Football Betting Strategy – A 10 Step Guide
Football is one of the most popular sports for American bettors. With at least 13 NFL games taking place each week during the regular season, there is plenty of opportunity for anyone to place successful bets.
Whether you are looking into starting your journey into betting on football or are already doing so, GamblersBet.com has a 10-step football strategy guide to help you win!
1. Use a Number of Bookmakers
The first step on your football betting journey, is to decide on which sportsbook/s you are going to use. With the large number of bookmakers out there for North American bettors, many of them offer slightly different odds. Be prepared to shop around and look for which sportsbook have the best odds for the particular bets you are looking to place.
Please make sure that you use reputable sportsbooks - check out the top sportsbooks on GamblersBet.com.
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2. Learn the Game
Make sure that you spend plenty of time to learn all the aspects of football. Familiarise yourself with every team and know which one has the best offense and defense. This will help you to understand how each game will go and provide you with an edge against your bookmaker.
3. Start with the Teams You Know!
If you have been following football but are only starting to bet on the sport, it is advisable to start betting on the teams that you have the most knowledge of. Many bettors jump in and bet on every team/game, whether they have any knowledge of them or not, and that is why they lose!
4. Learn the Basics of Football Betting
When betting on football, it is important to fully understand the specific betting terms that sportsbooks use. You will also need to learn about the different markets your bookmaker offers and what is required for each bet. If you feel that some of the terms used about football betting in this article are unclear, you can refer to our online football betting guide.
5. Look for Value
If you want to be successful in the long term when betting on Football, you need to look for value bets.
When it comes to the NFL, the favored teams have extremely low odds. Anybody can bet on the favorite, and bookmakers love this. Bettors have to place large amounts of money on favorites to actually make a worthwhile return, and due to the competitive nature of Football, they do not always win. People who only bet on the favored teams, will actually lose money in the long run, and there are many studies that back this up.
Therefore, it is recommended to consider other markets which can provide much better value.
6. Consider Less Obvious Betting Markets
The most popular markets in football betting are Moneyline, Point Spread and Over/Under Total Points. Bookmakers provide odds on every game and hundreds of markets for each game, and they cannot always get every market spot on. You should consider looking at other markets (compared to the ones mentioned above), to help find your edge to allow you to get one over on your bookmaker.
7. Develop Strategies
Long term successful football bettors develop specific strategies for the markets they are looking to bet on. This helps them to accurately predict what is likely to happen during the course of a game. Some areas to look into are listed below:
- Offensive Line.
- Defensive Line.
- Starting Quarterback.
- Total points scored/conceded.
- Total yards for/against.
- Turnovers for/against.
- Yards per play for/against.
It is highly recommended to spend an adequate amount of time looking into the areas mentioned above, this will allow you to find a distinct football bet type and be successful with your wager.
8. Keep a Record of Your Betting
We recommend that you always keep a detailed record of your betting history – date, game, bet type, stake, profit / loss and most importantly comments / notes. Keeping an accurate record of your bets (especially the comments section), can help you with your future bets. It will help you learn what not to do from the losses you incur, and this is paramount to success in football betting.
9. Don’t Chase Your Losses
If you have lost one or more bets during the day, do not veer away from your staking plan by trying to win all of your money back on your next bet, or be tempted to bet on a game you were not originally planning on betting on. This is when you are more likely to lose even more money. Every bettor does this during the course of their betting career, but it is important that you are not tempted to do so. Please also make sure you bet with your head, use your sound and logical thinking from your extensive research, and do not let your heart overturn your original decision.
10. Know When to Quit!
When betting on football, like with any sport, remember that it is supposed to be a fun and entertaining way of being more involved in a game. If you find yourself becoming disheartened and the funs stops due to increasing losses, give yourself a break and either stop completely or come back to it at a later date when you are in the correct mindset!
