Questions To Ask Yourself When Betting On Sports
By: TIM TRUSHEL

I would speculate that more than 95 percent of all football bettors have never asked themselves the most important question before wagering.

What do I want from betting on football?

This question is largely ignored by sports bettors. It is a simple question with no hidden meaning or tricks, yet for most it is not realistically answered. This question usually goes unasked and unanswered for most sports bettors. When it does get asked, more often than not the first response will be, "I want to win." This is the obvious answer, but it is not exactly what I mean.

Are you looking to supplement your income? Are you looking to bet as a profession? Are you looking for a challenge? Are you looking to make a little extra cash to buy a trip or a new car? Are you looking for entertainment? What are the specific reasons you bet on football? Write them down. Look at the reasons. Only you can answer this question for yourself. Most people would give the response that it is a combination of the above reasons. Yet when I talk to people throughout the season, very few have a plan to attain their goal. Even fewer have a specific plan or goal with which to work. To really be successful it sports betting, it is extremely important to have a goal. Many handicappers write about money management, but few ever discuss setting up a plan of attack or setting up specific goals to attain.

Preparation is the key to having a profitable football season. Part of this preparation involves setting goals. In talking to hundreds of sports bettors every year, I amazed at the amount of people that have no idea what they are trying to accomplish in betting. Most people fail in sports betting because they fail to set realistic expectations and determine a plan for attaining those expectations. Picking winners is hard, but betting winners is even harder. If you have a plan and a goal, this mechanism of sports betting is made easier. There are many different approaches to betting football.

Here are a couple of things to consider when determining what you would like to accomplish for the season:

Including the preseason, there are approximately 22 full weeks of football action. If you bet an average of about 10 games a week, you will have bet on about 220 college and pro games during the course of a season. The following chart is a breakdown of percentages and net winners based on betting 220 games. Also illustrated is the potential profits that can be earned.

Win% Season Record Net Winners Profit @$100 Profit @$500 Profit @$1000 60% 132-88 35.2 $3,520 $17,600 $35,200 59% 130-90 31.0 $3,100 $15,500 $31,000 58% 128-92 26.8 $2,680 $13,400 $26,800 57% 125-95 20.5 $2,050 $10,250 $20,500 56% 123-97 16.3 $1,630 $8,150 $16,300 55% 121-99 12.1 $1,210 $6,050 $12,100 54% 119-101 7.9 $790 $3,950 $7,900 53% 117-103 3.7 $370 $1,850 $3,700

In looking at these figures, you can see that if you have a bankroll that supports $100 wagers, then you are not going to make enough money to buy that new Ford Expedition that you have set as your goal. Setting a realistic goal based on realistic expectations is something most handicappers do not do. If you set your realistic expectations and goals before the season, you will avoid a lot of frustration and disappointment throughout the season. It will be easier to avoid the week-to-week mentality that kills so many novice sports bettors. Approach the season as a long-term endeavor and expect tremendous deviation from week-to-week.

Do not expect to make $35,000 with a bankroll of $1000. Avoid this pitfall by defining and allocating an appropriate bankroll. A bankroll is money that you have set aside for your sports betting. Like any investment, this should be money that you can afford to lose without affecting your lifestyle. A bankroll shouldn't be money that would use for something else. A fully funded bankroll should be at least 40 times your average unit of play. Having a funded bankroll of at least 40 units alleviates much of the pressure when the ball bounces the other way and you drop a few in a row or suffer through a losing streak. To determine your goals for the season, here is a step-by-step process that will help:

1. Honestly explore the reasons as to why you bet on sports 2. Set up specific and realistic goals to accomplish based on the above reasons 3. Define and allocate a fully funded bankroll 4. Determine what approaches to actual handicapping you are going to incorporate 5. Determine approximately the volume of plays you are going to make 6. Based on your previous experiences, determine a realistic predicted outcome 7. Review your goals based upon your projected results 8. Get access to at least 10 different betting outlets 9. Stay with the plan 10. Keep meticulous records

If you follow these suggestions the only thing left to do is to pick winners. Good luck throughout the upcoming football season.

Tim Trushel is the CEO of Sports Memo. Leading the industry in providing unique and insightful content via the airwaves, web and traditional print methods have put Sports Memo at the forefront of both the handicapping and sports-betting industries for more than a decade. You can find out more at sportsmemo.com.

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