Football is a game that has been loved by people around the world for years. Whether you’re in the UK or US, people either love their NFL (National Football League) or CFL (Canadian Football League) games or want to be part of the world’s favorite pastime. There are thousands of online books and blogs about football, which means there’s a wealth of information out there for you to learn from. Here are some key basics to get you started on your journey to becoming a smarter football bettor.
Understand The Basics Of Odds & Lines
If you’ve ever watched a single episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, then you probably know what oddsmaking is. Otherwise, you might be a little confused by the concept. But fear not, oddsmaking is quite simple and fun to understand once you grasp the basics. Simply put, oddsmaking is the practice of taking the mathematical skill of analyzing probabilities and applying it to sporting events so that you can make more informed betting decisions.
The odds and the lines are the two main elements of any sports betting operation. If you want to make a smart wager, then you need to be familiar with both of these concepts. The odds tell you how probable something is to happen. For example, if you’re betting on the New York Jets to score 23 points against the Miami Dolphins, then the odds would be 2-to-1 on the Jets’ side. What this means is that, if you had $100 to place on the game, you would need to wager $200 to win $100 (plus your $100 would be returned, as the bet is considered a winning one).
The lines are the prices at which you can buy or sell individual outcomes of a game. For example, if the current line between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins is 3.5 points, then you would need to wager $500 to win $100, as the odds are 7-to-1 in your favor. Of course, you could also choose to lay the bet, in which case you would need to wager $100 to win $500 (plus your $100 would be returned, as the bet is considered a winning one).
Learn How To Calculate The Point Spread
A point spread is the difference in points between two teams, for example the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. This is also known as the over/under, one-point-spread or half-point-spread. You might also hear people refer to this as the total point difference. The point spread is usually calculated by taking the total points scored by one team (let’s say the New York Jets, who scored 23 points in the game against the Miami Dolphins) and subtracting the total points scored by the other team (in this case, the Miami Dolphins, who only scored 10 points in their game against the New York Jets). 23 points – 10 points = 13 points, which is the point spread for that particular game. You can learn more about point spreads and how to calculate them from this Wikipedia article. Remember: the point spread is the difference in points, not the total points scored by both teams.
Track Team Streaks & Statistical Leaders
The advantage of betting on sport is the ability to track stats and perform some simple math to figure out the probable outcomes of a game. You can do this using a tool called Power Scorers, which uses an algorithm developed by mathematician Vipul Chatterjee. Chatterjee’s Power Scorers is a free app, which you can download from iTunes.
You can track stats such as points, assists, rebounds, and steals for both individual players and teams, with the data presented in a clean and easy-to-understand format. What we love about this tool is that you can easily compare stats between players and teams. For example, you can look at the points per game average for Chris Paul and John Wall compared to LeBron James.
Understand How To Calculate The Over/Under For A Given Score
Odds are often used to refer to the probability of an event happening. But what if we told you there were events that were much more likely to happen than others? Mathematically, this is known as the over/under (or under/over, as the case may be) for a given score. To demonstrate, let’s say you’re at a football game and the score is 10-10. What would the over/under be for the remainder of the game?
The over/under for a given score is simply the difference in points, based on the scoring rules of your particular sport. For instance, in American football, the over/under is 2 points, as opposed to 6 points in a soccer match.
The point is, knowing the over/under for a given score is an important part of being a smarter bettor. This is easier to do with pre-scheduled games, as you can simply look up the scores of the earlier contests and carry forward the difference. For example, if you know that the over/under for a given score in the NFL is 2 points, and the previous three games had ended in a 7-7-7-close score, then you know that the remainder of the game will end in a 10-10 tie.
Use Common Sense When Betting
Believe it or not, making smart football bets isn’t as difficult as it sounds. The key is to keep things simple and use your common sense. If you’re reading a newspaper article about the New York Jets, and the article mentions that the team usually struggles in games against the Miami Dolphins, then you’re probably going to want to avoid betting on that game.
This kind of information can be easily found using tools like google, and it’s often presented in a seemingly objective and unbiased manner. This type of article isn’t something you necessarily want to read before placing a bet, but it can help you make more informed decisions when deciding which games to bet on.
Betting on sport is a popular pastime and the world’s favorite game is undoubtedly football. It’s easy to understand the allure and charm of the game, with its catchy catchphrases, dramatic last-minute victories, and exciting (sometimes chaotic) clashes between the world’s best players. Making smart wagers when betting on sports is however, quite different to gambling in a traditional way, as you have to consider the odds and lines as well as take into account the individual stats of the players. But with a little bit of research and preparation, you may just find that betting on sport can be both exciting and rewarding.