NFL Betting Tips

May 14, 2010

The most powerful tool you can have when doing any NFL betting is experience.  We know that not everyone has the time to spend studying statistics and player match ups and weather reports.  Our handicappers do have the time for that and their NFL picks are well worth the money if you are looking to do any football betting online.  What we also understand is that you want to improve your own knowledge, and that’s why we’ve gone ahead and provided some NFL betting tips that we feel are very useful if you are just getting started.

1.  Pick a football betting book you can trust. Don’t fall into the trap of signing up for the first sportsbook you come across.  Shop around and find out which ones are the real deal and which ones are not.  The industry has really made some huge strides in weeding out the bad guys over the past several years, so with a little research you can feel confident in using an online book.

2.  Be mindful of public perception. Listen to your friends or co-workers.  If they think the Patriots are going to rout the Steelers, make a note of it, because the general public is wrong more often than they are right.  Most people aren’t aware of how football spread betting works and are simply making a statement about how they think a team will win, not necessarily cover the spread.  Because the talent levels of NFL teams are normally very close, even seemingly bad teams can keep games close against top-tier teams.  This is part of what makes NFL betting so difficult.

3.  Pick a money management strategy and stick to it! The most common mistake people make is increasing their bet amounts, win or lose, to either try to make a big score or try to recoup losses.  This is a sure way to clear out your sportsbook account in the long haul.  Decide how much you can afford to lose in the worst-case scenario, then divide that number by 30.  The result is about how much you should be betting on each game.

4.  Lower your expectations! This is the toughest thing for most people to do when they are first starting out, but the fact is you aren’t going to win every game you bet!  Surprising, I know!  Now, most people don’t expect to win all of the time, but we’ve come across plenty that think they should be winning 70% or more of their bets.  This is not realistic, period.  If you were able to win around 70% of your bets consistently over a period of a several years, you would not only be ridiculously rich, but you would probably shut down some sportsbooks.  The fact of NFL betting is that you can really only expect to win between 55%-60% of your bets, 60% being on the high end.  Not what you expected?  Get used to it.  No matter what a site or handicapper claims, if they hit much higher than 65% in a given year it is most likely a lie, a small sample size, or a fluke.  This isn’t to say that you can’t make money hitting 55% to 60% of your NFL bets, but you do need to realize that this isn’t a get-rich-quick kind of scheme and check any unrealistic expectations at the door.

5.  Enjoy yourself. The minute it’s not fun to wager anymore, you should stop.  Sports betting should only be done responsibly and with expendable income.  There are some professional bettors out there, but you will need to build a large bankroll and have incredible discipline to be one yourself.

6.  Do your research (or have someone do it for you). Don’t bet blind, not knowing anything about either team just because it sounds good or because the game is on TV.  If you haven’t purchased football picks from an expert or done your own due diligence, keep your money in your pocket and wait for the next game that you do have proper information on!

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Posted by Steve Janus · Filed Under Football Betting, Football Handicapping 

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