Real Insider Tips for Betting Football
Doc’s Sports Service
Sports betting is a favorite pastime for hundreds of thousands of Americans. And football is by far the most popular sport to wager on.But it’s not easy money. At all. Some estimates state that 95 percent of all sports bettors lose long term. The bookies are as smart and cunning as the top professionals in any industry. They are not in the business of losing money.
At Doc’s Sports Service, we have been one of the 5 percent of successful sports bettors since we started in business way back in 1971. Our sports predictions service consists of 12 of the top sports handicappers worldwide. We have stood the test of time in the sports predictions industry with hard work, extreme dedication to top-notch customer service, and, of course, winning NFL Picks and College Football Picks.
Not everyone likes to purchase predictions from the experts (we also offer free picks on almost every game in every sport on our Web site daily). Sometimes the fun of sports betting is doing the handicapping yourself and feeling the pride and financial windfall that comes from a winning bet. For those that are willing to put in the homework and hours on their own, and want to become a successful football bettor, here are a few Insider Tips for betting football.
1) Discipline and Money Management
This is one of the most ignored, but most important, facets of sports betting. Let’s face it, money management is no fun. “Letting it ride” and placing large wagers is fun. Gambling and alcohol seem like a great combination on paper. But if you want to win long term, you have to be smart and bet with a clear head.
At Doc’s Sports, we use a unit system for money management. Our expert picks are rated from 1 to 8 units, depending on the strength of the prediction, and the higher the unit value, the more confident we are in the prediction. We advise our clients to stick to one value for each unit depending on his or her bankroll. The unit amount depends on the individual. We have some clients that bet $10 a unit and some that bet $5,000. Once a client has their set amount to bet per unit, we recommend they don’t deviate from that unless their bankroll has grown big enough to warrant raising the unit amount. Even the best bettors in the world have bad days, weeks or even months. You want to be conservative enough with your bankroll to weather these bad runs.
It always saddens us to hear a client that had a big day and then threw all his winnings on the late NFL game in order to get a big score. You wouldn’t believe how many times this happens. There will always be another game, another opportunity. All the winning bettors we know are incredibly disciplined and never bet with emotion or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They don’t wager on games they wouldn’t have otherwise to chase their bets after a bad day. Slow and steady wins this race.
2) The Lower the Handle, the Better the Opportunity
NFL wagering is the most popular sport for Americans, followed by college football. NFL lines from the oddsmakers are extremely sharp. There are opportunities for sharp pro football bettors, but the bookies spend most of their time and effort setting these lines during football season. College football is the next most popular betting sport, and the marquee matchups normally have very sharp lines.
There is a dropoff after these sports, however, and busy oddsmakers can’t devote as much time to some matchups as they do for others. Smaller conferences in college football have been a great playground for sharp handicappers to get an edge over the bookies. These events don’t bring in the betting handle that some of the bigger matchups do, and therefore the bookies don’t spend as much time setting the lines for these games. The same goes for NFL totals, which don’t get as much action as sides, and college football totals can be very lucrative.
We always advise someone who is looking for a winning football betting formula to study the smaller conferences in college football. Becoming an expert for these types of low-handle events will give a bettor a great chance to build their bankroll over the long term.
3) Shop for the Best Lines
All successful bettors have several “outs,” or different places to place a wager. The bookies often set very sharp lines. Games often come down to a half point or a point between a win and a loss. Sportsbooks and bookies often offer a wide range of odds for a particular sporting event. These bookies set and move the lines with the betting patterns of their clientele in mind. So, a sportsbook that caters to sharp bettors may have a particular NFL favorite laying 8 points, while another sportsbook that caters to public bettors might have the game at 10. The difference in these lines doesn’t seem like a big deal for one game. But with so many games falling near the number, getting the best number is paramount for achieving long-term success betting football.
4) Betting Against the Public
In theory, sportsbooks would like 50 percent of the wagers to come in on each side of a sporting event. That way, they can sit back and not worry about the outcome and collect their 10 percent vig (commission) that is charged on all losing wagers. But the sportsbooks are in business to make money by the truckloads, and they often want one team to cover over another because they purposely book lopsided action and set lines in a fashion that gives them the best chance for big wins against the public. This is especially true in the NFL, where there is an abundance of information available, and public bettors think they know everything. The bookies set and “shade” the lines since they know in advance what their clients will be betting on any given day.
5) Track Your Results
All sharp bettors keep a spreadsheet of their wagers. This helps hone in on what a bettor does right and what they do wrong or can improve on. This also goes back to having good discipline. If a bettor tracks wagers and keeps a record, it becomes more difficult to justify erratic bets and irresponsible wagers.
6) Start Off Small
There is no shame in betting $5 a game until you feel you are in a good place to open up the bankroll a bit. In just about any endeavor you want to be successful at, you start off small and learn and work your way up. Sports betting is no different. When learning to swim for the first time, one wouldn’t jump into the deep end without a life vest. Sports betting is no different. Small wagers are a great way to learn and become proficient at football wagering. And if you follow some of the advice we gave here, and read much more at Docsports.com, you will be in the exclusive 5 percent club of winning sports bettors in no time.