Sports betting, like everything is else in life, is a lot of hard work. However, becoming a profitable sports bettor isn’t just a pipe dream. It is the reality for a lot of people. The odds are stacked against you, literally, but there are many different ways to bet on sports and some excellent tips that bettors can utilize to make money in sports betting.
No one becomes a professional bettor overnight, but at the very least, bettors should be able to lose less after reading this article. There are many ways to cut down the advantage that the sportsbooks hold over bettors and get the maximum amount of your edges.
How To Make A Profit On Sports Betting
There are a few basic ways to profit from sports betting with little or no sports knowledge. At its core, sports betting is about price shopping and understanding basic math and probabilities, not trying to predict the final score of a game.
Here are some to be sure that you’re getting the most value out of each sportsbook; and always getting the maximum payoff for each of your wagers and betting options.
Use Multiple Sportsbooks
I promise you that you will never find a profitable sports bettor who just bets on one sportsbook. Sportsbooks or bookies are known as “outs,” and as a sports bettor, it should be a goal to have as many outs as possible.
Why? Well, the primary reason is line shopping. If you use multiple sportsbooks, then you have access to more odds and markets. That allows you to have access to more betting markets (options) and assure yourself the best price or odds on each of the wagers you place.
It may not seem like much of a difference if you get -120 versus -110 or +3 or +3.5 on an NFL point spread, but this adds up in a significant way. Line shopping and using multiple sportsbooks is one of the easiest ways to make money in sports betting.
Take Advantage Of Bonuses And Promotions
Another advantage to utilizing multiple sportsbooks is bonus opportunities. New sportsbooks, especially offshore betting sites, will always offer a deposit bonus when you sign up. Do your best to maximize these bonuses, as they may only be available once.
Promotions are another area where bettors can add extra funds to their bankroll. Every sportsbook these days has odds boosts and specials. Bettors need to take advantage of these as often as possible.
They’re not always massive when it comes to dollar amounts, but these can be fantastic for building a bankroll. If sportsbooks are giving away money, you need to take it!
Betting Arbitrage
Arbitrage, also known as sure bets, is one of the best ways to profit from sports betting. Arbitrage is spotting differences in the betting market where you can lock in a profit at no risk.
Arbitrage betting can be a little complicated because you need to be sure both sides accept your wager and you’re using trusted sportsbooks, but it can be an excellent way to grind out profits in sports betting.
It is the definition of a safe bet to make money. It is the easiest way to make money at sports betting with near-zero risk, but it does take a tremendous amount of work.
Different Way To Bet On Sports
There are many different options when it comes to wagering on sports. Not only can you bet on nearly every sport in the world, but there are many different bet types and options. Let’s go over the basic bet types and wagers below and which ones are the most profitable bets.
Straight Wagers
The most basic type of sports bet and one that you should be wagering the vast majority of the time if you want to become a profitable sports bettor. A straight wager is a single bet on a side, total or moneyline.
The edge sportsbooks have on straight wagers, but their edge is much smaller than parlays or other exotics. If every bettor just played straight bets, then the sportsbooks would make a lot less money.
Parlays
Parlays are simply straight bets that are tied together in a single wager. The payout is much higher, but the caveat is that all bets or legs of the parlay must-win for the wager to be graded as a winner. If one bet loses, the entire parlay loses.
Parlays may offer value in some cases, such as correlated parlays or for circumventing betting limits. However, for the most part, you should avoid parlays. Ones above three teams hold a massive advantage for bookmakers.
Teasers
Teasers are similar to parlays in that all bets or legs must-win for them to be graded as a winner. However, teasers don’t have the upside and massive payouts that parlays do. With teasers, point spreads and totals are altered from 4-10 points, depending on the sport and online sportsbook.
Teasers do have some value in NFL football, especially Wong teasers or basic strategy teasers, but they simply don’t offer much value in other sports. Like parlays, the odds past three teams or selections make these bets unbeatable.
