Football season is in full-swing… or, since that is a baseball reference, maybe we should say mid-stride.

You have probably seen betting options on your favourite fantasy sites like Fan Duel and DraftKings. And even heard commentators talking about the betting lines and who’s favoured.

Sports Betting markets are rapidly expanding in the United States, and it’s no longer taboo and has been legalized in many areas. But how do you get started?

Here are ten tips to get kick you off into NFL Betting:

1. Establish Your Bank Roll

The first thing you need to do is figure out how much money you have to invest in your sports betting venture. Just throwing down a hundred bucks on a random game is all fine and dandy, but there’s quite literally a 50% chance you’ll lose. Then that losing experience could leave you feeling sour. Instead, treat it like a micro business and put some money aside. $1000.00 is a good starting point.

2. Only Bet 1-3% of Your Total Roll

Remember how I just said throwing $100 at a game is fine and dandy? Well, now that you have established a bankroll, don’t do that, at least not unless your Bankroll is at least $4,000. Stick to between 1-3 percent of your total bankroll. Make up your mind on what percent that is—personally, I use 2%—and make that your betting unit size. So, if you start will $500.00, choose to bet with and choose 2%, like me, you’ll be placing around $10 on any particular bet.
Keeping your bets withing these parameters allows you to take multiple losses without going out of business.

3. Understand the Different Bet Types (Markets)

Take the time to fully understand the difference between moneyline, point spreads, totals, props, and futures markets. A quick summary is as such:

Moneyline plays are betting simply on who you think will win.
With point spreads, it’s betting against the spread, or handicap one team is given (Team X must win by N-Amount).
The Total is betting on how many points you think the two teams will combine for. Will they go OVER or UNDER the listed total.
Props bets are specific lines based around teams or players. An example would be will Christian McCaffrey go OVER or UNDER 90 yards or which team will score first.
Futures plays are betting ahead of time on who you believe will win the division, conference, or Super Bowl. Hence the term ‘futures.’

4. Create a Plan and Stick to It

If you have your starting bankroll and unit size, you should also figure out how many bets you’ll make per day, week, or month. I like to do a per-week basis. So, if you decide you are going to bet two games per week … only bet two games per week. Don’t bet three or four just because of a hunch or because you are on a winning streak. Betting extra games or upping your units because you are getting cocky from winning is a sure-fire way to blow your progress apart.

5. Use Multiple Sportsbooks to Find the Most Profitable Odds

You should have at least three betting outlets to choose from for lines shopping. If you like the New Orleans Saints to win by a field goal, but you only have one book and their line is NOLA -3.5 (-110), but there are other books out there, with NOLA -3 (110) or better yet, NOLA -3 (-105) your line is not only in your favour, it’s more profitable. However, you should only trust reputable, top sportsbooks.

6. Use an Up-to-Date NFL Power Rating System

If you don’t have your own power rating system, you can use ESPN’s or Watersports’, Etc.

7. Track Your Wins and Losses

Track everything you do. Spreadsheets are your new friend. Create fields for the type of bet it was, the amount won or lost, and the reason you placed the bet in the first place. These three things are the minimum of the betting history you should be keeping track of. Every couple of weeks, you can look at your wins and losses and start narrowing down why you lost and why you won.

8. Make Adjustments

Use all that data you’ve been adding to those spreadsheets to make adjustments. If you seem to be losing more when betting totals, stop. If you’re winning more with teams in a particular division, maybe start handicapping those games first.

Can Sports Betting Be Used as an intro to Investing

Here’s why it may be depending on how you look at it
1) Keep a Record of Your Bets (Portfolio Tracking)
2) Track your ROI (Win%/# of bets)
3) Convert Winnings to TFSA
4) Keep up with news+trends (Technical Analysis)
5) It’s Fun

— ACOLE ??⚡️? (@ACOLE__) October 1, 2020

9. Don’t Chase Losses

If you lose a couple of picks, don’t stress. It’s part of the process. Remember, the best in the world only won around 57% of the time, so you will take a significant amount of defeats. The trick is to stick to your plan and don’t chase losses by betting twice as big on your next play. Doing so can easily result in losing twice as much at that time. Just look at your data, make the needed adjustments, and focus harder on finding an edge against the betting line to stay at 53% or above over the long term.

10. Have fun!

If you’re not having fun, it turns into a grind. Then, what’s the point! Now go out there and make some money!