Figure out your sports betting strategy.
Key Points
– The best sports betting strategy is the one that produces wins for you.
– You may have to try several strategies before deciding upon one that works.
What’s Your Sports Betting Strategy
There are many different approaches to placing a sports bet. What guarantees that one is correct and the other is incorrect?
A sports betting strategy is correct if it works and incorrect if it doesn’t. There are numerous ways to achieve success in anything that involves strategy. Take the stock market as an illustration for how we can think about sports betting tactics.
Stocks with low price to high earnings ratios may be the analyst’s primary focus. One analyst, however, might be more focused on stocks that are anticipated to be huge winners over the next few years. They will grow slowly but steadily.
Another analyst concentrates on businesses with top-notch management and R&D staff. He buys stock based on a company’s potential for future growth and effective operation.
Both analysts can have success. One will as companies come up with more innovation. Another will succeed in both boom and bust times. The point is that there is more than one way to win. It’s the same with sports betting strategy.
ICYMI: SPORTS BETTING AND THE MAFIA
Measuring Success
How is success measured? What does failure mean? Failure is the result of a bad strategy plus market factors plus time. Success comes from sound strategy. The point is that one must know how success and failure is measured.
It’s the same for sports bettors. Making money is the result of success, which you will achieve if you can use a solid sports betting strategy. When it comes to sports betting and strategy, there are a few key points to keep in mind. First of all, not all handicapping strategies are created equally, so it might take you some time to find one that works.
The second thing to keep in mind is that luck-based betting methods like the Martingale system do not take into account matchups or any other elements of the sport on which you are betting. Remember that the Martingale system is a sports betting strategy that calls for you to increase your stake every time you lose and is only appropriate for even-money wagers.
The Martingale Sports Betting Strategy
Here is a brief explanation of the Martingale strategy in case you are unfamiliar. Who knows, you might already be utilizing it without even being aware of its name. The Martingale system was created in France more than a century ago. It’s actually a fairly complicated system, and today’s sports bettors only use a portion of it.
You make your first wager using this system. Say the cost of one unit is $100. If you succeed, you must wager another $100.
If you lose, you will double your initial wager on your subsequent wager. So, if you bet $100 on the New York Giants and lose, you wager $200 on your next bet. (Had you won that bet on the Giants, you would have placed another one unit ($100) bet).
If you win your second bet, you would once again wager $100, or one unit, on your subsequent wager. If you lost each of the first two wagers, the third bet would be a $400 (double of the previous $200 bet).
The process keeps going until you succeed and make up for your losses. When you win, you return to your initial wager. The problem, of course, is that a streak of losses can ruin your bankroll. That is why a betting budget is a must.
The Problems with Martingale
The Martingale System has three main drawbacks. The first is that you are essentially digging yourself deeper into a hole by chasing losses. The second is that the system pushes you to take on more risk each time you bet in an effort to almost break even on a single wager.
This is poor money management for sports betting. The third issue is that it requires you to leak larger sums of money, putting your bankroll’s overall financial stability at risk. All of these are poor betting methods.
Alternate Sports Betting Strategy
Instead of utilizing the Martingale System and other similar systems, what should you do? Find a real handicapping strategy that is based on matchups, statistics, facts, and trends, and that consistently produces winning predictions. Bettors can also opt for something as simple as comparing betting lines to win more bets.
Once you identify a handicapping strategy that is effective, you should continue to hone it and adapt it to changing conditions. You must be aware that as coaches create new schemes, new teams join the league, and rules are altered, your last season’s strategy may need to be adjusted for this one.
Naturally, if you choose a professional handicapping service, they will use their own procedures as well as a variety of analytical tools. Sports bettors should be aware that they will have good and bad days if they decide to use a handicapping service.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that your analysis will reveal whatever you put into it. Once you’ve gathered all of these elements, the numbers need to be properly crunched. You need solid statistics as well as facts and insights.
In order to be successful as a sports bettor, you must have a sound sports betting strategy. Without one, it will be difficult for you to maintain winning streaks and remain competitive.
