You may already know 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! Generally, ask them how they did the rest of the year.

The truth 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 which will start you and keep you on the proper track.

Successful handicappers are experts in 1 or 2 sports. Foremost, don’t bet soccer or the horses if you don’t follow soccer or even the horses. You must know the guidelines, strategies, players, coaches, trainers, venues as well as more of any sport on which you are going to wager. That implies reading previews, virtualidad.compuestudio.edu.co noted keeping abreast of daily developments and engaging in detailed analysis. You should continually 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 make money on a weekly basis, in which case you have to treat sports betting like it is a business. Why? Because it is a business. Sports betting just isn’t about hunches, it’s about weighing evidence, which includes stats, injuries, depth analysis plus much more. Keep files on teams, your wagers, your successes and failures and analyze your performance. If you are constantly losing, you need 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 rather essential that you track almost every wager, including just how much you bet, how much you won or lost and your resulting balance. Be careful in deciding how much you are going bet. If you have a $500 bankroll and you’re 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 do not go overboard and don’t start making desperation wagers as a way 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, then you should avoid them. Concentrate on making single wagers on specific games in one sport. Moneyline, point spread and over/under wagers are all sensible and winnable. You won’t make a killing on anyone of these wagers, but when gambling on sports, they’re your very 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 when you are desperate, drunk, high on drugs, depressed, tired, angry, stressed or under-informed. Never do that. Never.

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