Sports betting is not always easy to make a profit with. Sometimes the luck is with you and sometimes it isn’t. However, luck is only one part of it. The best results will usually come from having a clear strategy and from understanding the sport that you are gambling on. If you’re a golf fan already and are looking to bet on this sport then you can definitely put your existing knowledge to good use.
If you simply go in randomly, you certainly shouldn’t be staking too much money. If you have a strategy, then you can improve your chances of making a profit and picking the winners. Studying the form and working out your strategy can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of having a punt on the golfing events or other sports.
Sports betting strategy quick tips
Here are some quick tips that will help you to ensure you have considered your betting strategy and that you make sensible and responsible decisions:
- Always gather as much information as you can. The current golfing rankings, golf previews, form, and even information about what is on the line for the golfers. Looking at the leaderboards for tournaments is also a great strategy. This can all help inform your decision and as they say, “knowledge is power”.
- Test strategies on a small scale. Rather than jump in with huge amounts, gamble with smaller sums to see what works or test out strategies and ideas.
- Be responsible. Only bet what you can afford to lose.
Key beginner concepts
The beginner concepts to understand and help you out include a few aspects of betting terminology and the actual way that gambling works.
Beginner concepts include things such as:
- Odds. Understanding the odds and how much an individual bet stands to return means a basic knowledge of fractions.
- Bankroll. Most gamblers have a separate bankroll to use and try to build.
- Favourite and underdog. The favourite is the team or individual with the shorter odds, the underdog has longer odds. This gap can be very big.
Sports betting strategies that work
Betting on the underdog. Of course, this doesn’t always work, and you shouldn’t put huge amounts on an outsider, but in the world of betting, most people go for the favourites so if you can pick a winning underdog your returns could be much better. In golf, there are usually a lot of different competitors all vying for the same top spot at the end of the tournament, so it is likely that you can always find an underdog you like the look of.
Only betting with your profits. If you get to the point where you have made a profit and you want to place some longer shot bets, then using your profits to do so means you aren’t risking anything from your initial bankroll. The more you win, the braver you can get with small sums.
Sports betting strategies that don’t work
The martingale system, or any other system that needs you to keep increasing your bets after a loss. The theory is that eventually you will win your money back if you keep doubling the amount bet, but it is simply not always the case and can be very costly.
Using sports databases and stats sites to discover trends
This is a great way to be ahead of the curve. If you do more research than others and understand statistics and databases, then you might be able to get better value out of the bets.
While some games such as Tension are random, other games clearly have form and stats you can study. MLB stores a huge database of baseball stats. Soccer, American football, golf, tennis, basketball and many other sports have a lot of people following and collecting stats.
Golfstats.com is another example of a site with huge amounts of data that you can make use of when choosing your bets on the next big golfing event.
Advanced sports betting strategies
There are some more advanced strategies that you can use to try and make a profit when it comes to your sports betting.
A lot of these depend on the sport, so it is a good idea to check which strategies work best for the specific sport you are gambling on.
NFL gamblers tend to use a strategy called the Pythagorean wins strategy. This calculates the team in question and their performance based on the previous year’s worth of fixtures, looking at their other wins but also the points they score and concede.
From the 1988 Super Bowl through to 2004, 11 out of the 16 victors of the Superbowl had the best Pythagorean statistics. These strategies can be good tools.
The best strategy? Make a plan and stick to it
Whether you’re betting on golf or another sport it is good to be smart about it.
Most betting strategies are designed for the long term rather than just making a quick buck. Once you opt for a strategy, it is a good idea to stick with it to see its results rather than change all the time and never reap the benefits that sticking to a strategy can deliver.