Betting Advice
Guide From Cappers Picks
Wagering Tips & Resources
What Types of Bets Can
Be Made?
Making a bet at a sports
book is a lot like ordering food at a restaurant.
As a patron, you're given a list of what's available
and how much it costs. In Las Vegas, your "menu" is
often displayed in lights on a façade
somewhere toward the back of a casino. Sports
betting on the Internet is a bit more intimate,
but the processes are similar. Examine, for example,
the way a straight bet - one in which you bet
on one of two opponents in an athletic competition
- is listed. Each event is listed with either
a money line or a spread, and the task at hand
is to simply select which item of the menu (team
A or team B) you would like to select. You do
this by either clicking the team name, a check
box, or an icon indicating your choice, and the
site generates a form explaining how much you're
wagering and how much you can win. All of your
bets are kept in password-protected online databases
with which you can closely monitor how much money
is in your account, how much money is currently
in action, which teams or players you've selected,
and how your bets have resulted in the past.
Following is
a rundown of bets that can be made at online
sports books:
MONEY LINE
A money line is a straight wager in which the
better gives odds when betting the favorite and
takes odds when betting the underdog. If the
money line for the Detroit Redwings versus the
Chicago Blackhawks game is 9 to 5, with Detroit
favored, you place $9 to win $5 on Detroit or
$5 to win $9 on Chicago. Of course, keep in mind
that the sports book takes a cut of winning bets
for itself.
READING MONEY
LINES
Reading money lines seems confusing at first,
but it's fairly easy after you get the hang of
it. In North America, money lines are listed
using positive and negative numbers. Let's say
the money line for the Yankees versus the Red
Sox game is: NY Yankees (-145) versus Boston
Red Sox (+125). If you pick the Yankees, a winning
$145 bet earns $100. If you pick the Red Sox,
a winning $100 bet earns $125. Sports books in
other regions, such as Europe and Australia,
use a fraction system. The same bet would be
listed in a book that caters to Europeans and
Australians as New York Yankees (20/29) versus
Boston Red Sox (5/4).
Back to menu AGAINST THE SPREAD
When you're betting against the spread, the underdog
is given extra points. For example, "Pittsburgh
(-5 1z¹2 ) versus Seattle" means that
Pittsburgh is a five-point favorite, and bets
on Pittsburgh only pay if Pittsburgh wins by
six or more points. On the flip side, if you
select Seattle, and Seattle loses by five or
fewer points, you still win the bet. Against-the-spread
bets are common wagers for football and basketball
games because both are high scoring sports.
The Over/Under
Bet the over/under when you've got good reason
to believe that the final score will be higher
or lower than what the odds makers predict. The
only thing that matters in the outcome is the
total number of points scored. Let's say the
over/under for the New England versus Denver
game is 45, and you pick the under. As long as
44 or fewer total points are scored, whether
its 44-0 Denver or 23-21 New England, you win
the bet.
The Parlay
Here's where the odds get tougher and the payouts
get bigger. A parlay is a combination of bets
in which you win only if every one of your selections
is a winner. The parlay is the perfect play for
the all-or-nothing type of sports bettor.
The Proposition
Bet
A proposition is a wager on a particular aspect
of an event such as how many strike-outs a pitcher
will get or how many completions a quarterback
will make.
Futures
This is a bet, taken well in advance, in which
a sports book gives odds on a certain team or
player accomplishing a particular feat, such
as winning a championship. You can pick a football
team in August, for example, to win the Super
Bowl in January.
Teasers
A teaser is a type of parlay in which you increase
your chances of winning by moving the point spread
in your favor. For example if you want the Jets
(-3), the Falcons (+2), and the Bears (+5) with
4 teaser points, your point spreads are adjusted
to Jets (+1), Falcons (+6), and Bears (=5). The
tradeoff is that the bets pay off at significantly
lower odds.
The Place Only
Bet
Place only bets, more popular with horse racing,
are bets in which you select a team or player
to finish among the nominated placings of an
event. Typically, winning place bets must finish
first, second, or third.
The Each Way
Bet
An each way bet is when you bet on a team or
player to win or place in an event. Such a bet
requires that you put money up for each outcome.
Obviously, the payout is much greater if the
team or player you select comes in first.
DON'T BE A FAN!
Don't fall into the trap of being sentimental
when betting on sports. Always distinguish between
being a fan and being a bettor. Betting the team
that you want to win rather than logically analyzing
match-ups and trends usually leads to large amounts
of money exiting your wallet.
Spread Betting
Spread betting, also known as index betting,
is an exciting form of wagering that can be applied
to any event as long as it has a final result.
The hotbed for spread betting is the United Kingdom,
so the most popular sports for spread betting
are soccer, rugby, and cricket. It's a thrilling
way to bet because the odds change throughout
the event and you can bet even after the event
has begun. You win or lose an amount calculated
by the difference between the sports book's prediction
and the final result, multiplied by you stake.
