Is it possible to win money betting in Sports? Yes it is! But, like I say on my site introduction, if you want to successfully "Invest in Sports Betting" you'll need to, first and most of all, approach it as an investment and have a long term perspective. You also need to be patient, disciplined, have knowledge about money management, systems and understand the way the market (because that's what it is) works.

More detailed information and data will be provided in my monthly newsletter but let's go step by step and look at the basics:

Patience: Do not bet by impulse! This means not betting on your favourite team just because they're playing today or betting on a game just because it is on TV. It's hard enough to beat a Sportsbook when you have all the data and knowledge about a specific game. If you want to win in the long run, you can't bet on games (regardless of the sport) just by guessing or "having a feeling" about it. Be patient and be selective! Only bet when you think you have solid reasons to make a play and confident that you have an edge over the Sportsbook.

Discipline: Being patient and disciplined are the first and some of the most important aspects to consider if you want to become a successful sports investor but they are very difficult to apply. First and above all, never bet more money than you can afford to loose! No matter how good you think you are or that you pick is guaranteed, you can still loose (many unpredictable things might happen during any game: injuries, mistakes, bad plays, bad referee calls, etc.). Therefore, it is important that you establish a specific sports betting bankroll that includes only money that's not essential for anything else like: rent, food, mortgage payments or your family support and that you play within your means. If after a while, you are on a long loosing streak or your losses are negatively affecting your personal life, stop immediately! Back off! Don't be stubborn about it and never "double up" or use similar (so called) "money management" systems that apply more money to chase the losses. Take a few days or weeks off and relax. It's a long season and there'll be plenty of games to wager on. Examine your previous bets and what went wrong, learn from your mistakes and restart slowly when you think you're ready.

You also need to be careful about "exotic plays". Most professional bettors or sports betting investors do not bet on parlays at all. Sportsbooks make it appealing for bettors to place bets on "exotic plays" like: parlays, teasers, half-times, propositions, etc...the more the better (for the Sportsbook). Sportsbooks like their clients to make as much uninformed, undisciplined, poor-value, impulse bets as possible. You should stay away from them.

Last but not least, only bet if you're feeling well. Only bet when your concentration and discipline are not affected. If you're feeling tired, are under a lot of stress, having some sort of family trouble, somehow "on tilt" (using a Poker terminology) or under any abnormal circumstance that will affect your normal well being, do not bet! Wait until you're sure you are back to normal.

Money Management: If you can be patient and disciplined the next important aspect you need to master in order to become successful is "money management".

We all know someone who's very good at picking winners but after a while are "reloading" their accounts. Why is this? This usually happens due to several reasons, one of them being poor money management.

Although there are several money management techniques that can be used, they all seem to agree to the following basic principles:

Only play a small percentage of your initial bankroll. It is commonly accepted that 1% to 4% maximum is the optimum percentage to be played. I would recommend you to start with 1%. This will allow you to slowly increase your bankroll if you get a good streak going and will keep you away from trouble for a while if you have a bad one; If you're on a winning streak consider increasing the size of your bets a little bit, if you're on a loosing streak consider decreasing it; Never chase your money! This is considered to be the biggest money management mistake of all! Remember, this is a long term endeavour and not a short term one. Everyone has good and bad days and good and bad weeks. If you had a bad day, resist the temptation of placing "that one big bet" that will cover for all your previous losses. If you don't, most likely you'll be seriously disappointed. Tomorrow is always another day and you'll have the opportunity to do better than today.

Systems: I see some people claiming to constantly win 65%, 70% or more of their bets in a season with their systems. This might happen one day or another but nobody has this winning percentage in a full season betting every day. Most investors in sports betting or professional bettors will be more than happy winning 53% to 55% of their bets in the long run. Important things to remember: - In certain occasions and certain sports (the so called "moneyline" ones, like the NHL or MLB), you can even make good money by winning just 49% or 50% in the long run. The winning percentage means little here as they are considered "units won" sports (you can have a 55% winning ratio and still loose money and have a 49% winning ratio and win good money...it all depends on the "value" of each bet). - In sports using "points spread" (like the NBA or the NFL), you need to hit 52.38% of the times (considering the usual average odd of 1.91 in European format or -110 in US format) to "break even". Here the winning percentage counts because there is a "point spread" and the odd is equal to both sides. If you're above 52.38%, you're making money!

This means you need betting systems that focus on the winning percentage (because that equals making money above 52.38%) in "point spread" sports and systems that focus on the bet value in "moneyline" sports.

Statistics, player injuries, motivation, current form, coaching edges and other indicators should be accounted for.

Sports betting market: One of the main reasons why Sportsbooks make so much money (and 97 to 98% of bettors loose) is simply because of human nature. That's right! People just love to bet "favourites", "public teams" (teams that the "public" just loves and puts their money on, like the NBA Detroit Pistons or the MLB New York Yankees...), their favourite sports team and the "over" (when playing the total number of goals or points) in all sports as it is human nature to root for winners and scoring. Just look at the betting percentages in any site that makes this information available before the games take place and you'll see this. Sportsbooks know this very well and work it in their favour.

That's why it is important to look at the value of each bet against the probability of an event to occur and also to look at how the market is behaving before the games start in order to make the most balanced decision when placing a bet.

I will be making available a lot more detailed information regarding "Investing in Sports Betting" in my monthly newsletter including market data. Don't miss out on this opportunity to be on the winning side and register now!

Cheers.

About the author :

JC has been involved with Sports Handicapping for over 20 years (more deeply in the last 3 years) and with Lottery systems and analysis for over 25 years.

Visit www.jctips.com and get all the informaion you need for your Sports Betting Investments and EuroMillions.