If you’re like me, you were praying that we would get football in 2021. Well, there were some hiccups, postponements, and cancellations along the way, but we made it through the regular season.
We’re now onto the NFL Playoffs, and sports betting is exploding across the country. Never before have bettors had so many opportunities and options for wagering on football.
If you’re going to bet on football or bet sports, in general, there are some easy ways to put yourself ahead of other bettors and give yourself a far better chance of earning a profit off the sportsbooks.
Line Shop and Use Multiple Sportsbooks
Not using multiple sportsbooks and line shopping is the biggest mistake that the sports betting masses make regularly. Simply put, there are no winning sports bettors that use just one sportsbook.
Bettors may not think there is much of a difference between +3 and +3.5 or -110 versus -120, but that adds up massively in the long run. Getting the best prices on your bets and using multiple sportsbooks can easily be the difference between a winning and losing year at sports betting.
Take Advantage of Bonuses and Odds Boosts
Online sportsbooks are always offering deposit bonuses to new players. These vary in actual value, and they all take some time to clear, but they still provide bettors immense value. This is especially true for new bettors looking to build a bankroll.
Deposit bonuses alone can offer players thousands of dollars in free play or cash bonuses. Throw in reload bonuses, and there’s even more extra cash added to your sports betting bankroll.
Odds boosts are something relatively new to American sports betting markets, but they’re another perk that sportsbooks offer that are, in some cases, money directly into your pocket.
They usually have max limits of just a few hundred dollars or so, but sometimes the odds boosts are so valuable that they’re just running a promotion to give out extra cash to their customers.
Take advantage of promotions and odds boosts as much as possible. There’s no reason to leave money on the table when trying to win at sports betting. Hit every edge you can and try to extract the most value you can from the oddsmakers.
Bet Propositions
Proposition bets are a well-known target for sharp bettors. These bets are not related to the game’s final score but instead focus on the number of catches a receiver might have or if a player will score a touchdown or not.
These markets have lower betting limits than sides and totals, substantially lower, but they’re much easier to beat.
Remember, oddsmakers devote a lot more time to major sides and totals. They don’t have the manpower or time to extensively handicap if a player will score a touchdown or how many receiving yards he will have in a game.
Much less time is devoted to proposition markets than larger markets. This inherently makes them less sharp and more profitable than sides and totals.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wager on sides and totals if you find value, but it is a reminder that you’re attacking the sharpest and most mature odds around, especially when it comes to NFL football.
It makes little sense to try to beat the sportsbooks where they are best. Go after the low-hanging fruit and markets where their advantage is far more narrow.
Live Betting And Halftimes
Another area where sportsbooks are vulnerable is live betting or in-play wagering markets. Live betting markets are much weaker than their pre-match counterparts.
The reason is similar to that of why you should be looking to bet propositions. Live betting markets are hard to handicap. Real-life situations are not always incorporated into algorithms or adjusted quickly enough.
A starting quarterback going down or a starting pitcher being pulled is sometimes not updated in live betting markets. A team missing a red zone opportunity may not be reflected in the live total immediately.
The same goes for halftimes. These markets need to be created within a matter of minutes as games go to halftime and are not as sharp as pre-game football lines that have been on the board for a week.
Live betting and halftime wagering markets are possibly the area where sportsbooks are most vulnerable, and few bettors are capitalizing on this.
Ignore The Sports Betting “Media”
ESPN and other outlets are slowly realizing that betting markets are the best indicator of how a game may play out. It’s about time, but still, this doesn’t make them knowledgeable enough to be some authority on sports betting.
Most of these guys don’t even bet. The vast majority of them don’t win, even if they wager on sports. They don’t keep accurate records, and many advise sports gamblers to bet on markets where sportsbooks hold the most significant advantages, such as parlays.
Please don’t put your hard-earned money down on a game because someone on TV tells you to bet on it even if they’re a professional athlete or so-called professional handicapper.
Simply put, there’s no proof that they win.
Winning At Sports Betting Is A Grind
Sports betting is a game of small edges. It is a grind, night in and night out. There’s no get-rich-quick scheme or million-dollar parlay that is going to make you profitable.
Line shopping, taking advantage of bonuses, and attacking areas where sportsbooks are more vulnerable are ways to instantly decrease the sportsbook’s edge and put yourself on the path to profitability at sports betting.