A $5 bet could win you $5 if your prediction
is right or $50 if you prediction is extremely
right. By the same token, you can lose $5 for
being wrong and $50 for being extremely wrong.
Following
are the three basic types of index bets:
* Total Numbers -
The combined score of a sporting event. Most
index bets revolve around totals.
* Match Bets - You try to predict
the superiority of one team, horse, or individual
over another.
* Performance Bets - An artificial
point scale is used to measure the outcome of
a sporting event.
Here's an example of how spread betting works:
Let's say you want to make a bet on the total
number of points scored for the Lions/Packers
game, and the sports book thinks the total will
be between 42 and 45. The spread is thus 42-45.
If you believe the final score will be less than
42, you choose to sell. This is also known as
a down sake of keeping things easy, let's say
that the stake is $10. If the final score is
below 42, you win. To find out how much you make,
subtract the actual total points from 42 and
multiply the difference by the stake (which,
in your case, is $10). So, if the total points
scored is 30, you win $120. (42-30 = 12 x $10
= $120). The payout for this particular outcome
is 12 to 1. If you lose, however, the same formula
applies toward your total loss. So, if the total
points scored is 57, you lose $120 (45-57=-12x$10=-$120).
In such a case, you would have won money if you
chose to buy instead of sell. Buying is when
you bet that the score will be higher than the
spread. It's also known as an up bet.
SFA REGULATION
(All legal British spread-betting firms are regulated
by the Securities and Futures Authority (SFA).
The SFA was set up in 1986 to regulate U.K. financial
markets, including spread-betting companies.
It's basically the British version of the American
Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the
Securities and Exchange Commission rolled into
one. Do not, under any circumstances, open an
account with a British spread-betting site that
isn't licensed by the SFA.
It gets even better (or worse depending on how
you look at it). Bets can be made throughout
the event, and the spread changes accordingly.
Let's say you knew it would be a low scoring
game, so you sold at 42.45, and the total points
at halftime is only 10. The price changes from
42-45 to 27-30. You can either let your bet ride
by doing nothing or close the bet at the new
price. You close a bet by wagering the same amount
in the opposite direction of your original bet.
You originally sold for $10, so now you buy for
$10. No matter how the game turns out, you've
just won $150! Let's say the final total turns
out to be 20. That means you win $220 (42-20=22x$10-$220)
on the first bet and you lose $70 (20-27=-7x$10=-$70)
on the second bet. Now let's say the final total
turns out to be 50. That means you lose $50 (45-50=-5x$10=-$50)
on the first bet and win $200 (50-30=20x$10=$200)
on the second bet. Likewise, if you originally
bought at 42-45, you could cut your losses to
$150 by closing the bet at 27-30.
To Keep things from getting completely out of
hand, spread-betting sites enable you to control
your risk by using stop losses. A stop loss is
a limit placed at the time of opening a bet on
how many times the stake can be multiplied. Of
course, an equivalent stop win is applied, as
well. The stop loss comes in handy in games where
one team runs up the score. For example, if you
sell for $20 at 24-27 and the final total ends
up being 67, without a stop loss, you'd owe the
bookmaker $800.
Is Spread Betting
for You?
At a glimpse, spread betting appears to be one
heck of a lot of fun - and it is - but be mindful
of the rish before trying it. Despite all the
excitement it generates, spread betting has earned
a reputation for being a very dangerous activity
because it's been known to ruin people financially.
For this reason, SFA-regulated sites are required
to post risk warning statements. The common mistake
made by spread bettors is not realizing how much
they're wagering. Consider the previous example
in which you sell for $20 at 24-27. Let's say
the stop loss/win is set at $200. The temptation
of winning as much as $200 when laying out only
$20 is exciting, but the truth is you're not
making a $20 bet.
You're really making a $200 bet because that's
how much you can lose. The dynamics of spread
betting are inviting, but it's also the dynamics
that make it so dangerous. If you want to bet
$20, that's find, but you have to either set
the stop loss at $20 or close the bet as soon
as the spread moves far enough to put you down
by $20. Spread betting is only for bettors who
are excellent with money management. If you don't
pay attention to your limits at all times, you
could get yourself into a lot of trouble. On
the other hand, if you're a disciplined bettor
and you understand your personal limits, spread
betting can be very enjoyable and very lucrative.
How to Be a Savvy
Sports Bettor on the Web
One of the reasons sports are so exciting is
that they're unpredictable. If you're a big sports
fan, you've certainly heard the phrase "That's
why they play the games." Tons of physical
and mental factors come into play. And of course,
there's also the ever-evasive element of pure
luck. You never know which way the ball's going
to bounce.
Depending on
the Wise Guys
Before you put on your thinking cap in an attempt
to conquer the many ins and outs of sports handicapping,
you might want to consider that loads of people
out there who are already wearing their thinking
caps want to share their vast knowledge with
you. Naturally, this usually costs you money.
