Opening day is the day every football lover looks forward to. I know I get all itchy to get my wagers on the first game of the season. Here are some tricks of the trade to keep in mind when you’re betting on a game of football.
Betting Basics
When you are betting on a game, it’s really all about predicting the outcome. But how do you predict the future? The trick to successful football betting is all about studying past games and using those stats to project what the team’s future game scores will look like. You can figure out the football handicap of both teams by comparing what the point spread of their collective game play is.
Football Betting Terminology
If any of the words up there sounded alien to you, now is a good time for you to go through this list of commonly used football betting terms:
- Money line: Money line bets are those which bet on which team will win. In case you bet on a team that has a continuous losing streak, you stand to win lots more when they actually do win the game.
- Point spread: A point spread is a handicap that is given to the team that is not the current favourite. Therefore, in case you usually score an average of, say 90 in a game and your opponent has an average score of 170, you get a +80 free set of points to favour your odds.
- Parlay: A parlay is a great way to win large sums of money even if you make a small wager. You just have to bet on small events that have a chance of success.
Tips for Betting
- Keep your bets steady: Have a constant betting strategy for all the games that you bet on. That way you can manage your money better and you can bet on the games that you feel most confident about.
- Take a look at recent betting trends: Even if you take recent trends into consideration, always use the handicap to make sure you predict the outcome currently. It isn’t always necessary that what happened in the past will happen in the future as well.
- Eye line movements: Since the odds for football betting open up well before a game, see who the favourite is. If you see the line moving towards the favourite, you can choose to bet on the underdog, since that will mean more winnings.
Always remember that good football betting is done by carefully calculating your odds. While you may feel a lot of love for one team, always choose the one that is more likely to win you some money, rather than letting your emotions get the better of you!