After the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2018 that allowed states to legalize sports gambling, state legislatures went to work passing sports gaming legalization laws.

Maybe you live in a state where you can place legal bets in casinos and/or online. You see the spreads and dream of big wins betting on sports. Once you get the itch, it’s almost impossible to scratch.

Not so fast! Gambling on sports isn’t so easy. Sure, there’s luck involved, but like anything else, you have to work to create your luck.

Winning is the name of the game. Without a solid strategy, you might as well throw your money off a bridge.

If you’re new to the game, you’re going to need a few tips to help you along. Before you head to the casino, check out these 11 sports betting tips to win.

1. Start Small

The best way to become good at sports gambling is to gamble. You have to get a feel for the game, how the rules work, and how to play properly. Until you get a handle on all the terminology, dip your toe in with small wagers.

As a newbie, you should expect to lose and lose often. Even the best sports gamblers only win 55% of the time. That means they still lose almost half the time they play.

Since you are not one of the world’s best, you can expect to rack up many more losses. Mitigate these growing pains by placing small $5-$10 bets until you feel confident enough to bet more.

2. Narrow Your Focus

So you think you’re a football expert? Yeah, you settle in every Sunday afternoon and watch every minute possible. You read all the news, you keep up on the scores, and think you know more about in-game strategy than the average fan.

That’s a great starting point, but you’ll soon find out that a winning sports gambling strategy takes a lot more than knowing a sport.

You have so many factors to consider. There are situational factors like weather, injuries, and home-field advantage. Then there are statistical probabilities like red-zone offense vs. red-zone defense.

On top of that is the scoring structure of the game itself and how it relates to making spread bets.

Even if you are a huge fan, it’s best to train your eye on a portion of the game. If you love NFL football, pick a division to follow and bet on rather than focusing on the whole league.

3. Stay Away From Playing Your Favorite Team

Sports fandom is a hobby of great emotion. Think about how you feel during a big game. You’re a ball of nerves!

The incredible highs and despairing lows of following your favorite team are what make sports fandom great. If you gamble, it will destroy your bankroll.

Before you dive into the more esoteric and complicated sports betting strategies, understand that you have to bet without emotion. Playing your favorite team will cloud your judgment. It’s a better idea to follow the best sports picks and place your bets based on data.

4. Understand the Odds

When you hear about a team being an underdog or a favorite by so many points, you have to understand how these numbers work.

Casinos and line services do not set odds and spreads based on who they think will win and by how much. They set those numbers to encourage play on both sides of the bet.

Knowing that a sportsbook’s goal is to balance its wagers rather than predict winners is an important thing to know as you begin betting.

5. Learn How to Track Line Movement

Betting lines aren’t static. They will move depending on how much money comes in on either side of the bet.

Say you see Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland open up at -6.5. Throughout the week you notice that the number fluctuates.

If it moves up, that means more bets are placed on Pittsburgh. If it goes down, that means more bets are on Cleveland. The sportsbook moves the line like this to keep people betting on either side.

This line movement can impact how you bet a game.

6. Check Your Ego

Too many beginning gamblers fall into the trap of wanting to be right more than they want to win money. They’ll find any reason to bet a huge underdog so they can feel like the smartest person in the room.

Avoid ego at all costs. You do not know more than the experts.

7. Stay Steady

While you’re learning how to bet on sports, it’s best to stay steady with your bets. Determine how much you can afford to play and stick to it, even if you lose.

It hurts to lose money. Too many beginners fall into the trap of chasing losing bets by making more bets hoping to break even. Chasing is a guaranteed way to lose money.

8. Manage Your Bankroll

Just like you want to avoid chasing your losing bets, you need to know how to handle your wins. Making a profit in sports betting is a long-term idea.

It’s too easy to win big and place careless bets with your winnings to try and win more. Bankroll management is all about knowing when to walk away win or lose.

9. Hunt for Bonuses

There’s no better way to learn how to gamble on sports than doing so with free money. Every online sportsbook offers some type of bonus for new and existing players.

If you’re on the hunt for free money, and you should always be, Bet365 offers great deposit bonuses for new gamblers. The best things in life truly are free!

10. Make Easy Bets

What’s that you smell? It’s the tempting aroma of a parlay bet’s huge payout. Parlays and other exotic bets can win you a lot of money, but there’s a reason why a sportsbook pays out so much on them.

They’re so hard to win!

It’s best if you avoid the temptation of quick parlay money and stick to singles bets.

11. Have Fun Betting on Sports

Listen, if you think you’re going to walk into a casino sportsbook and start making money, you’ve got another thing coming. Yes, we all gamble to win. It’s important to remember you won’t win a lot in the beginning.

So when you’re betting on sports, remember to have fun with it. Having fun is the best way to get good.

Are you interested in more great content? Check out our other articles.

Jane