These are individuals who analyze (or claim to
analyze) sporting events and have a knack (or
claim to have a knack) for beating the odds makers.
The way it works is very simple. You send the
handicappers money, either by check, money order,
bank wire, or online credit card processing,
and they deliver their winning selections to
you. They give you access to the picks by either
emailing them to you or allowing you access to
password-protected pages on their Web sites.
There are more sports handicappers offering their
services on the World Wide Web than there are
drops of water in the ocean. (Okay, so that's
a bit of an exaggeration, but there are a heck
of a lot.) Incidentally, most stake claims that
they're "the best handicapping service on
the Web" and most also stake claims that
they're "the only honest handicapping service
on the Web."
So, who do you trust? Who's really the best?
How do you go about sifting through all the hype?
These are tough questions. Anyone can claim to
be a sports guru who prognosticates at a success
rate of 80 percent. But you must ask yourself, "Why
would a handicapping genius waste his time selling
advice on the Internet when he could be out somewhere
enjoying the millions of dollars he's made by
wagering at sports books?" With that in
mind, it's extremely difficult to determine which
services are legitimately dependable. One way
is to start your guru search with online monitoring
services. These are Web sites that monitor the
picks of online handicappers to assure that their
claims are legitimate. Of course, one trip to
any sports handicapping forum or newsgroup reveals
that many theorize that handicappers are in cahoots
with the monitoring services and that the whole
monitoring thing is a sham. But gambling is all
about taking risks, right?
You can find
sports handicapping monitoring services on
the Web:
www.cappersonline.com
www.MyHandicappers.com
www.HandicappingHub.com
The following
are a few things to keep in mind while searching
for a sports handicapping service:
* Beware outrageous claims. A good handicapper
will be in the neighborhood of 60 percent. Anyone
who says he picks 'em with a 75 percent rate
is either lying or has only been handicapping
for a few weeks and managed to start hot.
* Numbers can be manipulated. Handicappers often
find creative ways of making their numbers seem
impressive. Don't go gaga when a handicapper
says,
"I'm undefeated this year in games in which
the road favorite is coming off a bye week that
followed a night game on grass."
* Money-back guarantees are worthless. Sometimes
handicappers will promise to refund your money
if they give you losing picks, so you can say, "Gee,
I just blew $5000 laying money on teams that
Lucky Larry called 'locks,' but at least I get
back the $35 I spent to purchase his advice." That's
hardly consolation.
* Claims of having "insider information"
are usually hype. Handicappers who say they have
access to privileged information are usually
either lying or using a very loose definition
of the term
"privileged."
Overall, you have to keep in mind that all handicappers
go through hot streaks and cold streaks. When
they're hot, you hear all about it. When they're
not, they seem to maintain a low profile. Go
figure. A great place to follow handicappers
who are hot is Predict It Sports at www.predictit.com.
Predict It is a dynamic site in which several
handicappers regularly enter their picks into
a database. Customers come to the site and view
lists of which handicappers in the database are
hot, based on their recent success rate. You
can view all of the handicappers' past and pending
picks and then purchase future picks if you like
what you see. Or you can sign up as a handicapper
and submit your picks into the database. You
then receive a penny for each time a customer
pays to see your picks.
Being your Own
Wise Guy
If purchasing the advice of sports betting consultants
isn't for you, you could always be your own wise
guy. It's doable, but you have to do your homework
to be successful. Research is the name of the
game, and once again, the Internet is your friend.
It's always nice to have luck on your side, but
picking winners with consistency ultimately depends
on your ability to stay on top of the many factors
contributing to the outcome of a game. The following
bases need to be covered: How does a team or
player perform on a particular surface? How will
the weather affect the event? How have the teams
or players matched up against each other in the
past? How does a team or player perform at home
or on the road? How does a team or player perform
after a long layoff? How does a team or player
fare as a favorite or an underdog? Are any key
players injured? Does the event have post-season
implications? How well did a team or player practice
prior to the event? How well does a team or player
perform at night? How has a team or player performed
in recent games? Will intangibles such as heated
rivalries, personal crises, and vendettas come
into play?
Much of this information is available on the
World Wide Web. Some Web sites compile trends
and contributing factors and publish them for
your viewing pleasure. It also does you good
to follow stuff in the news like injury and weather
reports. If you've got the time and patience,
you can help yourself make smart bets by keeping
up with news and statistics on the Web.
Just check out this great
collection of resources we've compiled for you
here at Capperspicks.com. Advice on handicapping
and betting games? We've got you covered! Bookmark
this page and check back often as we are constantly
writing new articles that offer betting tips
and sports handicapping
advice to increase your
chances for winning on all those bets you've
placed. We're here for you to help. Email us
if you need anything else that we don't provide.
We'll try to help but don't ask us for money
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