Sharp sports bettors don't bet just to have action. One of the most important things for the casual sports betting fan to remember is that the professional handicappers usually set a good example for you. If you are interested in making some significant money betting on sports, you should follow it.
While the majority of public bettors will throw their money on anything, the smart bettor can follow the lead of the sharps that do this for a living. That way, you hopefully don’t make silly mistakes that can really hurt your bankroll.
Here is a look at three things that sharp sports bettors will not do.
Be Undisciplined With Their Bankroll
This is the one that we hear about the most and know the best. Even so, many casual bettors just ignore it.
A recreational bettor might wager $25 on a couple of sides on a Sunday morning, mix in a $79 parlay and then a $33 teaser. If they lose the first wave of games, they might come back with a big $500 bet in the afternoon. It's random and disorganized.
Sharp sports bettors will have a system. If their bankroll is $10,000, they'll wager $250 for small bets, $500 for games they like a bit more and maybe $1000 for their best bets. There's no randomness to it.
The thing is that everyone knows this. Everyone knows that this is one of the major differentiators between sharps and squares. Even so, recreational bettors still don't have the discipline execute.
Bet Just Because
It used to be that casual bettors would be enticed to bet a game just because its on TV. For example, if it was Monday Night Football, they'd be just so they have some action. Nowadays, it's changed a little bit as you can find a few streaming sites to watch sports. People have access to pretty much every single game.
Nonetheless, sharp sports bettors won't have action just to have action. They're not going to bet on a game because they're bored. They're not going to bet on a game because it's the only thing on tonight. They're not going to wager just to have something on the line.
Sharps are methodical and sometimes mechanical. They try to remove emotion from the equation and simply make good, calculated betting decisions.
Chasing Home Favorites
One of the biggest mistakes that casual players make is chasing home favorites when the value just isn’t there. The biggest mistake that casual bettors make is jumping on public home favorites and expecting them to win every single game. The sportsbooks do an excellent job making sure the lines are on point so that a strategy like betting on home favorites without hesitation will not lead to making profits so don’t fall for that trap. The same thing can be said for betting on your favorite team in any given sport, which is never a good idea. The sharp bettors will search for value elsewhere in order to find the best available lines for when it comes to making profits.
Following Talking Heads
Every Sunday morning, the experts are lining up to give their picks for which teams you should take. It should be pretty obvious based on their overall records when it comes to picking winners that you should not follow their advice. The talking heads on television, print and even on social media might lead you in the wrong direction. In most cases, it’s very easy to forget how many times that those experts are wrong. If millions of people were constantly given winning picks by talking heads on television, everybody would be making a ton of money every weekend.
The reality is that is not the case so make sure you are putting in your own work rather than following the advice of people that simply don’t have the right picks in line anyways.
Overpaying For Juice With Live Betting
In terms of pre-game lines, it seems like the best sportsbooks compete for the best prices. We've seem dimelines, low juice and even no juice. Sharps love that.
On the other hand, sportsbooks go pretty crazy with the spread in live betting. We've always seen this with favorites. Seeing something like -10000 and +1500 on the other side isn't uncommon. However, we now see this with some spicy spreads on smaller lines too. A game that started as -115 and +105 pre-game can quickly switch to -120 and -120 after a single pitch.
Sharps are very careful with their live betting decisions. They're conscious of what they're paying. Casual bettors simply don't care. They'll hit a moneyline and not even think about the consequences.
Risking It All
If you go all-in on one wager and lose then how much money will you have left over? Zero. That is the biggest mistake that you can make. No matter how good a wager might seem on the surface the reality is that anything can happen and you are taking a major chance temping fate by risking it all at any point. There is never going to be a good enough bet to throw all of your money on it so make sure that you are managing your money in a respectable manner and not throwing it all on one bet. There will always be talking heads explaining why one team or another is a lock and worth risking it all on but at the end of the day it is never a good idea to risk your entire bankroll on one play.
