Sports Betting 101: Learn How to Bet on Sports

Our first lesson starts with Sports Betting Lingo. We'd love to jump right into the tips and strategies of sports wagering however it's probably best that you crawl before you learn to bet. Check out the terminology and click back a page to move on to the second "lesson" which contains a wide array of tips you should take into consideration if your betting for real money.

GAMBLING ADVICE, HANDICAPPING TIPS AND INFO

Handicapping games - Collect as much info as possible! Sports gambling is a marathon not a sprint! Many people think it is a get rich quick scheme and that couldn't be further from the truth. If you want to win consistently it will take hard work, solid preparation, knowledge of the sport, strong money management skills, patience, discipline, and the ability to pick apart the day's card and figure out where the true value can be found. Keep an eye out for personnel changes, coaching changes, suspensions, injuries, weather, returning starters (NCAA), line moves, and more!

Dont put alot of weight into trends and angles - The past is the past and very few trends lead to what will happen in the future.

Don't be afraid to bet on crappy teams - That's where you'll often times find the best value when battling a pointspread! Note that spreads that look too good to be true usually are! Go against these and reap the benefits over the long term.

Learn that your most valuable weapon is the ability to pass - Many games on a daily card are garbage and have no value.

Keep far away from betting on your favorite teams - You may have a natural bias towards your favorite team that will cloud up your rationale when cappping the game.

Look for big cards - The linesmaker is forced to put out a spread/odds on every game. Big cards provide great opportunites for the bettor because they (the bookmaker) are forced to make a line and you have the advantage in that you can pick and choose. You can especially find value in "small schools" as there's not much info available and small school lines are less researched by the books because they know their not going to get a ton of action on those games. A Louisiana Tech/Alcorn State game will get less much attention from the book than a USC/Stanford game! There's a ton of value in obscure schools and some sharp bettors will ONLY play on or against the small schools because they literally collect more pertinent info than about the game than the book does giving the sharp bettor the advantage! Now that's some solid sports gambling!

Good advice - Do not play the whole board! - Some bettors love the "action" but this is surely a quick road to the poorhouse as the odds and vigorish will eat you alive.

Stick with situations in which you have "the edge" - This will amount to long term profits which is the only way to approach sports gambling if you want to be a winner! Take our advice!

Know teams starting lineups, injuries, and weather situations This info can be key! How'd you like to bet on the Giants and find out Barry Bonds is riding the pines? Yuck!

Steer clear of Teasers and Parlays! - More than 70% of teasers wins would have won anyway! Your just throwing away juice! Besides, it's hard enough to win one game much less two!

TV games... - The bookie knows what games are nationally televised and they know that most gamblers prefer to root for the favorite! You can bet that the fav line and the over line will be inflated. Your much better off sticking to dogs and unders in TV games! Try it, you'll be glad you did!

Keep an eye on line moves but don't make a play based on a line move - Investigate what caused the line move. Blindly following line moves is not good!

Find out what teams play more motivated off a loss - There are many teams that will come back and open up a can on their next opponent if they were beaten on their home court in their last game or if their current oppenent ran up the score in the last meeting. This is a great angle that can actually work if the team shows motivation off situations like these.

Use Posting Forums to meet with other gamblers from around the country to share regional info and gain valuable gambling advice. Regional info is RED HOT!

Take news info with a grain of salt - ESPN is fun to watch but it's media and they are telling you what you want to hear! You need objective info not that Shaquille O'Neal can dunk which everybody knows!

Watch line movement! - If you see that the gambling public is all over a particular team and the line is going to the other way, investigate! Something is up and sharp action may be on the other side. This can be a great indicator of a good value!

For more information on learning how to bet on sports, be sure to read the following articles as well:

Money Management in Sports Betting
Using Sports Services
NFL Gambling
Baseball Gambling
Baseball Betting Articles