WINNING WAYS

Since the early ‘90s, football has taken over as America’s national pastime without ever looking back. With that said, much of its popularity comes from wagering, with everyone considering themselves an expert. For those of you who have been successful wagering on football, do not change what you are doing. What follows are guidelines to help you succeed. They may not fit your style and are not guaranteed, but, in my opinion, any casual bettor who claims to beat the professional football line on a regular basis is a liar. Perhaps with college football, maybe, but the pros, no way!

SHOP FOR THE BEST NUMBER
I can’t stress this enough: You cannot just go into a sportsbook, check out the lines and plunk down your cash. Unless you’re using the Vegas Vic lines, you must shop around. You can escape laying or taking the worst numbers once in a while, but over the long season, it will drain your bankroll.

NEVER LAY MORE THAN SEVEN POINTS IN THE NFL
You can get away with laying big lumber in college, where the talent level between teams is huge. But in the NFL, anyone can win on any given Sunday, as the cliché states. You get the point! Don’t fall in love with “public” teams that are double-digit favorites to win week after week. They will destroy you.

BET “OVERS” EARLY AND “UNDERS” LATE
A majority of recreational bettors are “over” players, so it makes sense to bet “unders” later in the week after the totals have been driven up. This holds especially true for TV games. Oddsmakers automatically inflate totals, knowing the public loves to bet on anything it can watch.

USE POWER RATINGS
You do not have to know the names of every starting quarterback in the NFL or how many returning starters a college team has, but what you should be looking for are holes in the linesmaker’s number. The best way to accomplish this is to find a power rating you are comfortable with and stick to it. There are lots of newsletters that publish weekly power ratings. In most cases, you can line your birdcage with them, but checkout how closely they are to the posted line. If the publication is 8 to 10 points off, burn it. Do not look to come up with a play for every game. Be selective and find three or four solid plays.

FIND UGLY TEAMS
I try to stay away from the glamour teams. Oddsmakers tend to have a better opinion on teams in the top 25. Therefore, it’s easier to find bargains in the lesser-known programs. And with all the information available these days, you must be as well informed as the man taking your bet. Everyone is usually on the same side each week. If you don’t get in early, you’re going to pay a terrible price.

NEVER PLAY PARLAYS OR TEASERS
If you ever stop in a Las Vegas Sportsbook, remember that those free drinks and big fat chairs were paid for with parlay and teaser cards.

DO NOT BET JUST TO HAVE ACTION
Just because a game is on TV does not mean you have to have a bet on it. No one cares which games you play on. You should watch those games but only to pick up information for the future.

DO NOT BE INFLUENCED BY BLOWOUTS
This comes into play always after a Monday-night rout. A lot of bettors now want to cash in the following Sunday, but so does everyone else. One bad game or one lackluster performance means very little next Sunday.

YOU CAN LAY BIG NUMBERS IN COLLEGE
Do not be afraid to lay big wood in college games. You probably have noticed college numbers move much more then those in the NFL. It is common for a college line to move 6 or 7 points, while a two-point move in the pros is huge. This is because of the parity in the NFL and the wide talent levels in college.

ALWAYS FACTOR IN THE STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Casual fans often become overly impressed with teams that run up big scores week after week against inferior competition. When they finally play someone of equal talent, often they show their true colors. Who a team has played is often more important then how a team has played.

This concludes my wonderful article. Don’t forget these words of advice and hopefully come the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday, you’ll be booking a first-class cruise or putting an order in for a brand-new Porsche

Vegas Vic

www.vegasvicsports.net
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