Best Betting Strategies – Top Tactics

Let’s talk best betting strategies! Going into gambling with a reliable betting strategy is advisable, whether you are relatively new to betting or very experienced. Strategies are employed by bettors of all levels in order to give them a competitive edge. Just as you would learn the rules of the game with a skill-based game, you should learn the best betting tactics to give yourself the greatest chance of success.

In this article, we’ll look at a variety of betting strategies and talk about some of the best betting systems out there. We promise that these tips will be accessible even for beginners. You will be able to learn things that you can apply to your betting right away at the top online sportsbooks. We hope that you will find the article useful and that it will help you to minimize your losses and extend your bankroll as you get started in sports betting. You can also jump to specific sections by using our navigation table here.

• Best Betting Tactics
• Sports Betting Tips for All Bettors
• How To Manage Your Bankroll

Best Betting Tactics

You may be wondering why it is important to learn tactics when in the end, much betting is up to luck. While it is true that luck is essential and no one strategy can guarantee a win, it is far better to go in with some kind of plan than to leave it all up to chance and “instinct.” You are better off aiding yourself with knowledge, via research and by learning the best betting tactics before you start putting money in on bets.

It is also worth noting that a good sports gambling strategy is one that is user-friendly. You do not want to overload yourself with a complicated system; if a strategy is too complicated to remember or use day-to-day, it’s as good as having no strategy at all. That’s why we are interested in sharing practical and easy-to-learn tips that any bettor can start to apply immediately.

Sports Betting Tips for All Bettors

When you start betting, there are a few basic sports betting tips that we recommend everyone become familiar with. These tips alone will take you far, even if you do not consider yourself a sports betting expert yet.

1. It’s all about the research.

Our top sports betting tip is to do your research, always. Though research cannot predict the outcome of a game, it will at least give you a good sense of performance analytics that will be useful to you when placing bets. However, this goes beyond knowing what teams have been performing well or badly in a current season. What you want to start to pay attention to is how specific players are improving or facing challenges. You can track injuries and penalties. Some data can even show you how players in the same positions in various teams face off against each other.

These kinds of analytics can be helpful for making specific bets beyond straight up wins and losses, for example on how certain players will perform during a match. You can look at data about home game advantages, how teams do in inclement weather and so on, for even more granular detail. All of these pieces of information can be extremely useful when you add them up; they go beyond the obvious evidence available in betting odds.

2. Understand the odds.

Speaking of odds, one of our most basic sports betting tips is to make sure you understand how odds work and how to read them before you place any bets. This might sound simple but the best advice often is! On the most basic level, betting odds are designed to show you the probability of an outcome. There are three different formats in which odds are shown: American, fractional and decimal.

American style odds are written with pluses and minus, for example -100, +150, etc. In the case of a minus number, the value represents how much you would need to bet in order to make a profit of $100. For plus numbers, this is how much you would earn if you bet $100. These numbers are based on increments of $100 but you can bet more or less; it is just easier to calculate if we imagine $100 bets.

As an example, a team with odds of -100 to win means you would need to bet $100 to earn $100 (you would get $200 back but your profit would be $100). For +150, if you bet $100 and that team won you would get $250 back, or a profit of $150. You can see that for your same $100, your earnings would be different depending on the odds and outcome of the game. You would get more in the case of the positive odds because that result is actually less likely than the negative odds. In other words, negative odds demonstrate the favorite in a match.

Fractional odds are used more in the UK and are even easier to read. They will be written as X/Y, for example 10/11 or 5/3. These mean that for every $10 you earn, you would need to bet $11 units; or for every $5 you earn, you need to be $3 units. When the number in the second column is larger, it means that team or outcome is the favorite.

Decimal odds are more common in Europe and Asia but are also being seen increasingly in US sportsbooks. They are also fairly easy to read but they have one major difference to the other types that is worth noting. In decimal odds, the number itself shows the units you will win if you bet on this outcome, so a decimal of 5.0 means that betting one unit gets you five units in return. However, this is including your original bet, so it is four units of profit rather than five units. In American and fractional odds, the odds represent only the profits.

One last thing about odds: There are rarely totally “even odds” when betting with a sportsbook. That means that even in a situation with a 50/50 outcome (a coin flip is the best example), you may not get 50/50 payouts. That is because the sportsbook will also take a piece of the pie in return for their service. That means a near even odd may look like 10/11 in a fractional system, for example.

3. Compare betting lines.

Betting lines typically show the odds of three different parts of a match: the point spread (i.e. the difference in points between the winner and loser); the moneyline, which represents the overall winner; and the number of total points scored in a game. While you might know this, did you know that different sportsbooks may have vastly different betting lines for the same matches?

Just in the same way that you would search for the best sign-up bonus when joining a new casino platform, you should also look for the best betting lines when you are betting on a specific match. Not doing so leaves valuable money on the table. These differences are easy to read in the American style positive bet. The same outcome might have odds of +350 on Site A, while Site B gives odds of +330. Site A has better odds for you because for the same $100 bet, you would earn $20 more if you have a successful outcome.

Managing Your Bankroll

A fundamental component to all of the best betting strategies is managing your bankroll, which is why we are discussing this in its own dedicated section. Bankroll management is key to all kinds of gambling. You must know how much you are willing to lose (because no wins are guaranteed, even if you have done everything you can to learn about the game).

If you only have a small amount to lose, you cannot responsibly bet all of it on one go. It would mean you are putting all of your eggs in one basket. Instead, you want to figure out how much you can bet each time and invest that back into your bankroll so you can watch it grow with your successes, hopefully. One way of managing your bankroll strategically is to break it down with percentages.

For example, some strategists recommend betting 1% of your total bankroll on each match, especially when you are starting out. This means that your bankroll should last you a relatively long amount of time. According to some sports betting tips, you can even go up to 5% for bets that have especially favorable odds.

However, this does not really take into account the frequency of your betting. Even if you bet small wagers, if you bet all of them in one day, you could be out of your bankroll in 24 hours if you are unlucky. That would also be no fun and would not give you an opportunity to learn from your betting experience.

We recommend testing the percentage system and coming up with a rule that works for you and your bankroll. This might also include placing a limit on how much time you spend on betting sites (this is a feature some browser extensions have, or some sites have built in themselves) or sticking to a number of bets placed per week. It could also mean only betting on weekends for example, or on a certain day each week.

Responsible Betting

If you ever feel overwhelmed by managing your bankroll or like you have trouble sticking to a system, there are many ways to access support. Most states have their own responsible gaming initiatives and groups where you can get advice for free, so do not be shy to ask for help.