If you are new to Sports Betting there are a few things for you to understand. Like any other topic there’s a lingo and a base of knowledge you must become aware of. The goal of this page is to give you a simple understanding of the basics in sports wagering. You should definitely spend some time on your own researching the more fine details involved.

One of the first things you’ll want to do is sign up for our FREE report “39 Tips for the Sports Investor”. These are easy to understand, easy to consume tips that will give you some insight into sports wagering. You can easily sign up directly to right of these words.

OK, now that you’ve done that…

Handicapping sports is both an art and a science. A science in that vast amounts of vital statistical data must be gathered and an art in that the data needs to be analyzed and interpreted. Most good handicappers use a combination of three different approaches: statistical data, fundamental skills and trend analysis. There’s no doubt that research is the backbone of handicapping as past performance is 100% necessary to predict future results.

When you look at the traits of the most successful sports bettors you find that they have a keen mind, they put in long hours of dedicated research, they have an incredible amount of discipline and probably most important they know how to manage their money.

There are no best or worst money management systems as long as you deeply understand the risks and rewards of the particular system you decide to embrace. In the proper situation some are correct whereas in an improper situation they may be wrong.

Your money management plan should be based on your bankroll and your goals but only you can decide which is best for you. Personally I believe that Frank Belenger in his Bookie Buster program lays out a very well planned money management system that diversifies your bankroll over multiple systems. In detail he explains how to redistribute your bankroll when you double/lose any system in a particular area should you have a winning/losing streak.

Next you need to decide if you are going to use your own picks or those of a handicapper. Keep in mind that there are honest and dis-honest handicappers (sometimes referred to as “scam-dicappers”) out there. The dis-honest ones (and there are plenty of them) are out there trying to take advantage of the naive. The honest handicapper is trying to earn a living by truly helping the bettor.

Think of a good handicapper like a stock broker. A decent handicapping service like Rich Allen’s Sports Betting Professor can advise you where to invest your money in order to limit your losses and fatten up your winning percentage.

The next think you need to do is learn how to read the line in a sports book or online casino. Here are a few pointers:

The home team is always listed on the bottom. So when you see:

Minnesota Timberwolves
Los Angeles Lakers -15

You can assume that the game is being played at in the Los Angeles Staples Center, the Lakers are the home host team and Minnesota is the visiting team.

The negative number next to the Lakers name implies that they are the favorite. By conventional wisdom the favorite is expected to win and the underdog (Minnesota in this case) is predicted to lose.

The “spread” (15 in this example) is an indication of the points the favorite is expected to win by. You can either add the spread to the final score of the underdog or as the line indicates you can subtract the spread from the final score of the favorite to determine if your team “covered” the spread. It’s very possible that a team could lose the game “straight up” (no spread involved) but win the bet ATS (against the spread).

There are many types of bets but just three that you want to learn about as you get started: the straight side bet, the straight totals bet and the money line bet. For now ignore parlay, teaser, props and future bets leaving those to both the general uninformed public and the experts.

With a straight side bet you will be laying 11 to win 10 that one side’s score (taking into account the spread) will win the game. Let’s say you have the 76ers minus 6. This means that Philadelphia is expected to win the game by 6 points and for you to win the bet they must do just that. If they win by fewer than 6 points or lose the game, you lose your bet. If they win by exactly 6 points the result is a tie or a push. This means you don’t win or lose and your original bet is refunded.

A straight total wager is a bet on the number of points scored by both teams combined. You can bet on whether the actual number of points scored is over or under the line that the sports book posts. This will include any points scored in overtime, if the game so goes that way. For example if the line is 197 and you believe that both teams will score in the triple digits you would bet the OVER. Similar to a straight side bet you must lay 11 to win 10 with this type of wager.

A money line bet has no spread or points. Money lines are most often used in baseball, hockey and boxing. Instead of a spread money odds are wagered on the underdog or the favorite. There is a different money line for each side of a money line bet. For example let’s say you see game on the NHL board:

Phoenix Coyotes -135
Florida Panthers +115

This would mean that Phoenix is the favorite and you need to lay $135 in order to win $100 (or any multiple thereof such as $13.50 to win $10). Conversely if you feel that the underdog Panthers can win the game outright you would bet $100 and win $115.

So if you are betting on the favorite you are “expected” to win so therefore you must wager MORE than you stand to win. Otherwise if you bet on the underdog you are “expected” to lose so you will win MORE than you originally bet if an upset occurs (which is does over 40% of the time).

By offering different odds on each team the sportsbook is able to insure a profit as long as there is balanced action on each side.

You can bet on many different sports in a Nevada sportsbook or an online casino. The vast majority of the action handled is in Auto Racing, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Golf, Hockey, Soccer and Tennis. Vegas.com has a very good betting guide on their site explaining each of the sports and how the bets are handled. Click Here to access their online betting guide.

Handicapping and betting on sports is an enigma, It looks really easy to win but it’s tough to beat. However this doesn’t mean that it can’t be beat. Develop the maturity to deal with your inevitable losing days and understand that your success depends on you and your commitment. The harder you work the luckier and better you will become.

Good Luck!