Most people who want to place bets on sports are fans to begin with. Being a fan of a particular sport, a team, a college or professional squad—these are all precursors to placing sports bet. Sports betting is also a way for a fan to get in on the action of the game, with something more than self-respect at stake.

All gambling is mathematics, even games of chance. If you understand the math behind the game, you understand the game and can give yourself an advantage.

For many games, like penny slots or poorly placed roulette bets, are so bad that smart bettors earn their advantage by avoiding them altogether. In sports betting, the math is more complicated. Depending on your favorite sport, you may need to think about things like bye weeks, underdogs, quarterback ratings, and injuries with the same fervor other connoisseurs reserve for fancy winces.

So how difficult is sports betting math? The math behind placing a winning bet is fairly complicated, but the way to stay ahead of the bookmaker is rather straightforward. If you collect on The easiest way to demonstrate the math behind a sports bet is to make up an example.

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It looks like this:. Some of this is easy enough to read. So how is a guy supposed to know how to literally lay down a sports bet? You need to know three things:. Knowing all that beforehand gives the ticket writer the details he needs to write the ticket without having to bend over backwards to process your bet. You should consider leaving a tip around five percent of your winnings.

So, back to the basic math of sports betting. That means the Cowboys have to lose by three or less for your bet to win, or if the Cowboys win outright.

These are deceptively simple bets. Deceptively because they make it look like the outcome of the football game is like the outcome of picking marbles out of a bag.

After all, the odds are the same: But we, as sports fans, know that the mathematics of a sporting event is much more complex. Sports bettors deeply involved in their hobby will subscribe to weather bulletins from major cities that take part in their sport, making huge wagering decisions based on a few mph of wind in one direction or another.

Does weather become a factor? Bookies make a profit because of vigorish. Look at the above example again. Looking at the total number of bets on different games over the course of a week and adjusting the moneyline and other numbers is another way the bookie makes a profit.

Adjusting the odds a tiny percentage point in either direction will affect the balance of beats and make the book more likely to turn a profit no matter what. Since they both have an equal chance of winning, a casual bet may be even money. What does this do for the bookmaker? He can float an equal amount of money on both fighters, winning no matter which fighter actually wins. Bookies look at the weight of their books all the time and adjust odds and other factors to make sure their books balance.

All of these factors are why bookies generally root for the underdog—too many favorites winning in a sport with a short season such as the NFL can cause a bookmaker to lose money, while a bunch of upsets like you generally see in college football is a guaranteed profit for the bookmaker.

The short answer here is that bookies making money has nothing at all to do with your betting. It is almost unheard of for a single customer to be allowed to place enough bets to sink a single book all on his own. Remember at the beginning when we talked about the magic number necessary to guarantee a break-even week in sports betting?

If a bettor can win Where does that number come from? When betting the spread, you get odds of Sometimes, sportsbooks will offer a line as a promotion or to welcome new business.

We draw that You then bet on the next 10 Cowboys games, winning six times and losing four times. So you see the small differences between a Not even winning half the time is good enough to break even in sports betting. Believe it or not, some people really do bet on sports for a living.

If you know that a You plan on betting on games during your investment period. How did we get to that number?

To calculate your units, subtract the total of your losses multiplied by 1. I dare you to ask your bank for that kind of return on your savings account. Do your research, look into the records of professional sports gamblers. Professional sports bettors have to worry about variance more than any other type of gambler. Working against the forces of variance means managing your bankroll over the course of the season to avoid the negative possibilities that could totally empty your wagering account.

Professional sports bettors have the time and resources necessary to calculate these variances, and there are even a few pieces of software out there that can help you figure out your ideal bet in the face of negative variance.

Pro bettors make their money on bets that sportsbooks offer that give them even the slightest betting advantage. The key to becoming a profitable sports bettor is being able to find advantages, opportunities where the line a book is offering is vulnerable. This is why many long-term sports bettors are math freaks. Good sports bettors understand statistics, particularly what are called inferential statistics, though any higher math will help when it comes time to place a bet. Here is what a professional baseball bettor might do in his head.

After looking over statistics from MLB kept religiously by all sorts of bloggers, data archives, and magazines between the years , he notices a particular statistic pop out. Good sports bettors can do this sort of math in their head or very quickly on paper.

From that bit of information comes a new betting theory—look for game situations that mirror the above example and bet on them. Does he just jump in and start betting based on this back of the napkin math? Pro sports bettors also keep near-obsessive records of their bets. Obviously, no edge in sports betting lasts longer than a single game. Taking proper records will also help you test theories, like the above one about left-handed pitchers and losses.

Most casual gamblers looking into sports betting see a pro advertising his record and shake their head a little.

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How could such an abysmal record be something to be proud of? A good record for a sports bettor is any record equal to or larger than Ask your friends that play the slots or play online poker how often they end up putting money back in their pocket. A good record for sports bettors is any record that ensures they at least break-even. If you bet 16 games this NFL season and you won 9 and lost 7, you probably made money. And taking money away from a casino is always something to be proud of.

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It looks like this: You need to know three things: Sports Betting Odds Remember at the beginning when we talked about the magic number necessary to guarantee a break-even week in sports betting? Professional Sports Bettors Believe it or not, some people really do bet on sports for a living. DraftKings MLB Picks — June 21st Pitching did us in last night. Dodgers Pick MLB — June 21st We notched a relatively easy winner last night with the Rockies and Diamondbacks total tucking well under the lofty eleven Brewers — MLB Pick June 21st The Pittsburgh Pirates head back to Miller Park for game three of an intense four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers Orioles MLB Pick — June 21st The Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles meet for the second time in two days, as they continue their series at Picks Betting Strategy Sports Betting Sites DFS Strategy Reviews.

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