Sports Betting Work

'Wait, why does this NFL team have a -235 next to its name? What's with New England Patriots (-15) vs. Miami Dolphins (+15)? Help! HEEEELPPPP!'

If that sounds like you, we're here to assist you. If you've stared at a board at a sportsbook or just seen spreads and moneylines on the Internet and been utterly confused, don't worry. It's not just you. Those numbers can be confounding.

Betting lines are used for sportsbooks to put a price on a certain wager. If you're looking at a team with -150 odds to win, they're a favorite. If it pays out, you will receive less than you put.

The majority of all sports betting strategies are based around trying to find value. In theory, you should NEVER place a wager unless you've identified a selection that offers genuine positive value. This is because wagers that don't offer any value will ultimately cost you money in the long run. What is the best sports betting strategy? The answer to this question is that there isn't a definitive best approach to betting. If there was a so-called 'best sports betting strategy' then any edge it granted would quickly disappear as that information leaked to the market. What works for some bettors may not work for others.

But hopefully, once you're done reading this, you'll completely understand how they work. As you prepare to dive into the world of sports betting, here's a breakdown of how the lines work, starting with …

Spreads

It would be really easy to bet on a game if you could put money on a heavy favorite to win.

That's where point spreads come in. Let's look at an example:

Philadelphia Eagles (-4.5)

How Online Sports Betting Works

New York Giants (+4.5)

In this case, you can bet on either two outcomes: you can put money on the Eagles to win the game by 4.5 points OR MORE, which makes them the favorites. Or you can bet that the Giants will either win or lose by LESS THAN 4.5 points. They're the underdogs.

Now, sometimes the spread 'moves' during the days leading up to the game. Perhaps the Eagles' spread ends up being -3.5 (in which they must win by 3.5 points or more to give you a victory in your bet). Your bet all depends on whichever spread you bet on, whether it was when the Eagles were favored by 4.5 or 3.5 points.

If you ever see 'PK' or 'pick' next to a team, it means there's no spread and you can bet on who will win, no matter what the score is.

Moneylines

Let's take that same example above but use moneylines:

Philadelphia Eagles (-200)

New York Giants (+150)

The team with a minus symbol is the favorite, and the number is how much money you would need to bet to win $100. In this case, you would have to bet $200 on the Eagles in order to win an additional $100.

The Giants are the underdogs. If they're +150, that means you could bet $100 to win $150.

Note that you can bet any amount you want, but those numbers are always calculated and posted the same way, either in how much money you would need to wager to win $100 or how much money you could win by wagering $100.

Odds

If you're betting on something like the team who will win the Super Bowl in the future, you might see it look like this:

New England Patriots — 3/1

Baltimore Ravens — 5/1

Kansas City Chiefs — 8/1

If you were betting on the Patriots and their 3/1 odds, you would win $3 for every $1 you spend. So if you bet $50 on the Pats and they ended up winning the Super Bowl, you'd win $150 (plus your original wager) back.

Good luck!

I remember when I first started searching for a proven betting system googling the term 'betting systems.'

There was all sorts of progressive staking systems, martingale systems, stop at a winner systems, progressive laying systems. The fact was though that none of these betting systems held up to any long term analysis and would normally blow your bank if you followed them for long enough.

But after researching a bit longer I found a few betting systems that did actually work.

Here are four betting systems that I have used over the years.

Which continue to be profitable in the year 2021.

Proven Betting System 1 – Arbitrage Betting

Sports Arbitrage betting is something that I still use on the occasion as part of my portfolio. Arbitrage betting involves covering every outcome of an event. In order to guarantee a profit no matter the outcome.

Here is an example of a number of arbitrage bets found using the software rebelbetting.

For example if we take one of the arbitrage bets above.

There is a 3.7% arbitrage bet between The New Saints and Bala in the Welsh division.

In the draw no bet market The New Saints could be backed at 1.53 with Marathonbet and Bala could be backed at 3.2 with William Hill.

For every £100 risked across both outcomes a profit of £3.7 could be guaranteed.

With arbitrage betting you can make several of these bets every day and gradually build up your bankroll with almost zero risk.

It is a system that once you understand can be used again and again.

Negatives of arbitrage betting?

The only issue with arbitrage betting is that it has a limited life cycle. Bookmakers will eventually limit arbitrage bettors accounts once they see that they are not going to be profitable customers.

Arbitrage betting is a great way to build up a betting or trading bankroll. Before you move on to betting or trading with exchanges and Asian bookmakers.

Proven Betting System 2 – Value Betting

Value betting is similar to arbitrage betting as it involves exploiting the soft bookmakers. A value bet involves looking for odds that are out of line with the sharp Asian Bookmakers or betting exchanges.

How Does Point Spread Sports Betting Work

Given that the odds at sharp bookmakers and betting exchanges are quite efficient in big markets. The betting exchanges and sharp Asian bookmakers often offer close to the true odds of an event. Sometimes when there is odds movement on these events soft bookmakers will be slow to move their odds.

Consistently betting on odds above the Asian bookmakers and betting exchanges has proven to be profitable.

Image courtesy ofTrademate Sports.

The advantage that value betting has over arbitrage betting is that you generate a much higher turnover and use lower stakes which may make your accounts last longer then conventional arbitrage betting.

A lot of bookmakers will also offer value accumulators often on a weekly basis as part of odds boosts or special promotions.

Negatives of value betting?

