he technically is, but due to a dispute with the owner, he isn’t playing and the Bengals have a rookie quarterback. Again, it seems simple, but trust us, do you homework this year.
Location
A lot of teams build around their home stadium, and the best example of this right now is Atlanta, a dome team who is picking up offensive weapons as quickly as they can, knowing they play half of their games at home (where they were 8-0 last year in the regular season). Where a game is played will not only affect an outcome, but the total points as well. Basically, it affects all NFL betting lines.
The Injury Report
This is the most important piece of information you’ll read before making your sports betting picks, and you have to be diligent about it, right up to kickoff as last-minute injuries have ruined many a ticket (as well as fantasy football picks). Make sure you know of any possible ailments before heading to your sports betting book.
With NFL betting lines for the regular season coming up, sports betting players are going to find themselves running across the concept of the point spread, which is also used in basketball. Here is a quick tutorial in how to bet on point spreads.
A point spread is when a sportsbook feels that a team is going to beat their opposition by a certain amount of points. That team is referred to as the favorite, while the other team is called the underdog. For example, a line for the first week of the NFL regular season is as follows:
Pittsburgh at Baltimore (-2.5) or Pittsburgh (+2.5) at Baltimore (the first example is used more often)
The line will tell you that the Steelers are going to Baltimore, and the Ravens are a 2.5-point favorite. If you are going to bet on the Ravens to win on the point spread, they have to win by at least three points. If you want to wager on the Steelers’ point spread, you can win two ways: one, if the Steelers win the game outright, or two, if the Ravens manage to win by two or fewer points.
The concept of the point spread is just another way for sports betting players to get their money’s worth, but be careful because that last-second field goal may end up costing you more than you think. Make sure you understand point spreads fully before doing any online betting.
It’s almost time to bet football online as the NFL season is on the horizon, along with college football and sports betting players are always looking for ways to improve their chances. There are no quick ways to learn how to boost your wagering chances (and at the same time, pad your wagering account), but there are a few easy ways to give yourself a positive chance to keep your head above water.
Making positive progressions is the way to ensure that you stay out of the red, and a positive progression-based system is when you essentially bet more when you are winning and less when you are losing. Now, this can be difficult because the tendency when you’re hot is to keep betting and betting, but at the same time, that is how you can get on a cold streak quickly and that is called a negative progression system. There are a couple of different positive progression systems that are popular, which are the Paroli Betting system (which works best in the midst of winning streaks, which is difficult to tell because you don’t know if you’re in a streak until it is over) and the One Half Up system (you don’t raise your wager until you win two events in a row, at least).
Basically, the idea of these systems concerns betting management and being smart with your money, which goes by the wayside for a lot of players. Give these systems a try and see how you fare in your sports betting online picks.
Baseball betting players know that there is a big difference between the style of betting in sports like hockey, basketball, football and of course, baseball, and there is the style of betting used in events like horse racing and greyhound racing. This style is called parimutuel betting , and it is usually used in races that are short and finish in some sort of ranked order.
Parimutuel betting was started by Joseph Oller in 1867, and the system led to the invention of the totaliser (“tote board”) and the first one was used at Ellersie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. In North America, there are a number of different ways in which you can wager using parimutuel betting, especially in horse racing as you can bet on a horse to win, place, or show; there is the exacta, where you have to pick the two winning horses in the correct order; the trifecta, which is the exacta, but with three horses; and the superfecta, which includes four horses. There are many others such as the box bet, a double, triple or quinella, and a sweep, where you pick the winner in four races in a row.
The terms are the same around the world, usually with little nuances so it pays to do your research before doing your horse betting in a particular part of the globe. But once you get into it, parimutuel wagering can be a major source of entertainment and income for most betting players.
Baseball betting players know that weather can affect their game, but it may be even more important in football, especially in the southern United States where players and teams do battle in some excruciatingly hot temperatures. This is the reasoning and logic for laying a wager on a team that is an underdog at home, but playing in the heat: they will usually have an edge over their opponents.
First of all, home teams usually get a boost from their fans anyway, and that adrenaline spark is going to help them through the team. But a team that is winning on the road in a hot climate usually isn’t looking to run up the score like they would at home, or if they were comfortable: they’re more concerned with not allowing any more points, and just getting back to the cool locker room with a win, so they do just enough to snag a victory. Double-digit road favorites in the heat is a dangerous proposition for sports betting players, and they don’t have a good record against the spread over the last five years. You also have to factor in travel, as a team may be coming from a northern state and aren’t used to playing in 100-plus degrees. It doesn’t matter how much talent you have, getting acclimated to playing 60 minutes in pads in that sort of temperature is going to level the playing field.
If you’re going to bet on college football in the fall, don’t just consider the rain and wind; heat can have a considerable effect on your picks at online betting sites.
It’s time for MLB betting to take center stage as the NBA and NHL are in their offseason, while the NFL and NBA are going through lockout issues. Here are a few tips to check out before you head to your online sportsbook.
Pitching Matchups
This is the most important factor as pitchers may have more control over a game than any position player in a sport. Check a pitcher’s history against their opposition, and see how they fared in a certain stadium. Are they good at home, but struggle on the road? These are all things to heed before making your baseball betting picks.
