American Football Preseason

     Well the first Preseason game is less than a month away, week 1 is starting on Thursday, August 9^th . I know there is one other game before that, but that is the Hall of Fame Weekend Game on Sunday, August 5^th and is not part of the regular Preseason schedule.

      Now as I have said before I don't bet on the Preseason very much, for the simple reason that the coaches are trying out their new players. They are also trying out old players in different positions and new strategy’s as well. All of this together makes it very hard to consistently pick the winners of the games.

     So if you bet on the Preseason games be careful and don't bet very much money. Now this does not mean that the Preseason games are not very important to you the gambler, this is your first chance to see how the new players perform with the team. How the old players are doing after the summer off and get a feel for your teams.

     So, be sure to watch the games and don't worry so much about who wins, but watch how they play. This is part of the research that is so necessary for a gambler to win consistently. I have told you before Knowledge is your most valuable tool and this is one of the ways for you to get it.

     So if you really want to bet on Preseason, go ahead, but remember to keep it small, as the games are very unpredictable. Be sure to keep a eye on the players that were injured last year to see how they have recovered and if they are really back in the game.

     So while Preseason is a lot of fun to watch, be sure to keep track of the stats as they will be worth a lot to you for the rest of the season.

American Football “Props”

      While we are talking “Props” and “Futures” I was looking at my Sports Books “Futures” on American football.And I was shocked to see that my favorite team was not the favorite to win the Superbowl next year.

      The teams with the best odds to win are Green Bay Packers at +400 and New England Patriots +415 and the 4 teams with the worst odds are Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, and Cleveland Browns all at +9000.

      So as we have said before all bets are based on a $100 bet, but of course you can bet as much or as little as you like, on each bet. So if you think that the Colts could win the Superbowl, you could bet just $100 to win $9,000.

      Remember though there is a good reason why the Books are willing to give you odds that big. The bigger the Risk the bigger the Reward. The books have done their research, have you done yours? If you have taken sometime to research and think that the Colts can win, great. But if you want to bet on the Colts just because they are you favorite team, and you have not done your research, that’s is bad. As with all bets you need to bet with your head not just your heart. When you are making any bet take the time to think it through completely.

      So check out your Sports Books “Prop” section and see what “Props” and “Futures” that your book offers.

About the up coming Olympics and “Prop Bets”

      Well now that we are talking about “Prop Bets”, lets talk about some of the options for betting on the Olympics. Betting on the Olympics is almost totally “Prop Bets”, and there are a lot of choices, from the simple one like we talked about yesterday of which country will win. To match ups between the country's on which country will win more gold medal’s.

      For example will the USA win more gold medals than China, the line on that is USA -155 and China +115. Then there is the match up between Russia -180 and Great Britain +140.

      In the Totals it is USA to win over and under 38½, over +105 and under -145. China over and under 36½, over -155 and under +115. This is just from one Sports Book, you should check your Sports Book and see what lines the are offering.

      Most Sports Books are already offering some good “Futures” on most events, here are a few from one Sports Book.

           Olympics to win Archery Team Men:

                South Korea      +105

                Great Britain      +140

                USA                 +180

                Brazil               +2250

      They are more of course, and for the Country's not on their list, most Sports Books even have a line for every Team not listed, for example:

                 Field – Any Country not listed      +140

      So give your Sports Books “Prop” section a look over and see what they are offering on the Olympics and get a head start on making some money for football season today.

Closing thoughts about betting on “Exotic Bets”

      So we have talked about the different bets you can use, besides just “Straight Bets”. Just remember the “Straight Bet” should always be your go to bet, but the careful use of “Exotics” can really grow your bankroll.

      When using the “Exotics” that we have just talked about, always think them through completely. Making sure that the Risk is Worth the Reward, and that you don't put too Many Teams into your “Exotic” bet.

      There are some other types of specialty betting that we should talk about, like “Futures” and “Proposition or Prop Bets”, these are not really “Exotic” Bets, because most Sports Book won’t allow you to bet “Futures” or “Props” except in “Straight Bets”. These are just not the kind of things you would normally bet on.

      “Futures” are simply bets on the “Future” outcome of a Tournament or Season in a sport, which you place before the Tournament or Season starts. Like will the Dallas Cowboys win the Superbowl next year? Or will the USA get the most Gold Medals at the Olympics. “Futures” are usually in the “Proposition Bet” section of your Sports Book

      

     Where “Prop Bets” can be just about anything that the sports book thinks you would bet on. They can be as simple as whether the coin toss in the Superbowl will be heads or tails. Or they can be as specific as will a certain player score a point, or will a team score a certain number of points. “Prop Bets” can be a lot of fun, but like any other bet use them carefully and think them through completely.

      Right now there are some great “Prop Bets” up for the 2012 London Summer Olympics. For example I was looking at one Sports Book and they had the the USA to win in the Women Soccer +180, but for South Africa it is +7000. So if you bet $100 on the USA lady’s soccer team you could win $180 if they win the Gold Medal. But if you bet $100 on the South African lady's you could win $7,000 if they win the Gold Medal.

