We all look to the new year as the magical solution for creating a better us. The whole idea of resolutions is laughable; it doesn’t take a calendar turning over to start making wholesale changes. However, we’re not here telling you to eat healthy, exercise, or do community service (you should be doing all of that stuff anyways), instead we’re here to offer seven things you can start doing today to become a better sports bettor in 2017.
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- Focus on derivative markets
You hear us discuss key numbers on Bet the Board podcast all the time, especially as they pertain to first half numbers. There’s a reason we spend time attacking halves over full games when it comes to certain totals and it all boils down to maximizing your edge. Don’t think you’re ever forced into betting a full game side or total if there’s ample opportunity to be found in a quarter, period, single inning, team total, or player prop if that’s where your handicapping leads.
- Learn to utilize live betting
In 2017 there’s no excuse for betting a game pre-match if the market never offers a desired buy price. While live lines offer lower limts, there’s no reason a recreational bettor can’t take full advantage of ample in-game opportunity for lower stakes. Knowing the teams that start slow and surge late (think Penn State in College Football) or start fast and fizzle gives you the handicapping acumen worth banking on when competing against the algorithm or inexperienced live trader.
- Keep accurate records
The brain is funny; it remembers what it wants to which isn’t always analogous with the truth. While it’s not easy (or sometimes fun) to keep a ledger of your bets knowing what sports, bet types, and angles yield maximum return allows you to tweak your style going forward.
- Play to your strengths
This thought process builds off #5. By keeping accurate records you’ll better position yourself to make bigger bets in the sports you dominate. Whether it’s WNBA, NFL, Golf, or Tennis if a specific market caters to your handicapping styles that’s where you should be capitalizing on your edge. Payne mentions large betting groups all the time and it goes without saying that the same groups with major market influence don’t have the same success in each sport.
- Avoid bad numbers
With the advent of this thing called the internet there’s no excuse for taking a bad number. From websites to mobile apps you can monitor line movement in real-time giving you the best bang for your buck. Make sure to keep funds, even a minimal amount, in multiple books giving you every single opportunity to add a few points to your win percentage.
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- Make yourself accountable
The amount of sports bettors choosing to blame players, referees, or handicappers they tail for their personal losses is absurd. Nobody forces you to make a bet; we all know the risks involved when we put skin in the game. Rather than pointing the finger at other people when games go awry it’s important to remember nobody holds a gun to your head forcing you to make a bet. Trying to project blame onto others stunts our growth as handicappers because instead of learning from our mistakes we make it the fault of something “beyond our control.” As for those pesky bad beats? Those (hopefully) even out over time.
- Let your voice be heard
Legalization of sports gambling is at a pivotal crossroads as we enter 2017. Organizations such as the American Gaming Association are pushing for widespread legalization of single game wagering with the intention that it will be coming to a local casino, racetrack, or convenient store near you very soon. Every one of us needs to be proactive about legalization; tweet articles, circulate podcasts, and sign up for legalization petitions and the AGA newsletter to create better awareness among your peer group. Governments aren’t meant to regulate our morality so once we can make the leagues understand America’s overwhelming desire to bet sports the critical dominoes for legalization can start to fall one at a time.
