Everybody loves having inside information. The 7 betting secrets every successful bettor knows in 2023 will carry you to your most profitable year to date.
There are no shortcuts in sports betting. Before you sign a lease on a new sportscar or load up on Louis Vuitton leather goods, consider the challenge ahead carefully. Becoming a professional sports bettor requires patience, determination, and work.
One of the obstacles facing rookie sports bettors is the poor information they get from people claiming to be winners. The truth is that many bettors believe that they are winning when they are instead taking considerable losses.
The 7 betting secrets outlined below come from successful bettors who have proven that these methods pay dividends through years of real-world application. In 2023, you can use these well-established tips and tricks to make sports betting a more lucrative endeavor than ever before.
1 – Buying Picks Is a Waste of Resources
One of the common traps that novice bettors fall into is buying picks. Making a profit in sports betting is complex, and many gamblers become frustrated early.
As the losses mount, desperate gamblers search for any means of getting out of the hole they’ve dug. Tout services target these bettors by advertising outrageous winning percentages and guaranteed picks across the internet, on sports radio, and in gambling forums.
However, the gambler’s results rarely match any of the claims made by the ones selling the picks. The bottom line is these businesses have found it more profitable to sell their selections to the masses.
By selling picks, they eliminate all the risks with sports betting. These companies get their money whether you win or lose; bettors are the ones left holding the losing ticket.
Even if you found a tout service that made you a long-term profit, much of those wins would be eaten up by paying for your picks. That’s not a luxury that many sports bettors can afford, and it would likely take you back into the red.
Buying picks is a lazy effort at sports betting success, and it stunts the growth of an overwhelming majority of the gamblers involved.
2 – You Can Find Better Value in Less Popular Markets
The key to success in sports betting is finding opportunities where the probability doesn’t align with the value. When you bet on popular sports like soccer or football (American football), you are betting against scores of other sports fans who are making it easier for the sportsbooks to erase any value by setting the lines accordingly.
Remember that the sportsbooks don’t care who wins or loses; their sole objective is getting even money on each side. So, lines get set to draw in the masses from both sides.
That’s why bettors struggle to make sense of sports betting, and profitable sports bettors are elusive. Most gamblers are unaware of how many successful bettors focus on underdeveloped markets.
The fringe areas like esports offer bettors a way to use their vast knowledge of a subject to fade the public and exploit the sportsbooks for gains. Having an intimate knowledge of professional bowling, disc golf, esports, or any other fringe sport offered in the casino will put you in an advantageous position.
However, it would be best if you never allowed your fandom to cloud your judgment. Bet with your head regardless of how much your heart protests.
3 – Winning Is a Direct Result of Knowledge
The sportsbooks employ expert handicappers who have tremendous knowledge of sports and handicapping games. Many bettors beat their heads against the walls for years, trying to find ways to outsmart the professional handicappers.
Successful sports bettors are always looking for the edge to push any value in their favor. It’s a heavy workload but believing that you can take shortcuts and still succeed is foolish.
Through enough practice and patience, it’s possible to find systems that put you in a premium position. The main principle behind finding value is handicapping the games better than the sportsbook.
Successful bettors understand that beating the handicappers on every game is futile. Yet, you don’t have to beat them on every game or even on every sport to make money.
Instead, focus on one area and dedicate one hundred percent to it. The narrower your field of vision, the more likely you are to find success.
Fans of the NFL may try to focus on a single division or even a particular team for the season. By putting the entirety of your effort into one area, you’ll have better insight when handicapping and shopping lines.
Some successful bettors will only bet on smaller NCAA conferences and avoid Top 25 teams altogether. That allows them to have a wealth of knowledge in one area where the public at large will rarely tread.
4 – The Sportsbooks Always Have the Advantage
Sports betting seems like a simple way to win money to the layman. People who don’t understand how sportsbooks make their dime believe it only takes winning half the time to break even.
Unfortunately, that’s far from the reality of the situation. Sportsbooks charge a vig on every bet they take.
So, when you bet $110 to win $100 and lose, the casino uses your $100 to pay winners and pockets the $10. Yet, when you win, you merely get the $100.
Because of the vig, sports bettors must win over 52.4% of the time to post any profit. That’s a far cry from the coin flip most novice bettors believe sports betting to be.
Successful bettors have a keen sense of finding the bets that reduce the sportsbooks’ advantage. Throughout your sports betting career, it will benefit you to find reduced vigs on bets.
Even a few dollars will have a lasting impact on your success as a bettor. Shopping around for the reduced vig can make a huge difference while taking only a few minutes.
5 – Finding Value Is the Dividing Line Between Winners and Losers
Picking winners is an integral part of sports betting. However, it’s not as crucial as many amateur punters believe.
Your focus shouldn’t be picking games better than the public or the sportsbooks. The most important aspect of sports betting is value.
Value is the only thing that matters to successful bettors, and it’s no secret that winning is predicated on finding the best value.
Value in sports betting is any bet that will produce a long-term profit.
For example, the L.A. Rams are hot off a Super Bowl season while the Detroit Lions had a frightful three-win season. If the sportsbooks had the Rams at -3, they’d easily cover over 53% of the games.
That’s the definition of a value bet. If these two teams played 1000 times, with all things being as they were in week 18 of the season, betting the rams would net a hefty profit.
You’ll sometimes find value on the underdogs, too. That is why it’s vital that you know the teams you’re betting on intimately, whether you’re betting for or against them.
6 – Betting Systems Aren’t Designed to Make You Money (This Is One of the Best-Kept Sports Betting Secrets)
One of the betting secrets that many successful sports bettors have had to learn the hard way is that betting systems aren’t designed to make you money. Like tout services, these systems’ purpose is to make money for the group selling them.
The people selling betting systems will make bold claims about the results and guarantee a profit. But there are some serious issues with the betting systems.
Suppose a system works in the short term; it will quickly become popular. Thousands of bettors will start using the system, and the casinos will take notice.
When that happens, the door will get slammed shut, and you’re back to square one.
You need a reliable system to become a successful bettor, but it should be one that you create through hours of research and a healthy dose of trial and error.
7 – You Can’t Skate Your Way to Success
The best-kept secret in sports betting is how hard it is to win. Every successful bettor knows that you can’t skate your way to the top buying picks and having a mammoth bankroll.
If you’re going to be a successful sports bettor, you have to start behaving like one. That’s going to make for some sleepless nights and frustrating losses, but the rewards are incredible.
The number one thing sharp bettors know better than anyone is how challenging it is to become profitable. Still, when you learn to win, it’s something that will stay with you for the long haul.
Conclusion – Betting Secrets
The 7 betting secrets every successful bettor knows in 2023 are facts that you should consider before placing your next wager. There is a point in every successful bettor’s career where they need to decide whether they’re going to win or lose long-term.
Recreational gamblers make the same decision through their actions, whether they know it or not.
What type of sports bettor will you be in 2023?