Propositions
Props or propositions are bets on aspects of a game that are not related to the final score or outcome. This is stuff like the number of rebounds a player might get in a basketball game or if a player will score a touchdown or not.
Props are fantastic markets to attack despite their low limits. Oddsmakers cannot devote a lot of time to them, leaving them vulnerable to sharp bettors.
What Is The Most Profitable Betting Strategy?
To put it simply, there is no single winning strategy that you can implement as a sports bettor that will make you a winner overnight. However, there are many strategies or tips to make money in sports betting.
It’s not as much what bets to make, but how you approach sports betting, where to allocate your funds, and which betting markets to attack.
Go After The Low Hanging Fruit
Oddsmakers devote lots of time to major markets, such as NFL sides and totals, and other major markets where bettors can wager in the tens of thousands (or more). These markets must be as sharp as possible since they will be taking massive amounts of money.
Propositions and more minor market sports offer a lot of value for bettors because oddsmakers simply aren’t devoting nearly as much time to them as larger markets. Limits are going to be lower, but you can spread out your action across multiple sportsbooks.
Many professional-level sports bettors still bet propositions for a large percentage of their income. You need to attack sportsbooks where they are the weakest and not the sharpest. Go after the “low hanging fruit.”
Use Recreational Sportsbooks
Many bettors may not realize that there are many different types of sportsbooks. Of course, promotions and bonus offers will differ, but some sportsbooks are simply a lot sharper than others. Meaning their odds are the best online at predicting sports betting probabilities. Even so much that other sportsbooks copy them.
Right now, these sportsbooks are Pinnacle Sports and Bookmaker.eu. And, to a lesser extent, BetOnline.ag and SportsBetting.ag. These books can offer bettors a lot of value due to competitive prices, but they are also the sharpest sportsbooks online – so they’re going to be tough to beat.
Bettors should focus on more recreational sportsbooks, such as Bovada, BetNow, or BetUS. These sportsbooks are more geared towards recreational bettors and may often even “shade” their lines towards public betting patterns.
Always Take Advantage Of Bonuses And Boosts
It’s hard to stress how important this is, especially if you’re a newer sports bettor getting into the game. Sportsbooks are competing against each other in nearly every market and category. Depending on where you live, you may have 20 or more online sportsbooks available.
Online betting sites almost always have a first deposit bonus. Do your best to maximize this bonus as it may only be available once. For instance, if the bonus is 50% up to $1,000, then deposit $2,000 to get the maximum amount in freeplay at $1,000. If you have a risk-free bet for up to $500, be sure to bet $500.
Odds boosts and promotions are other areas where you can capitalize. Nearly every online betting site has some promotional odds boost or deal they are offering players each day. These have low limits, usually $50 or so, but many do provide real value for bettors.
When you’re a new bettor, and you’re trying to build a bankroll, every dollar helps. Get all the bonuses you can and take advantage of any promotions or odds boost that offer value.
Most Trusted Online Sportsbooks
There are many trusted online sportsbooks, but there are also some bad apples that must be avoided. We recommend new bettors start their sports betting careers at BetNow.eu, Bovada, and MyBookie.
All of these sites I have used personally, and they all have fast payouts and great support. They all have deposit bonuses for new players, and many have VIP programs. Bovada and MyBookie are incredibly excellent since they have recreational lines and significant betting limits.
Can Sports Betting Make You Rich?
It’s unlikely but possible. But, the reality is that sports betting is a grind. It takes a lot of work to learn markets and understand them to a point where you can become profitable. Even then, you need to devote a lot of time to line shopping and getting more outs or sportsbooks when you get cut off or limited.
A more straightforward goal as a novice sports bettor might be to win five figures in a given year, then improve on that in the coming years. It’s certainly possible to get rich betting sports, but most bettors underestimate the time involved to get to that point.
Being a professional sports bettor is a lot more about grinding numbers and sitting in front of computer screens than some lavish lifestyle. To make big money, you need to be one of the best, just like any other profession.
