Tips for Betting on Your Own Successfully

1) Always be selective. Never bet on a large amount of games--it will only hurt you in
the long term;

2) Never wager more than you can afford to lose;

3) If you do suffer a losing streak, never try to catch up all at once by doubling the size
of your bets-instead, cut them. Successful gamblers let their winnings run while limiting
their losses;

4) Avoid the dreaded Monday Night trap. Attempting to regain money lost over the
weekend with a big time Monday night play probably means more losses (and
heartache) for you;

5) Subscribe to not one but several major newsletters in order to get all the statistics
and information you will need to make more effective choices;

6) Also subscribe to the top sports magazines in the field to learn even more;

7) Remember, also keep your emotions in check. Don’t bet while chasing your
dreams. Make sure you select the right sports service for you that will provide you the help you need to make high-percentage bets;

8) Always get the best number, shop lines between different sportsbooks, and

9) When betting on a game that involves your favorite hometown team (bettors are
fans too) bet with your head, not your heart.

How to Become a Winner
By Dr. Frank Berstein

Winning, at anything, requires a number of things to come together at just the right time with each situation being different from the next. While different factors come into play depending on the context, there are two important ingredients required to win at anything: skill and luck.

This is especially true when it comes to gambling, which in general, requires a great deal of luck mixed with skill. Sports betting, on the other hand, requires a great deal of skill mixed with a little luck. So, even if you are generally considered the unlucky type, you still can have great success betting sports—but only if you do your homework and research the event in which you plan to wager.

For sports bettors, the challenge is to get your hands on as much information as you can with regard to a particular event. The idea is to use this information to compare each team’s probability of winning and then see how your conclusion weighs with the experts—the people who make the odds.

Yes, luck is a factor in sports and many times will influence or even determine the outcome of a single game. When this happens, it inevitably goes against you, though, over the long run it probably balances itself out. Generally speaking, the vast majority of sporting events are won because of the player’s or team’s skill and determination, not luck. If luck outweighed skill then the good team would not win as often as they do. Unfortunately, we tend to remember the bad luck bets rather than the good-luck ones and completely ignore the majority of games that turned out “like they were supposed to.”

Regardless, if you bet sports on a consistent basis, luck is not a major factor. Like everything else in life, it all boils down to whether you have made the necessary preparations to become knowledgeable enough about the event(s) in which you plan to bet. This includes investing time and effort to learn the sport and all its nuances; weighing all the factors in an objective non biased manner and doing it on a consistent basis. If you can, you will come out on the winning side more
times than not. What this means is, you can’t let your emotions dictate by ignoring hardcore stats in favor of betting your favorite team. If you have a hard time betting against “your” team evaluate a different game to place your bet.

Before getting into some specific suggestions and strategies to help make you a winner in sports betting, remember this: It's you against the oddsmaker, not the place or person you are placing the bet with. Think of the sportsbook simply as a middle man, who like all middle men in history, operate on a small profit.

All the bookmaker wants is for an equal number of people to bet on each side, i.e. half the bets on one team and half on the other. This way, he is guaranteed a profit for that particular event. If too many bets are being placed on one side, the sportsbook will adjust the betting line in hopes of getting people to bet the other side.

But, in reality you are going up against the oddsmaker, as it is his views on each team's chances which determine the pointspreads. With that said, a simple flip of the coin gives you a 50% chance of winning, but it's not too scientific and you still end up losing the vig. To break even, i.e. to overcome the sportsbook profit, means you only have to win 52.4% of your bets.

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