Betting on sports in the modern era is easier than ever before. The modern state of technology allows you to access the best bookmakers on the planet hassle free. Moreover, accessing crucial information to make the best possible predictions can be done from the comfort of your own home. However, betting newcomers might not be familiar with the ins and outs of online sports betting. So to help out betting rookies, we’ve assembled this list to teach you how to bet on sports successfully. Take a look.
How to Bet on Sports Successfully
Betting on sports online is rather simple, you just have to familiarize yourself with the process. No not Joel Embiid, but the methodology to employ. In short, to find success when online betting, you just need to follow these easy steps;
- Sign up
- Learn How to Size Up A Matchup
- Choosing the Right Line
- Consider Less Traditional Betting Lines
Your Favorite Sportsbook
Finding the right sportsbook can help you maximize your online betting action. In fact, when learning how to bet on sports, finding the right sportsbook perks can help you make more bets, suffer less damages when predicting incorrectly, and ultimately helps you increase your winnings. Here at BetNow, you will find eye-catching sign up bonuses to ensure you have more money to bet with right from the start. On top of that, our cash back rebates help you bet on horse races more confidently, knowing that any losses accrued will be reduced. And our free play, welcome, or referral bonuses help you rack up value every step of the way. Not to mention that our acceptance of Bitcoin lets you bet on your terms. Lastly, we also offer live betting to give you more thrills than anywhere else. When you’re ready to bet on sports, simply sign up, create an account and get in on all the mouth-watering bonuses we offer.
Sizing Up a Matchup
So, once you’re all signed up, you can proceed to bet on sports online. The first thing you need to learn is how to size up a matchup. Different tactics apply to different sports and generally speaking, you should first learn to bet on the sport you are most familiar with. But regardless of what sport you end up choosing, there are some things that apply to them all;
Betting Trends/Momentum: Learning to read which teams bring momentum into a matchup can help you make some profitable predictions. For example, some teams in the NFL (take last year’s Giants) tend to struggle at home. So if they’re coming off a lengthy home stretch, they are likely to enter a road matchup pegged as a heavy betting underdog. But if you happen to know that the Giants excel on the road, you can put some action on them and capitalize on those odds. This also applies to the NBA, where it’s always a great idea to bet against a team playing two road games within 48 hours. Similarly, seeing a team’s current trend, either straight up, against the spread, or versus the totals, can help you narrow in on which bets have the highest possibility of coming into fruition.
Stats: Without a doubt, getting familiar with important stats can help your betting success out tremendously. Our matchup previews cover important stats but it’s also a good idea to get used to doing your own research. Comparing a team’s offense against their defense, or their pitching against their batting, can help you size up a matchup. This helps you make the best predictions against the spread or totals line.
Choosing the Right Line
So, after you’ve sized up a matchup and have found some potential mismatches, you will now be ready to make your online sports bet. However, knowing which lines to take is paramount to sportsbook success. Below are the most common lines sportsbook players take; the money line, the spread and the totals.
Money Line: This is the most straightforward betting line that only focuses on the winner of a contest. Here is a common example of a line you would see when betting on the World Cup.
Brazil -500
Costa Rica +1700
Brazil/Costa Rica Draw +600
Here we can see that Brazil is pegged as the betting favorite with -500 odds. Most lines start at -100 and will move up or down depending on how big of a favorite or underdog a team is. Brazil, being the powerhouse that they are, are heavily favored against Costa Rica. In short, you would need to place $500 on the Brazilians to earn $100 in winnings. On the other hand, a $100 bet on Costa Rica would yield $1700 in winnings, if they manage to pull off the upset. Similarly, taking the draw option would yield $600 in winnings off a $100 bet.
Spread: The spread is arguably more popular than the money line because it offers a little wiggle room. Here is a common line for an NFL matchup.
Falcons +4 ½ (-110)
Eagles -4 ½ (-110)
Here the Eagles are pegged as the favorite and will have to cover a 4 ½ point spread. What this means is that they have to beat Atlanta by more than 4 ½ points (5 points). So if Philadelphia wins 24-10, they would have covered the spread because they won more than what the line was predicting. On the other hand, if the final score is 14-10, the Falcons will have covered the spread because they lost by less than 4 ½ points. These types of lines offer a bigger challenge but once you get the hang of betting the spread, you can find that it’s often times easier to predict than a matchup straight up.
Totals: Arguably the easiest line, here you are simply betting on the final score of a matchup. Here is an example for a totals line you would see for MLB games.
Brewers 8 (-110)
Pirates 8 (-120)
Here neither side is favored. However, the team listed on top offers the vig on the TOTALs line. The vig refers to how much a winning bet will take home, which we covered when we learned about the money line. So, the totals is predicting that the game will finish with 8 points. You can make a bet on whether the final sum of the game (the runs scored by both Milwaukee and Pittsburgh) will be over or under 8 points.
Other Quirky Bets to Capitalize On
Once you’ve got some experienced under your online sports betting belt, you can familiarize yourself with less traditional betting lines such as prop bets. These focus on peculiar events like who will win the MVP award, who will throw for the most yards, or who will win the opening coin toss of a matchup. These are more chaotic than the above listed lines but they can also be more fun. Now that you know how to bet on sports successfully, you can take your experience straight to the bank!
