Making money from bets offered by sportsbooks, using even the most minimal betting advantage
is one of the hallmarks of being a Pro bettor. To become a profitable sports bettor, you must
know where to find advantages or opportunities where the line a bookmaker offers is vulnerable.
To the untrained eye, sports betting looks easy, especially when they’re not watching because
they’ve staked money. Truth is, when it comes to pro sports betting, after you’ve accounted for
the “vig” or ”juice”, you must also hit at least 52.4% of your bets to break even. Even the most
successful bettors get less than 60% of their bets correct.
Sports betting is a game of chance and while there’s no specific way you’ll wager to guarantee
that you win every time, there are things you could do to ensure that you win more than you lose.
This infographic in its entirety, explains different strategies you could employ to increase your
odds of making money in pro sports betting.
What is Sports Betting?
Sports betting is a type of gambling on games or events, by placing a bet on the outcome of a
match.
What Types Of Sports Betting Are There?
When betting on sports, there are different types of sports bet you need to understand as you
would be using them when making your wagers. We have explained each of them below.
Straight Bets
Straight bets is a betting line set, known as point spread, and you are required to either bet on the
favorites and give up points or back the underdog and get the points.
Total Line bets
In Total Line bets, a number is set for the combined final score of two teams in a match and you
bet on what you think the exact score will be staying ”under” that total or going ”over” the set
number.
Money Line Bets
Making a money line bet means you are picking a team to secure a straight-up win, without any
point spread.
Parlay Bets
A parlay is when you group two or more picks into a single bet.
Teaser Bets
In teaser bets, you’re still putting two or more picks together in a single bet, but you can tweak
the points spreads in your favor for a lower overall payout.
Head-to-Head Bets
A head-to-head bet on the results between only two competitors is a common way to wager on
NASCAR and professional golf events. Whoever finishes a race or tournament in a higher
position than their opponent will win.
Most times, a money line is attached to each competitor to handicap the match. Head-to-head is
used to pick a sole winner in sports that take place in a large field and has many competitors
playing at once for the same prize.
General Sports Betting Statistics
● The Global sports betting market is predicted to reach an approximate of $155.49 by
- This industry grew at a CAGR of 8.83% between 2018 – 2024.
● The total gross gaming gain of the global market is $450 billion.
● The USA’s estimated global gambling gross win is at $74.39 billion.
The Biggest Sports Leagues in the World
These are some of the biggest sports leagues in the world that pull in the highest number of pro
bettors globally.
National Football League (NFL)
The NFL is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams split equally between
the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
Major League Baseball (MLB)
The MLB is the world’s oldest professional sports league in the world and a professional baseball
organization. As of this year, 30 teams play in Major League Baseball – 15 in the National
League and 15 in the American League. There are 29 teams in the USA and 1 in Canada.
National Basketball Association NBA
The NBA (National Basketball Association) is a professional basketball league hosting 30 teams
- 29 in the US and 1 in Canada. It is one of the major professional sports leagues in these
countries.
English Premier League (EPL)
The Premier League is a top level of the English football league system, played in by 20 clubs,
operating on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League (EFL).
National Hockey League (NHL)
The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league consisting of 32 teams—25 in
the United States and 7 in Canada. NHL is the top ranked professional ice hockey league in the
world and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División (La Liga)
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, AKA Primera División or La Liga is
the Spanish football league system’s men’s top professional football division.
Fußball-Bundesliga (Bundesliga)
Bundesliga or Fußball-Bundesliga is a German professional association football league, top of its
league, Bundesliga is Germany’s primary football competition.
How to make money on Pro Sports Betting
Finally, these are those strategies we talked about at the beginning, that you could use to boost
your odds of making money in pro sports betting.
Here’s how to make money on pro sports betting:
- Choose Quality Not Quantity
To make money as a pro sports bettor, select the games you wish to bet on and give priority to
the ones you feel most confident betting on. Five games daily is a good rule of thumb to follow. - Don’t Do Big Parlays
Parlays are enticing because they offer big payouts if they bet cash. But, don’t let a big payout
where you have to hit 6 or more parlay legs entice you.
Instead, do 2-3 team plays, this might not give you a huge payout but you will have a higher
chance of winning a good payout rather than lose your whole wager.
- Fade the Public
For sportsbooks to lose badly, bettors would have to bet a large percentage of money on one side
of a game, and that side would have to be correct. If this happens, sportsbooks would pay out
more money than they collect from losing wagers.
But since this rarely happens, you should fade the public on the most commonly bet games. This
can work when the oddsmakers don’t adjust the line because of fear of vulnerability. - Find The Best Lines
Other sportsbooks might have better lines than that of your go-to sportsbook.
The thing is, in most sports, even a half-point difference in a line is significant. If you bet a team
to cover an 8.5 point spread, that team must win by 9 points or higher. But if you bet the same
team on an 8. spread, winning by an 8 for them is not a loss. You could “push” your bet and get
your money back.
That being said, you can open multiple accounts with different bookmakers. You might not
always compare lines between them, but you’ll be in the position to get the best line every time. - Utilize Live Betting
Live/in-game betting is more lucrative because they are commonly calculated by sportsbooks
using algorithms. Here you could also wager based on how the game is going and the events they
are leading up to instead of guessing. - Research
Things you could research include weather forecasts, injury updates, a team’s current play or past
performances against opponents.
These things don’t require much digging, but if you have to do a deep research into a team or
players to get a basic understanding of how they work, then you might not want to bet on those
games. - Know Your Sport
Know the basics of the game to win a sports bet. This means knowing facts like famous winning
players, teams, opponents, and other necessary player information. This will help you choose a
team to back in a game. - Be Unbiased
Keep biases away from sports betting especially when picking a team, if you want to make
money betting on sports. Choose players or teams to support not because they’re your favorite,
but based on recent performance and winning probability.
This way if your favorite player plays badly or your team loses, you might end up broke and
heartbroken. - Spend Wisely
In sports betting you should aim to earn more money than you lose. The way to do this is to
invest only an amount you can afford to lose, so that you don’t go bankrupt. - Track Losses
Tracking losses will help you set aside money for your next bet wisely. You can keep track in a
notebook, especially if you want to place larger wagers overtime. This book could also help you
save money every time a team you back losses and you won’t lose as much times. - Follow Tipsters
Following tipsters like Matchplug is a sure way for you to make money on sports pro betting,
because we give valuable insight and advice on big games and how to place your bets for them.
