Can you make money in sports gambling? I constantly hear people trying to promote their site saying they hit 60%-70% winners on their picks last year. If you win at that rate you would no doubt beat the vig. I have serious doubts they can do this consistently since Vegas probably has the best people in the business setting the lines. I'll make a friendly wager here and there, but never look at sports betting as a winning proposition. Any serious sports gamblers out there?
Let me be perfectly clear. This is complete crap. You will lose money, hand over fist on this. Bookies and Vegas Sportsbooks count on it and they are able stay in business for a reason, don't be one of their benefactors. Just trust me on this one. I spent SERIOUS time trying to study spreads and factors and angles and even paid for soem information. These guys are crooks, plain and simple. Please learn from my mistake and don't make the same one yourself. You feel the need to gamble, start playing play money poker online and then graduate up to freerolls then to .01/.02 (yes two CENTS) limit and build some money up from there.
I personally financed my college education through sports gambling. All I bet on was baseball. Basketball is the most fixed sport, IMO. For the vast majority of gamblers, they get too greedy or don't do their homework. For a select few people it is rewarding.
Take all your money and bet it on Rice to beat the spread this weekend. The #1 rushing team in the nation last year will be running wild again!!!
I think most people have a misconception about the the vegas line. It is not what they predict the score to be. It is actually made so they get an even distribution of bets on both sides. That way they always come out ahead. There is no risk on their part. They don't don't give crap who wins because they always do. They make 10 percent of all losing bets which means they get 5 percent of all bets. So, you can win in sports betting but you have to know what you are doing. "Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker." Unfortunately most people that bet on sports are suckers.
So you would need to win around 65% of the time in order to make 10% as a total investment. That's a high number for only a 10% return. That's about what the market has averaged over the last 40 years or so.
I have been betting on sports since 94' in college and I"M TELLING YOU DO NOT DO NOT PAY those people for picks. This is what's going to happen: they will get your money up front so they have nothing to lose, you'll have some winning weeks 6 out of 10 BIG DEAL minus juice you're only up $160(playing $100 per game) but what's going to kill you is when those guys have a BAD WEEKEND. Trust me WHEN UR DOWN u'll bet different than when you're up. So basically you end up losing more on the bad weekend but guess what ... those guys already got PAID from you. When you're up you'll bet small week-ends .. when you're down you'll bet more week-ends
I gamble here and there. My last big bet: Put down 200 on the Heat to go all they way and win, think it was after game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, so they were giving them 9-2 odds to win it all. 4.5 x 200 = $ 900 Wade gets hurt, there goes the championship and my money. Personally, I've made some good bets and some bad ones, but I don't recommend getting involved in gambling on sports, even if you know teams/players/whatever you know about sports, you can't see the future, and too many unpredictable things happen. And then there are times when you predict something, but it has it's risks but you didn't lay the bet down, sometimes you'll beat yourself over that. Gambling = Headaches Before I put down on the Heat, I was going to put down on the Spurs to beat the Suns in 6 games, and that payout was near the 800-900, with a 200 bet. I forgot what the odds were. But yeah, game 6 was in Phoenix, so I really couldn't see the Spurs finishing out the Suns in Phoenix, it would of made more sense if they beat 'em in 5 in San Antonio, or atleast went 7 and beat 'em at home, in San Antonio. But yeah, Spurs win in 6 at Phoenix, a bet I would of won. Can I get in trouble talking about this online? LOL.
Put $200 on the Atlanta Falcons to JUST MAKE IT to the SUPERBOWL. In the NFC there's only the Eagles and maybe Carolina. But the Falcons looks for real and the odds are good right now. $200 wins you $1200 to just make it to the Superbowl.
There apparently are some people who make quite a living off sports betting, but they also spend most of their time gathering information to do their own handicapping. If you aren't ready to spend most of your time processing information (and everyone says concentrate on one sport or league or conference btw) then you might as well go play roulette.
The key to winning is that you have to be totally objective. You can't be a fan of the sport at all. You have to treat it like a business and do your research. If you have to depend on someone else giving you advice then you shouldn't bet. One last thing, there is no such thing as a sure thing and you have to be able to cover your losses. I used to work with a guy that used to be a GM at Harrah's (I think) and he told me that even when the odds are even people generally play until they lose all their money. They don't stop when they are ahead so the casino will always win because they have the bigger wallet. The casino can play forever. Also the casino can also refuse to do business with you. In other words, if you are really that good and consistent win, they can ask you to leave and never come back.
I used to make a good amount of money on sports gambling. The thing is, you have to pick and choose the sports you gamble on. Most people will gamble of a sport they love to watch....I would be on sports I was pretty confidant of getting the result in. I NEVER placed a bet on Basketball. To many games, to many unpredictable results. You can lose your money on a bad shooting night. The NFL was good at the time but these days its much harder to pick games on. Same with the Rugby League here in Australia. That used to be pretty good but now....the results are a toss of the coin. I think Cricket is good to bet on. I love the option of backing a draw.....I made quite a bit of money backing draws because the last day was rained out. Racing was fun to bet on. Over here we have a racing Channell with all the Horse, Greyhound and Harness racing beamed into your living room. The Horses and Harness Racing was a GREAT way to make money.....the Greyhound were a bit unpredictable (Lost a bet once because the dog I back decided to bite the one running along side of it on the turn!). The other money maker for me was the English Premier League. Back then Man Utd was going really well....money in the bank. If you are smart, you can make a nice amount of money. But the key I found was that when you get into a slump, stop and walk away for a while. Also, dont bet money you cant afford to lose.
I've been betting on sports as a large source of my income since 2000. Let me address a few points: 1) Anyone claiming to have picked 60% winners or better over a period of more than a year is a fraud, pure and simple. In order to beat just a standard -110 line, you 'only' have to win about 52.5% of your picks. If a person could consistently win at even a 57% clip, such a person could retire after only a few years. 2) 99% of winning at sports is being disciplined, using proper bankroll management, being objective, and beating the market. For ex.. if you're betting on the 'popular' teams more often than not, or your favorite local team, you're probably not going to win at sports betting. If you only deal with one bookie, and only have access to a -110 line, youre probably not going to win. Many of the professional sports bettors I know aren't even that knowledgable about sports! The way they win is by getting a team at half a point or a point better than everyone else, by aggressively shopping for the best line at dozens of sports books, as well as trying to get reduced vig or no-vig lines. They also take advantage of deposit bonuses, and any specials offered by the books (generally available right before NFL or NCAA hoops seasons). They're also aware of how the public will bet on a certain game, and understand when to bet on a game early, and when to wait for the public to drive up the line so they can bet on the other side. For example, in last week's NFL game, ST Louis vs San Francisco, the line opened at STL -2.5 several months ago. The line closed at STL -7 ! The 'sharp' bettors waited several months and bet on San Francisco +7, capturing an easy win on a team considered awful by the public. Bottom line, to win at sports you need to be disciplined, patient, and willing to bet on the 'bad' teams when no one else is.
Speaking of gambling, anyone caught this trailer yet? http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/twoforthemoney/