Take A Struggling Home Team
Most teams do well at home, and the premise for this tip is that you should pick a team that has been having troubles at home; if they have lost three in a row, chances are, they’re going to win their next game as a favorite in their place. Like any sport, baseball players respond to their home crowd, and they won’t want to lose more than three games in front of their fans.
What Time Of Day Is It?
This is another factor to look at as a lot of baseball is played in the day, and some players, especially pitchers, just don’t like playing in the day. It changes their routine, forces them to do things earlier in the day, and all of those things can combine to decrease a team’s betting odds.
If you plan to bet on MLB baseball this summer, you’ll probably run across a chance to bet parlays, which can be a very profitable way to build your bankroll, but it can also drain you in a hurry if you are not careful. Here are a couple of tips for you to heed before making a parlay bet, and common sense is the big key.
Watch Your Bankroll
The way that parlays work, you can raise your winnings by betting on multiple matchups, which can stretch your finances to begin with. Therefore, don’t bet large sums of money while making these wagers as you will only end up chasing bad losses, and that can turn into your downfall. Begin with small amounts until you get the hang of betting parlays, because if you play it right, it can be a massive boost to your sports betting account.
Bet Realistically
The toughest thing about parlays is trying to pick the correct matchups, therefore it’s very risky to include a big upset in your selections. If you are going to make a risky bet, at least have your pick researched thoroughly so it can be an educated pick. Don’t just include a game in your parlay on a whim, in fact, you should probably be more cautious when it comes to parlays because all it takes is one impulse pick, and you’re one pick away from a big payday, so exercise extreme discretion when you’re betting online with parlays.
While 2011 Belmont Stakes betting players are worrying about horsepower of another sort, NASCAR betting players are looking for ways to get an edge when handicapping any of the three major series in the top stock-car series in the world. Here are a few tips to help you along your way.
Track Type
When betting on NASCAR, you run into road courses (left and right turns), short tracks (anything shorter than a mile), intermediate tracks (1-2 miles) and superspeedways (anything above two miles). Some drivers are just good on certain types of tracks. For example, you’ll see Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s odds improve dramatically at superspeedways, where he has been historically good.
Past History
This ties into the last point, as some drivers are just good bets at certain tracks, so it’s helpful to go back and look at how a driver has been at a specific circuit. For example, Kyle Busch has won five of the last six races at Bristol, so he’s a smart bet there. The same goes for Jimmie Johnson at Dover as he’s won three of the last five there, but he has led the most laps in each of the last five races.
Experience
It’s a good tip to stay away from young drivers when wagering on NASCAR, especially in the Sprint Cup series where the older drivers won’t hesitate to teach them a lesson if they aren’t racing the right way. You’ll get the old surprise, like Trevor Bayne at Daytona or Regan Smith at Darlington, but for the most part, experience is the way to go in your sports book.
While Preakness betting is heating up for horse betting players, the Triple Crown season will be over soon, while the golf wagering season is just getting started with the U.S. Open on the horizon. Here are a couple tips to improve your golf betting chances, and hopefully, you’ll fare better than you would on the course.
Look At The Venue
Golf is unique in that the major championships, except for The Masters at Augusta National, are rotated between various courses. For example, this year’s U.S. Open will be played at Congressional for the first time since 1997, but Congressional has also played host to other tournaments, notably, the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods. It’s good to go back and check out how players have performed on a course in the past, although you have to factor in the wicked USGA setups that favor tough pars over a slew of birdies.
How Are They Playing Right Now?
For the most part, golf is incredibly fickle, but the really good players are the ones who can remain consistent, which is the best way to move up the world rankings. Therefore, you have to look at how players are performing heading into a tournament, and not just the majors, but any tournament. A lot of golf is based on momentum, and it’s tough to keep it, but if you can put yourself in position on a consistent basis, you will eventually come away with a win, so check out recent play before heading your sports book.
Over the next couple of days expect online betting for Kentucky Derby 2011 to pick dramatically. With 22 new contenders all vying for a chance to be named Kentucky Derby betting champion, it is important to find the right horse wagering system for you. To help you choose the right horse on race day, here are a few systems that have been successful time and time again.
Early Speed Post Improvement Angle – For as long as we can remember, the Kentucky Derby has been known as a race in which long shots make their marks by disproving their odds. In this angling system, your goal is to look for a horse that was in the mix for a podium position for the first two lengths in its last race, before dropping off. In theory, if the horse receives a better position in its next race, you should consider betting on it since it will most likely finish in a greater position.
Morning Line Odds Drop – In this system, your goal is to simply compare the odds of a horse in the days leading up to a race and on race day. If you see a horse’s odds entering race day at 45 to one, and in the minutes leading to post time drop to 15 to one, you should bet on that horse. The theory here is that the race track knows something about this horse’s abilities, and that is why they have a better chance of winning.
Jockey Change – This system has been one of the trickiest for bettors to rely on, as a jockey change is as much about chance as it is about ability. In a jockey change as the name suggests, the owners of a horse and the trainer, both agree to change the jockey in belief that a new rider can influence how well the horse rides on race day.
