You may have often heard someone bragging that they picked 9 out of ten NFL games last week or managed to take a three-way parlay to the bank or engineered wins in both the daily double and trifecta at the track. Wow, what a good day that gambler had! Quite simply, ask them how they did the rest of the year.

The fact is the fact that anybody can hit on a bet every once in a while, but in sports betting, where the top pros are right 60 to 65% of the time, it takes more than one day of luck to turn a true profit. Sports betting might not be a science, but it is a discipline and it does involve research, analysis and skill. If you want to be a successful sports bettor, here are five tips that will start you and keep you on the correct track.

Successful handicappers are experts in one or two sports. To begin with, do not bet soccer or great football online the horses in the event that you don’t follow soccer or even the horses. You need to know the guidelines, strategies, players, coaches, trainers, venues and much more of any sport on which you are going to wager. That implies reading previews, keeping abreast of daily developments and engaging in detailed analysis. You should often be open to learning something new and taking your understanding to another level. Be an expert and then a guru.

If you really want to earn money on a weekly basis, then you have to treat sports betting like it’s really a business. Why? Since it is a business. Sports betting is just not about hunches, it’s about weighing evidence, which includes stats, injuries, depth analysis and much more. Keep files on teams, your wagers, your successes and failures and analyze your effort. When you are constantly losing, it is important to figure out why. Should you not, you run the risk of going broke, going nuts or going to jail. Sports betting is a business and should be treated as such.

It is very critical that you track every single wager, including how much you bet, how much you won or lost as well as your resulting balance. Be mindful in deciding just how much you are going bet. Should you have a $500 bankroll and you are making $50 wagers, that grubstake will be eaten up quickly. Make small wagers and if you win, then loosen up the bankroll a bit. But don’t go overboard and do not start making desperation wagers to be able to make up for losses.

By crazy bets, I mean the following-exotics including parlays, futures, mixed parlays and various props. In the event the odds are long, in which case you should try to avoid them. Concentrate on making single wagers on specific games in one sport. Moneyline, point spread and over/under wagers are sensible and winnable. You won’t make a killing on any one of these wagers, but when gambling on sports, they are your best bet. If you make some solid cash then designate 5 to 10% of your winnings (not your bankroll) for long shot wagers.

Say this as if it were a prayer, it could save your gambling life. Never bet whenever you are desperate, drunk, high on drugs, depressed, tired, angry, stressed or under-informed. Never do that. Never.

If as a sports bettor you are looking to possess a few laughs and drop some money on a game or two, then do so. Have a ball. You might win a couple of bucks and then lose several or lose even more. But don’t anticipate to earn consistent cash from your efforts. To be able to do that, you should become a true student of the game and an astute businessman, managing your money, making sensible decisions and keeping your emotions in check.