Betting Strategy – how they work and why do you need them

A betting strategy is a structured approach to gambling, in the attempt to produce a profit. To enter the betting world successfully, you should start by comprehending the basics. Determining the appropriate betting system and shaping your betting strategy can help you pave your way toward profitable stakes. I’ll familiarize you with the sports betting strategies and sports betting systems, focusing on some of the sports betting strategies. This would help you navigate the gambling environment and proceed to more advanced approaches over time.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Betting Strategies and Systems

Understanding the essence and goal of gambling strategies in sports betting and system bets is fundamental to grasping their intricacies and implementing them in your favor.

Betting strategies epitomize a range of strategic approaches aimed to organize the wagering process. These systems harness mathematical rules to increase the likelihood of successful outcomes. By revealing real probabilities, best system bets employ statistical insights, empowering gamblers to turn sports betting into a calculated pursuit rather than a matter of chance.

A sports betting strategy is a set of rules that help you govern betting markets. Risk management, wagering amounts, betting schedules, and other parameters constitute good sports betting strategies that minimize risks and losses.

I know it can be difficult. What it really comes down to is that gamblers try to employ systems and strategies that will change the casino’s advantage into a player’s advantage – which is impossible for pure games of probability with fixed odds, akin to a perpetual motion machine. Betting strategies are often based on statistical analysis.

Terms such as betting strategies and sports betting systems are considered the same thing. In my opinion, there is a slight difference. Systems are ready-made ways of doing things. Each of them describes step by step what you should do in case of losing and winning. A strategy is a bit higher. It includes systems but also psychology, bankroll management, risk management and much more. After all, you can use several systems in your strategy. Right?

That’s why I wrote a separate article about sports betting systems. Just click the link in the previous sentence. Here we’ll focus mainly on strategy although I’ll throw in some links to interesting systems a little further down in this article.

Winning sport betting strategies

Let’s start by exploring the basic approaches, each granting you control over your stakes and selections. Although sports events are usually unpredictable, a thoughtful betting strategy will help you apply order and logic to your wagering. These fundamental methodologies will lay a solid foundation for comprehending more advanced betting techniques.

Funds management

You should plan your sports betting budget by setting aside a specific sum that you can afford to lose and establishing the betting timeframe. This is a primary step that helps you plan your activities competently and develop a strategic mindset.

For instance, you may choose to wager in the NFL. To identify your weekly betting funds, take your initial budget (e.g., $1000) and divide it by the number of game weeks ($1000/18=$55). Then, divide the result by the number of matches you wish to bet on ($55/5=$11). Therefore, your single betting unit for each game will make $11.  

The principles of odds operation

Odds help you calculate your potential return and the probability of a specific game outcome. There are several odds formats, while the most widespread ones combine three-digit numbers with a ‘minus’ or a ‘plus’ sign.

The number with a minus sign indicates the betting favorite and how much you’ll need to stake to win $100. On the other hand, a number with the plus sign implies the underdog, pointing your winnings for a $100 stake. There are 3 most popular odds formats at bookmakers: American, decimal and fractional. Here we will focus on American odds.

The formulas for implied probability calculation are the following:

For positive odds: (100 / (odds + 100)) * 100

For negative odds: ((odds * -1) / ((odds * -1) + 100)) * 100  

Thus, the chances for the underdog to win with the odds of +325 are:

(100 / (325 + 100)) * 100 = 23%

While the favorites, with a price of -360, have the following probability of winning:

((-360 * -1) / ((-360 * -1) + 100)) * 100 = 78%

I wrote a separate article about the odds. I also included there some interesting strategies related to odds. There you will also learn about different odds formats, what is Vigorish, how to convert odds formats, how to calculate winnings and payouts and how to calculate implied probability for decimal odds. If you are not interested in this and do not want to do it yourself, I have prepared a calculator that will do it for you.

Research the betting lines

Explore the available markets and select the best betting lines in advance. To identify the best betting lines in sports, compare odds across multiple sportsbooks, consider promotions, and keep up with sports news and line movements. Examine odds comparison websites, study different markets, and track line changes before wagering. By staying informed, you can access the most favorable prices, maximizing the value of your bets.

Consider early betting

I highly recommend wagering early to obtain the best possible odds to back betting favorites. This is one of the profitable sports betting strategies that helps you unlock higher returns, especially in futures markets. Opening well in advance of the event, these markets can offer more tempting conditions. By making early stakes in futures markets, bettors can capitalize on advantageous odds before they shift in response to altering circumstances throughout the event. Therefore, you should keep an eye on your preferred sportsbook to notice futures betting markets as soon as they appear.

Avoid overusing parlay bets

While Parlay betting can bring great profits if applied strategically, it also increases the risk of losses since all your picks must win to bring you a payout. Parlay bets involve combining multiple individual bets into a single wager. As such, it offers enticing payouts if all selections win. However, the higher risk takes place due to the increased number of outcomes needed for success. Each additional choice raises the complexity and reduces the likelihood of winning. Even if most of your picks are correct, a single faulty outcome can result in the entire bet being lost.

Let’s assume that you are a soccer fan going to stake on the Premier League gameweek. It includes 10 match results that can potentially compose a multi-game parlay. Making the right selections for all 10 winners is incredibly hard and requires significant research combined with good luck.

Therefore, it is reasonable to refrain from extensive parlays and limit your selections to four or six.

Examine available information

Although this advice may seem excessively generic, it can guide you toward a winning sports betting strategy. Essentially, you should determine the most relevant sources and statistics for your selected sport and the results you plan to back.

For instance, in the NFL, you can evaluate weekly team rankings using plentiful datasets. An informative metric in this sense is ‘Against the Spread’, which demonstrates how teams are faring in relation to the point spread established by sportsbooks.

Well, we discussed strategies. That is, everything you do before using the systems. You know how to manage risks, funds, you know how the odds work. So let’s move on to examples of interesting systems.

What are some examples of betting systems?

There are many sports betting systems, among them the most popular are the Fibonacci Method, Trixie System, Yankee System, Heinz System. I described them all in separate articles. Just click on one of the links above and read more. You can also learn what Cash Out is in sports betting and what Handicap is.

Common betting strategies also include:

Interesting concepts you should know are Dutching (sharing the risk of losing across a number of runners by backing more than one selection in a race or event.), Matched betting (a betting technique designed to take advantage of free bets and promotions offered by bookmakers), Advantage gambling (i.e., legal methods used to gain an advantage while gambling, as opposed to cheating).

I hope someday to find a moment to describe them all.

And something else for those interested in exploring the topic a bit more. Betting Strategies connects strongly to the topic of Gambling and information theory. There’s a lot of reading, a lot of theory, but if you want to explore the topic more, I’ve given a link to Wikipedia above.

Final thoughts

Sports betting will always involve a great deal of chance and, consequently, the risk of losses. Therefore, even the variety of sports betting systems and strategies will not guarantee you favorable outcomes in the long run. What can help you maximize your gains is responsible risk and money management. Plan your budget, assess chances, and stay within the funds you can afford to lose. This way, you’ll avert the extra risks and optimize your wagering for better results. 

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