      There are a lot of “Props” on the boards for the Olympics, you should check out your Sports Book and see what they offer. Tomorrow we will talk some more about the up coming Olympics and “Prop Bets”

Round Robins, Why and When you should think about using them, some basics

      OK, yesterday we talked about Reverses, and how they allowed you to place multiple “If Bets” easily, well another type of bet that allows you to place multiple bets quickly, is the Round Robin. Unlike the Reverse that creates “If Bet” combinations, a Round Robin creates Parlay combinations.

      Most books allow 2 different ways of using the Round Robin, first and probably the most used is the “set size” or “# way”, in which you tell the Sports Book what size of Parlays to create in your Round Robin, for example if we had a $100, 3 team, “2 way”, Round Robin, then it would create 3, 2 team Parlays. So if we bet on Team A, Team B, and Team C, it would turn into 3, 2 team Parlays:

1. Team A and Team B
2. Team A and Team C
3. Team B and Team C

      Remember just like in the Reverse, in a Round Robin we have to multiply our risk money times the number of Parlays it creates. So in our $100, 3 team, “2 way”, Round Robin example, we would be risking $300 to win up to a $1,080, depending on your Sports Books Parlay payout table.

      The other option for using a Round Robin, is call the “most possible” or the “all ways”. The difference is that if you had a $100, 3 team, “All Ways”, Round Robin it would turn into 1, 3 team Parlay and 3, 2 team Parlays, and you would end up risking $400 to win around $1,389, again depending on your Sports Books Parlay payout table.

      As you can see, Round Robins, can make a lot of money, when they win, since each Parlay is graded separately, if you have 1 loser you still win some of your parlays and have a chance to break even or even come out ahead. Round Robins have their uses, but should not be used unless you have thought it through completely, as with any bet you make, be sure that the Risk is Worth the Reward.

      Now if you want a more detailed explanation of betting, and a step by step break downs of the Round Robin and other bets, then you can grab a copy of my e-book “The Wagering Man's Guide to Sports Betting” at our website www.thewageringman.com, and get all the help you need in understanding how your bets work, check it out today

Why and When you should think about using a “Reverse” bet, some basics, Part 5

     Yesterday we talked about “If Bets”, and the importance of choosing the order of your teams in your “If Bet”. Today we are going to talk about Reverses, which are an interesting way of placing multiple “If Bets” quickly.

      Now a Reverse, takes your teams, and turns them into every 2 team “If Bet” combination possible, and then reverses them as well. So if you bet a 2 team Reverse, it becomes 2 “If Bets”, so if you bet on Team A, and Team B, your “If Bets” would be:

1. Team A “If Win” then Team B
2. Team B “If Win” then Team A

      So if you asked for a $100, 2 team, Reverse you would be risking $110 twice, for a total Risk of $220, in a Point Spread Reverse, because you would end up, with two “If Bets” of $110 each to win $200 each, for a total risk of $220 to win $400. And if you bet a 3 team Reverse then you would have 6 “If Bets”, and you would have to wager 6 times the risk amount. Now as you can see using a Reverse can be expensive, but if your teams win, you can win a lot of money. I rarely use more than a 3 team Reverse, but a 2 or 3 team well thought out Reverse can make you some good money.

      So if you have 2 or 3 teams that you are really confident about, and want to bet on them as much as you can, a Reverse is one of the ways to put up multiple bets quickly and easily. Also since a Reverse becomes multiple “If Bets” if one of your teams does lose, you can still win some of your money back Most Reverses are double action, but check your Sports Books rules and regulations, to see if you have the choice between single and double action, in my Reverses I always use double action.

      Tomorrow we will talk about when and why to use a Round Robin, and for more detailed explanations you can grab a copy of my e-book “The Wagering Man's Guide to Sports Betting” at our website www.thewageringman.com, check it out today

Why and When you should think about “If Bet” betting, some basics, Part 4.

     Yesterday we were talking about when and why to use an “If Bet”, we had just talked about the fact that an “If Bet” Stops on a loser. In an “If Bet” you can lose one bet and still break even or sometimes come out ahead, depending on what order you placed the teams in. The reason being that since the bets are graded individually, if you have wining bets before the loser, then you get the winnings from those bets, and that can help to offset the loss of your risk money.

      This is why it is so important, what order you place the teams into the “If Bet”, they do not have to be in the order their played in, but they will be graded in the order you put them into the “If Bet”, so if for example in American Football you placed the Monday night game first in your “If Bet”, and 2 other games that play on Sunday, and then the 2 games on Sunday win, your “If Bet” will not be graded a winner until the Monday night game is played, and if it is a loser, the whole bet is over, and it does not matter one bit, if the later teams in your “If Bet” were winners, because the bet stops with the loser.

