The start of a new football season opens up a number of opportunities for anyone who loves to wager on the games. Whether it is at the collegiate level or with the pros, the amount of action generated by the sportsbooks this time of year comes at you at a feverous pace. Therefore, it is important to develop an overall betting strategy that enhances the growth of your bankroll.

The oddsmakers edge in setting betting odds and total lines for the games only gets sharper as the football season wears on, making individual player props one of the best ways to take advantage of the few bad lines that still get released. These type of bets can be extremely hard to handicap on your own if you do not know where or how to look for the edge, but fortunately The Prop Machine is there to do all the heavy lifting.

The Prop Machine takes the guesswork out of wagering on player props for any of the major sports by utilizing a proven betting system that has been producing winning results for the past six years.

The key to its long-term success is the ability to find players that are currently being 'overvalued' or 'undervalued' by the oddsmakers, who tend to base their prop bet lines on past performance and season averages. Oftentimes these betting odds do not reflect a player's potential for a particular game in terms of recent trends and current form. When these bad lines hit the betting board, The Prop Machine takes full advantage, and the proof is in the results.

The Prop Machine returned a profit of over $27,000 for $100 bettors using Doc's Unit Betting System last football season, and going back over the course of the past six years its winning percentage for football has never dropped lower than 60 percent. In four of those seasons the return was 66 percent or higher.

When it comes to individual player prop bets for the NBA, last season's return was over $11,000, and so far in this season's MLB selections The Prop Machine has produced a positive return of $1,420. When you add it all up, the return for the $100 bettor following the recommended unit plays would have made over $42,000 on The Prop Machine's selections in a year's time.

Last Week's Results

After a fast start to the college football season with a two-week return of $4,000 on a record of 27-14, The Prop Machine slid backwards last week to cut that return to just +$1,280 on the year.

It went 10-8 in its Week 1 selections for the NFL for a small profit of $320, but it did not fare well in last week's picks to fall $3,100 in the hole through the first two weeks of the new season. The overall record for all of The Prop Machine's selections for last week was 22-26 for a loss of -$4,540.

Roller-coaster results such as this are not uncommon with these types of bets, but this is a marathon not a sprint. As long as you weather the downturns from time to time, the profit will continue to build over the long haul. This could be a great time to get on board to take advantage of this weekend's selections as, more often than not, a down week is usually followed by a huge return with the next round of picks.

Recent Trends

Recent trends are often the key to predicting future results. Players that are hot tend to stay hot no matter the sports, and you need to put yourself in position to ride these hot streaks for as long as they last. Conversely, just because a player has performed as a high level for the majority of their career does not make them immune to rough patches that will often get overlooked by the oddsmakers. Fully understanding recent trends and current form is how The Prop Machine creates its edge in this game.

One good example for tonight's Tampa Bay at Atlanta game is Falcons wider receiver Julio Jones' current streak of at least 75 receiving yards in his last seven starts. This is the longest active streak in the NFL.

The Prop Machine Free Pick

Last Monday The Prop Machine went with a four-unit play on "over 25" (-125 Sportsbook.ag) on Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford's total completions in the game against the Giants. The Lions cruised to the win, but he only completed 22-of-32 attempts to fall just short of the total.

For anyone that has been following The Prop Machine's free picks this summer and wagering $100 on the recommended unit play, they would be sitting on a profit of $2,760 as a result of a 13-5-1 record on these free picks. So far this football season its record is 1-1 with a -$100 loss on the vig.

This Thursday night, The Prop Machine is going with four units on the "under 42.5" (-115 Sportsbook.ag) on Atlanta wide receiver Harry Douglas' total receiving yards in the game against the Buccaneers.

Be sure to check out The Prop Machine Insider's Page here on Doc's Sports website for a complete recap of their track record at picking props and making their clients profit.

For a free trial of The Prop Machine, simply email your Doc's username to service@docsports.com. If you do not have an existing account with Doc's Sports, you can set up a free one that comes with a $60 credit here. Also, be sure to follow The Prop Machine on Twitter @propmachine1 for updated free picks and breaking news.