Again the only downside to consistently taking value bets is that soft bookmakers will eventually see that you are able to make money from them and will limit or close your account.

However if you plan to make money from sports betting. Getting banned from soft bookmakers is going to happen whichever way you choose to make money from them.

Proven Betting System 3 – Matched Betting

The popularity of matched betting has exploded in the last few years and with good reason.

Matched betting is probably one the best and easiest ways to generate a good second income online. It involves taking advantage of bookmaker offers to guarantee a profit much like arbitrage.

The big advantage that matched betting has over arbitrage is that is a lot less obvious and harder for bookmaker's employed traders to spot.

I have covered matched betting in a lot more detail in this article below.

Negatives of matched betting?

There isn't many downsides to matched betting. Bookmakers will stop giving you promotions eventually. But as discussed before this is what happens when you become a profitable sports bettor.

So there you have 3 proven betting systems that are currently working in 2020. Which should also prove be profitable in the long term.

Each of these betting systems involve exploiting soft bookmakers.

This is really the best way to start making money from the sports betting markets and allows you to build up a nice trading bankroll or good second income.

Proven Betting System 4 – Betting On Team News

One proven betting strategy that you might not know is reacting quickly to team news.

Odds can rapidly change on the basis of team news.

If you have a good knowledge of the teams that are playing, then you will often be able to secure yourself a value bet.

Here is a good example of how odds can change when a teams lineup is announced.

In this example I have highlighted the point at which team news was announced.

This was a Europa League between Arsenal and Standard Liege.

Arsenal announced a weaker side then expected, from this news the odds on Arsenal drifted quite significantly before the game started.

There is a 3.7% arbitrage bet between The New Saints and Bala in the Welsh division.

In the draw no bet market The New Saints could be backed at 1.53 with Marathonbet and Bala could be backed at 3.2 with William Hill.

For every £100 risked across both outcomes a profit of £3.7 could be guaranteed.

With arbitrage betting you can make several of these bets every day and gradually build up your bankroll with almost zero risk.

It is a system that once you understand can be used again and again.

Negatives of arbitrage betting?

The only issue with arbitrage betting is that it has a limited life cycle. Bookmakers will eventually limit arbitrage bettors accounts once they see that they are not going to be profitable customers.

Arbitrage betting is a great way to build up a betting or trading bankroll. Before you move on to betting or trading with exchanges and Asian bookmakers.

Proven Betting System 2 – Value Betting

Value betting is similar to arbitrage betting as it involves exploiting the soft bookmakers. A value bet involves looking for odds that are out of line with the sharp Asian Bookmakers or betting exchanges.

How Does Point Spread Sports Betting Work

Given that the odds at sharp bookmakers and betting exchanges are quite efficient in big markets. The betting exchanges and sharp Asian bookmakers often offer close to the true odds of an event. Sometimes when there is odds movement on these events soft bookmakers will be slow to move their odds.

Consistently betting on odds above the Asian bookmakers and betting exchanges has proven to be profitable.

Image courtesy ofTrademate Sports.

The advantage that value betting has over arbitrage betting is that you generate a much higher turnover and use lower stakes which may make your accounts last longer then conventional arbitrage betting.

A lot of bookmakers will also offer value accumulators often on a weekly basis as part of odds boosts or special promotions.

Negatives of value betting?

Again the only downside to consistently taking value bets is that soft bookmakers will eventually see that you are able to make money from them and will limit or close your account.

However if you plan to make money from sports betting. Getting banned from soft bookmakers is going to happen whichever way you choose to make money from them.

Proven Betting System 3 – Matched Betting

The popularity of matched betting has exploded in the last few years and with good reason.

Matched betting is probably one the best and easiest ways to generate a good second income online. It involves taking advantage of bookmaker offers to guarantee a profit much like arbitrage.

The big advantage that matched betting has over arbitrage is that is a lot less obvious and harder for bookmaker's employed traders to spot.

I have covered matched betting in a lot more detail in this article below.

Negatives of matched betting?

There isn't many downsides to matched betting. Bookmakers will stop giving you promotions eventually. But as discussed before this is what happens when you become a profitable sports bettor.

So there you have 3 proven betting systems that are currently working in 2020. Which should also prove be profitable in the long term.

Each of these betting systems involve exploiting soft bookmakers.

This is really the best way to start making money from the sports betting markets and allows you to build up a nice trading bankroll or good second income.

Proven Betting System 4 – Betting On Team News

One proven betting strategy that you might not know is reacting quickly to team news.

Odds can rapidly change on the basis of team news.

If you have a good knowledge of the teams that are playing, then you will often be able to secure yourself a value bet.

Here is a good example of how odds can change when a teams lineup is announced.

In this example I have highlighted the point at which team news was announced.

This was a Europa League between Arsenal and Standard Liege.

Arsenal announced a weaker side then expected, from this news the odds on Arsenal drifted quite significantly before the game started.

If you were familiar with the teams and reacted to the information you would have been able to secure yourself a value bet on Standard Liege. Due to the fact that Arsenal's odds were drifting so the odds on the draw and Standard Liege would have to shorten.

This is a really effective strategy and if you have access to betting exchanges you can secure yourself a profit before the game even starts.

Here are two videos which explain this strategy in more detail.

Which betting systems have you found to work best?

Are there any that are missing from this list?

Let me know in the comments below.

Sports Betting Strategies That Work

How Does Point Spread Sports Betting Work

How Sports Betting Works