      You can also put games in an “If Bet” that are playing at the same time, they will be graded in the order that you placed them in the “If Bet”, not the order in which they finish. The main thing about an “If Bet” is that you have to place the whole bet, before the earliest game in the “If Bet” starts, it does not matter if it is the first team in the “If Bet” or not, but you cannot place any bet after a game is off the board.

      Tomorrow we talk about when and why to use a Reverse, and for more detailed explanations you can grab a copy of my e-book “The Wagering Man's Guide to Sports Betting” at our website www.thewageringman.com, check it out today.

Part 3, Why and When you should think about “Exotic” betting, some basics

      Yesterday we were talking about Teasers vs Parlays, and the payout differences between them, and why sometimes it is better to take a lower payout, with a better chance to win, over a larger payout and more Risk.. The object of your wagering is to win money, and not just once in awhile, but to do it consistently, and not just all in one huge bet. So learn when and where to use the different betting options that are available to you, and you can really start to grow your Bankroll into something really BIG.

      So sometimes when you have 2 or 3 teams that you really want to bet on, and you don't want to take a chance on a Parlay or Teaser, but also don't want to risk to much money on them with 2 or 3 Straight Bets, you can always put them into an “If Bet”. Which is safer than a Parlay or a Teaser but not as profitable, you will always find that the riskier the bet is, the more profitable it is. Now with an “If Bet” you can bet on all 3 teams with the same risk money, but since each bet on each team is graded separately, the previous bet has to win for the next bet to have “Action”, so now the order you put them into the “If Bet” is also very important. Now of course if all the teams win it does not matter which order you put them in the bet, you win, but if just 1 team loses then it matters which order they were in, because the “If Bet” stops on the loser.

      Tomorrow we continue on when and why to use “If Bets”, and for more detailed explanations you can grab a copy of my e-book “The Wagering Man's Guide to Sports Betting” at our website www.thewageringman.com, check it out today.

 

Why and When you should think about “Exotic” betting, some basics, Part 2

      Yesterday we started our talk about when to use “Exotic” bets, we were talking about Parlays and how they can make your Bank Roll grow. If you have 2 teams that you are very sure about, and you place 2 straight bets on them to win $50, again we are talking Point Spreads here, you will bet $55 to win $50 twice, or $110 total risk to win $100, but if you put both teams in a $50 Parlay you would be risking just $50 to win $130. The big difference is that in the Parlay both teams must win or you lose all of your risk money, but in the 2 Straight Bets, one can win and one can lose, and you only lose your money on the loser.

      So if your not a 100% sure about the 2 teams then maybe you should Tease them instead, now Teasers don't payout as much as Parlays, but you can move the lines in your favor, giving you a better chance to win. An 3 team 6 point Teaser only pays around 8/5 odds or $80 for every $50 you bet, so a $100, 3 team, 6 point Teaser, is going to pay you around $160 where a $100, 3 team Parlay will pay you around $600, this is a big difference. But sometimes you are better off, taking a lower payout with a better chance of winning, remembering that $600 is great but if your teams don't win you get nothing, so if your not really confident about the Teams Lines, but want to bet them, Tease them, and at least you have a better chance of winning something, and $160 is better than losing all of your risk money.

      Tomorrow we will get start on when and why to use “If Bets”, and for more detailed explanations you can grab a copy of my e-book “The Wagering Man's Guide to Sports Betting” at our website www.thewageringman.com, check it out today.

Why and When you should think about “Exotic” betting, some basics, Part 1

      Why you should think about “Exotic” betting. Straight Bets should always be at the heart of your betting strategy, but that does not mean you should ignore other types of bets. With Parlays, Teasers, “If Bets”, Reverses, and Round Robins you just have to think a little more about your bets, but they can make your Bank Roll grow in leaps and bounds.

      Yesterday we started talking about the Parlay. Now Parlays are a lot of fun to win, and the payouts can be large, but remember that every team you add to a Parlay is another chance to lose the whole Parlay. So don't try to win a fortune with each Parlay you play, by betting on 10 teams or more, Sports Books love people that always put 8, 10, or more teams in a Parlay, because statistically the Book wins. But a well thought out 3 or 4 team Parlay can make the Books cringe, the payout on a $100, 3 team Parlay can be as much as 6/1 or better, meaning you can get $600 for that $100 you bet and for a 4 team Parlay it can be 12/1 or more, depending on the Sports Book your using, meaning that the same $100 will bring you $1200 in a 4 team Parlay.

      So as you can see you can win good money, if you use Parlays wisely, even a small 2 team Parlay can give you a boost in the size of your Bank Roll at 13/5 or $130 for every $50 you bet, so that's $100 to get you $260, all these examples so far have been about Point Spreads, with Money Line Parlays the odds are different.

      Tomorrow we will talk some more about How to use Parlay's and when you should think about a Teaser instead, and for more detailed explanations you can grab a copy of my e-book “The Wagering Man's Guide to Sports Betting” at our website www.thewageringman.com, check it out today.