While most sports betting practitioners judge success or failure on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, there's something special about wiping the slate clean in a new year. Of course, with the NFL, NBA, college basketball and NHL seasons overlapping the change in calendars that may be truer in form than function.
But still, the changing of the calendar gives sports betting fans a chance to change something else; the way they approach the game. Moving from a recreational or unsophisticated player, often called a "square," to a dangerous, competent bettor, known as a "sharp," takes both diligence and discipline, qualities that can be, at least in part, learned. What can't be taught is talent, although following a few simple rules can help even the clumsiest player.
To be sure, there are vast differences and disparate factors in the individual sports: Successful sports betting on the NFL involves an understanding of "key numbers" and the importance of weather conditions; both college football and college basketball often can be dominated by emotion and motivation; horse race wagering is about speed, track bias and value; travel is an enormously influential factor in NBA betting lines and team selection; because there really is no such thing as a single-game upset in baseball, price is a huge consideration.
Sharps don't always know more about these factors than casual bettors. What they do know is how to bet.
Sophisticated players distinguish themselves from squares by the number of games they bet and the consistency of their wagers on each of those games. For example, typically, sharps bet about half a dozen games during a football weekend. Squares bet one or two, or even worse, nearly the whole card.
"If you believe you have an edge you don't want to bet just one or two games," explained a professional sports bettor who asked that his name be withheld. "If you play only a couple of games, luck becomes much too overwhelming of a factor. You don't want to be in a situation where a bad bounce or a lousy call from a referee beats you and that's the only game you've played. If you've played a handful of games, maybe five or six, and you're any good, you can overcome a bad beat."
There's also little variation in the size of bets made by sharps.
"You pretty much bet the same amount on each game," said the player. "I don't have a 'best bet,' a 'game of the week' or anything like that. C'mon, if I really knew which of my bets were 'best' wouldn't I just make those bets? I think all my bets are going to win; that's why I make them."
What's more, the sharp player never measures success in the short run so he never has to "get out" on an unlikely parlay or chase after the final game of the day or the weekend.
Professional players also don't limit their options in the name of "specialization."
"You just can't concentrate on one division or one conference if you want to be successful," explained a sharp. "No matter what the sport, NFL, NBA, college hoops, baseball, teams play a great number of games outside their division, league or conference. If you eliminate those games from consideration, you may be passing up a good bet. The more sports, the more games you can play the greater choice and the better chance you have to find spots where the numbers work to your advantage. It's a lot easier to find a faulty line when you're looking at 50 games instead of six."
Professional gamblers also don't put much stock in betting trends. Technical analysis may be popular but it's also not very meaningful to most sharps. So factors such as favorite/underdog and home/away pointspread analysis that are cited by gridiron handicappers, are quickly dismissed as irrelevant by most sophisticated bettors.
"It's just another method of backfitting," explained the wiseguy.
"The truth is, it's not the great handicappers who beat the game, it's the great bettors," said the sports betting professional. "The key is to make good bets."
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com
