Basketball Betting Advice
We've designed our basketball betting advice page to really be the foundation of your basketball handicapping. We consider this the most important criterion you should have in place before ever wagering on professional or college hoops. We'll certainly cover more detailed basketball betting advice throughout the NBA Betting Guide, but we feel this will give you a great starting point. It may be new to you if you're a beginning handicapper, so be sure to read, understand, and comprehend this section thoroughly. However, if you've been betting on basketball for a while now, this may just be a good refresher course. Even if you've been betting for years, it's always good to go back and review some of the basics to make sure you haven't veered off course. On another note, if you've read some of our other Betting Guides, this may look somewhat familiar. However, we've tweaked the information so that it can be applied to directly to basketball betting. If you're serious about betting the NBA (or college basketball), then it's imperative you have some ground rules in place that you always stick too. Below, I'll list the ground work of my basketball betting philosophy that I practice everyday. It may seem simple and straightforward, but it's extremely important to follow this basketball betting advice if you want to be successful at betting hoops. Veer off for even a day and you could be doomed...just ask any professional handicapper (trust me, I've learned the hard way). Also, check out our general sports betting tips which will go into more detail than what's listed here. With that said, let's take a look at our "must have" basketball betting advice topics: I know, I know, I'm certainly not reinventing the wheel here. However, I can guarantee you that 99% of all bettors don't follow these simple basketball betting advice rules...and that's exactly what they are, SIMPLE. It just takes a little time everyday and like I said, you'll be ahead of 99% of other gamblers. There's only so many things you have control over when it comes to sports betting, so when you have the opportunity to take that control, then you must take advantage of it. Picking winners isn't easy, so if you follow the basketball betting advice listed here, it's just one last thing you have to worry about...in other words, you can spend more time actually handicapping the games. Alright, I think I've been on my soapbox long enough. Let's take a look at our first topic: Money Management. If you've been a fan of this site for a while, then you already know how much I stress the importance of money management. It's very important you have a strict and sound money management system set up before ever placing your first bet. I use my own money management system, but there are certainly other good ones out there. The point is to find one that will allow you to weather the losing streaks (because they will happen) without depleting your bankroll. This is by far the hardest concept for individuals to stick too. Everybody wants to make as much money as fast as possible, but it's just not a reality...sorry to disappoint you. It's a long term process much like building a business or investing in the stock market. Slow and steady always wins the race when betting basketball (or any sport for that matter). If you're betting to much or chasing your losses, then you're going to exhaust your bankroll in no time. Determining how much to bet on a game is another one of those factors you control, so you have no buddy else to blame but yourself if you lose all your money. Making bad picks is one thing, but trust me, betting to much on games will get you to $0.00 even faster. Don't get me wrong, money management certainly isn't going to win you any more games, but I will guarantee it will preserve more of your capital when things aren't going well. I realize you're probably tired of hearing me preach about money management, but it's an absolute critical piece of basketball betting advice that will separate the squares from the sharps. Here's another piece of basketball betting advice that is so easy to do, but so many people fail to take the time to open multiple sportsbook accounts. I can almost guarantee that by having at least 5 funded sportsbook accounts, you will increase your overall win percentage by at least 1-2 percent. Now that may not sound like much, but if you're placing 3000 bets a year at $100 dollars a piece, we're talking thousands of dollars. I'm just amazed at how many people are throwing away money by not having multiple outs (sportsbook accounts). Now, if you're new and not sure why this is so important, it allows you to shop for the best lines. Not every sportsbook will have the same lines. So if you can save an extra half point to 2 points on a game, then you can turn losses into pushes and pushes into winners, saving and making yourself a lot of money overtime. According to King Yao, author of Weighing the Odds in Sports Betting As I said above, if you can get an extra half point on "300 games, the expectation is that 10 games will turn from a losing bet into a push or from a push into a winner." Shopping for the best line is so very critical, I can't stress it enough. It is an absolute must to have at least 5 sportsbook accounts because it will allow you to take advantage of the best line available. Check out our favorite sportsbooks here. If you're not following a professional sports handicapper then please put in a little research before ever betting on a game. We offer a ton of great information here at Sports Betting Insights that will help you with research (check out our sports betting research and game match-ups sections for some great information). But besides what we have here, we also recommend a ton of quality websites that offer some fantastic research and will without a doubt help you become a better handicapper. As I've said before, just do some research and you'll be ahead of 95% of basketball bettors out there. There's just to much free information and research available you can use in your favor. Just as being successful in business takes time and hard work, it's no different in becoming a winning bettor at handicapping basketball...it takes time, research, and discipline. For god's sake, this has got to be the easiest piece of basketball betting advice in the world. Just keep track of everything. Trust me, with the invention of computers, it's pretty darn easy. There is software out there you can purchase, but it's really just as simple as just entering every bet you make into an Excel spreadsheet. You must keep track of everything. How in the world are you going to know how you're doing if you don't keep a record of it? Break it down by sport and keep track of how much you bet, the odds, the spread/total, how much you won or lost, your bankroll, and then maybe a few notes about the game. It's very easy to do and it will allow you to go back so you can see exactly how you're doing. You might notice you've been particularly good with picking some teams but bad with picking others. This allows you to see how trends are forming, so you can make adjustments on your losers and continue to capitalize on your winners. Just as any successful business uses accounting to track income and expenses, a successful basketball handicapper must keep records of everything as well. I can guarantee you every professional handicapper does. The final bit of basketball betting advice is to never lose focus and always set goals. Never lose sight of what you're trying to achieve. It may be tough at times and losing streaks will test your patience, but you must stay focused and never veer from your core handicapping philosophy...the tide will always turn. Setting goals will help to keep you focused. Before the beginning of every season I set goals for myself...basically what I want to achieve. It may be to have a certain win percentage, to win a certain amount of units, to have a better year than last, or simply to have a winning year in general. It's easy, doesn't take much time, and will without a doubt keep you focused. If you don't set goals then how are you supposed to know if you accomplished anything. I've found that setting goals can give you great motivation to stay on track because you're always working to achieve something. All of this basketball betting advice definitely isn't ground breaking and it certainly isn't hard to do. That's why it just amazes me why so few people actually follow these simple rules. Granted, it will take you a little more time, but would it be worth a little more time if it means a higher rate of return? The trade off is a no brainer; more time equals more money...and isn't that the entire reason you're betting on basketball in the first place? Alright, enough of me harping on this basketball betting advice...I'm sure you get the point already. Now that we have some groundwork set, let's take a look at some great NBA betting Tips. As always, best of luck in all your sports betting endeavors.
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, "roughly 3.3% of basketball games land on each number that is close to the point spread. For example, with a line of +4.5, there is a 3.3% chance of the actual game difference landing on +4 and a 3.3% chance of the actual game difference landing on +5."
