Sports Wagering Advice

by Docsports.com - 7/29/2020

Everyone wants to make a living via sports gambling. We all remember our first bets that won. We thought to ourselves, “this is so easy, I can easily make a living doing this!”

Then a couple weeks went on and we either lost money or broke even. We realized sports betting is tougher than it seems. There are many great handicappers in the world, including our very own selection of handicappers at Doc’s Sports. These handicappers have a proven track record of success, but it doesn’t come easy.

Here’s some sports wagering advice if you’re just starting out.

Best Sports To Bet On

We compiled a list of the most profitable sports to bet on. Football saw an extremely high return on investment score, while baseball struggled to bring back much of a return on investment.

Best Sports to Bet on the Moneyline

Here are the most profitable sports when betting on the moneyline:

College Football (159.23% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NFL (78.7% OPT. ROI SCORE)
College Basketball (29.22% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NBA (13.92% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NHL (10.07% OPT. ROI SCORE)
MLB (7.34% OPT. ROI SCORE)

Best Sports to Bet Against the Spread

Here are the most profitable sports when betting against the spread:

College Football (97.83% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NFL (90.2% OPT. ROI SCORE)
College Basketball (36.91% OPT.ROI SCORE)
NHL (12.39% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NBA (10.33% OPT. ROI SCORE)
MLB (8.81% OPT. ROI SCORE)

Best Sports for Totals Betting (Over/Under)

Here are the most profitable sports when betting totals (over/under):

College Football (92.97% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NFL (46.2% OPT. ROI SCORE)
College Basketball (33.96% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NHL (13.97% OPT. ROI SCORE)
NBA (10.82% OPT. ROI SCORE)
MLB (10.09% OPT. ROI SCORE)

If you’re looking to be strictly profitable, betting college football is easily the best sport to bet (Doc’s Sports offers free college football picks for almost every game). The NFL also brings back a solid return on investment considering all three of the major betting lines (click the link for free NFL picks for every game).

Best Bet Advice
Everyone has different betting advice. People have become successful using many different methods. However, other people have been very unsuccessful using different methods. You need to figure out what works best for you. Some bettors have become profitable off of betting every game on a certain slate, while others will bet five percent of their bankroll on one match-up they truly believe in.

You will see many handicappers have different formulas. Some use a scale of one unit- five units. Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System uses a system of 1 to 8 units.

The one-unit play is a play a capper is least confident in while the higher the unit value, the more a capper really believes in the pick. Because the capper believes in that play more, they’re willing to put more money on the bet.

When sports betting, it should be noted that no play is a sure thing or “lock”. We’ve seen incredible upsets over the years. Don’t bet large sums of money if you can’t afford to lose that money.

Make sure to keep track of your bankroll and build a spreadsheet of all of your wagers so you can track your bets, deposits, and winnings.

Quality Over Quantity

Everyone knows the saying that quality beats quantity. To limit mistakes and make better decisions, it’s important to think about how many wagers you would like to place on a given day. Some successful handicappers play one or two games a day and put lots of money on those games. Others like to spread out the board and play 3-5 games for a day.

By now, you should know that picking less games gives you more of a chance to win. You’re basically betting your five-unit play every day instead of taking chances with a one-unit play that you don’t feel very confident in.

If you pick and choose your spots, you’re no guaranteed profit, but there’s a much stronger chance that you’ll be in the black in the long run.

Remember that sports betting is a marathon and not a sprint. People who continue to bet 10 or more bets a day will struggle to find great success. We’ve seen hot runs before. However, in the long run, it can get tricky. However, if bettors add a couple more bets to their card daily, the chances might increase.

Professional sports bettors rarely sustain a long-term winning percentage higher than 55 percent, and it's often as low as 53 or 54 percent. 52.38 percent is the break-even point for sports betting (at standard -110 vig), so successful bettors must earn a better percentage than that to show profit over the long term.

If professionals struggle to keep a win percentage of higher than 55, it’s going to be hard for the average person to sustain a winning percentage over the course of a year.

A profit is more assured from a group of 200 bets with a 55% expectation-per-bet than from a group of 50 bets with a 60% expectation-per-bet. In other words, the more bets placed, the more predictable the outcome.

The group of 3-5 bets per day looks like the ultimate way to become profitable in sports betting.

Again, there is a right way and wrong way to bet. It’s a rough sweat daily. However, if you put in the right research, you should feel confident and comfortable with your selections.

Do Your Research

At Doc’s Sports, we provide many free articles with daily analysis and previews for all of the important games in American sports. It’s always good to read through articles and research as much as you can for each game before placing a wager. Hearing the other handicappers’ thoughts could help you become more confident in your selection. When many are in agreement on a certain play, that’s always helpful to know.

If you don’t have a game you’re interested in betting, you can read all of the helpful articles at Doc’s Sports. A handicapper’s lean or play can also help you decide on a bet to make for that day.

To keep it transparent, don’t be afraid to keep track of a handicapper’s play or record when you tail them. (Tailing means that you’re going to take the handicapper’s pick as well). That’s what Doc’s Sports writers do. They provide picks to help you either consider a bet or help you stay confident with your selection.

Sportsbooks & The Lines

Every sportsbook makes the lines to predict the outcome of a game. Sportsbooks always “seem” to get a game right. However, at the end of the day, one side always has to win (unless we’re talking soccer, which has a tie option, or a push in point spread betting sports.)

If you want to continue to profit, betting a -400 favorite is likely not the way to go. For example, if you bet $100 on a team that is -400, you’d only profit $25 of a win. If that team ended up losing, you’d lose $100.

I recommend staying away from anything above -250 when betting favorites. It’s hard to make a profit once you end up losing a big favorite play. Those upsets happen more times than you’d believe and can really ruin one’s profits.

Make sure to pick your spots and try to stay away from massive favorite unless you’re looking to do a parlay, which is two or more selections in one bet.

Doc’s Sports is offering $60 worth of member’s picks absolutely free – no obligation, no sales people – you don’t even have to enter credit card information. You can use this $60 credit any way you please for any handicapper and any sport on Doc’s Sports list of expert sports handicappers. Get $60 worth of premium members’ picks free.

Start:	December 12, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Expert:	Scott Spreitzer
Free $60 Account Sign Up

Sports Wagering Advice

Most Recent Sports Betting 101