Tennis is similar to NASCAR, boxing and golf, in that it primarily uses the moneyline to accept wagers. You have two options with tennis, as you can bet on the entire tournament or on individual matches. For example, if you are wagering on the entire tournament, you can pick a specific player and risk your money on them winning the whole tournament. Or, you can pick someone from the field to win the whole tournament. Here is how it appears on the NBA moneyline

Federer +300

Nadal + 500

Field +1000

In this wager, you may take one of Federer, Nadal or the field. If you take Federer, you have to risk only $100 to get back $300 if Federer wins the entire tournament. Conversely, if Nadal is your choice, you must risk $100 to get back $500. However, if you take the field this means that you want someone other then Nadal or Federer to win the tournament. In other words, the $1000 you hope to win can only be applied if both Federer and Nadal are eliminated. If either one wins, it does not count as a field bet.

The other option you can use for wagering on major tennis games is individual matches. Comparable to a moneyline used in a team sports event, you either have to risk more to get back less for the favorite or less for more with the underdog. You also have the option of betting on total amount of sets it takes your player to win the match. You can risk more for the match going over the total or less for under.

Golf betting lines are often compared to that of NASCAR, as you will only be using the money line. For those new to betting in general, the money line is considered as the universal straight bet, because you place your money according to the odds of your favorite player. In golf, bettors can place their money on three different options, with a few different outcomes. What tends to happen is that NBA bettors can select one or two star players and then there is a third option for the rest of the field. Here is an example.

Tiger Woods +150

Rory McElroy +300

Field +700

In this example, bettors taking Woods to win the tournament need only risk $100 to get back $150. For McElroy bettors, you only need to risk $100 to get back $300. For the field the bet becomes interesting, because you need only risk $100 to get back $700 contingent on anyone else but Woods or McElroy winning the tournament. If Woods or McElroy win the tournament, but another member of the field finishes in second place, your bet is still considered a loss. At the same time, Woods and McElroy fans can only win if Woods or McElroy win, not if the field has a winner. In other words, if you bet on Woods or McElroy and someone in the field wins, Woods and McElroy are not included in the field.

Firstly, you should always look at a team’s overall pitching staff and not just their starting pitchers. A starting rotation is made up of five pitchers who pitch once every five days. However, a seven or eight man bullpen will sometimes be used nightly, as the rotation may not be very good. Or worse, a team may have a five man rotation that is amazing but a weak bullpen. For example, the LA Angels have improved dramatically both offensively and from a starting pitching stand point, but the bullpen is mediocre at best. The Angels are using an inexperienced closer in Jordan Walden, who has yet to record a save this season. By taking the bullpen into consideration, you can better adjust to which team has a better chance of winning the MLB game.

Secondly, you should always look at team’s schedules before adjusting your handicapping techniques. Personally, we will break down a team’s schedule by how they have performed from one series to the next. For example, a team like the Boston Red Sox may play the New York Yankees really well, because they are both powerhouse teams. Yet, when they face the Oakland Athletics, the Red Sox may often lose the series because they are overlooking the talent on the Athletics roster.

Home field advantage is incredibly important both for the game and psychologically for a team. Statistics have shown, that most home teams play tougher in their own building then on the road. Those same statistics also indicate, that the home team tends to score three or more points in an NFL game in their own house then the road team does. Now for all intents and purposes, that doesn’t always happen, but for really good teams, they convert more points then they would on the road. Emotionally, teams are always more invested at home, because the hard earned money of their fan base is actually on display.

From an individual standpoint, it always seems, that the quarterback playing at home is calmer cool and collected then the road quarterback. Call us conspiracy theorists, but the quarterback’s for whatever reason, feel that if they can control crowd emotion, they can also get the calls from the officials necessary to win the game. How many times have you seen a road quarterback hacked or illegally tackled with out a call, only for the home quarterback to get the call when that scenario happens to them? Home field advantage is the only advantage most bookies will look at when making the home team a favorite.

One of the biggest factors that sportsbooks and sharp bettors take into account often is the Tiger Woods factor. About the same time as the golf renaissance took place 15 years ago, so too did Tiger Woods emergence. Known by many as the Wayne Gretzky of golf, Tiger dominated the PGA up until two years ago, when a personal scandal and a slew of injuries swarmed him. Regardless of the emotional and physical setbacks, Woods remains a threat at every tournament he enters. As a result, baseball blogs also following golf have referred to Tiger’s impact on the betting lines, as the Woods affect.

Looking past Tiger Woods, there are a few other factors handicappers should consider before placing their wagers. For example, the current play of each golfer is extremely vital to the success or demise of your bet. Essentially, what we like to do is look at the world rankings after each tournament. Two tournaments ago, Rory McElroy was the world’s number one player. With this being the case, the betting public laid a lot of money with the 22-year-old phenom. However, it was all for not, as in his next tournament, McElroy had a poor showing, which resulted in his removal from the top seed in the world. What’s unexplainable is how Luke Donald remains in the top five golfers in the world, as he hasn’t won a tournament or placed in the top three in nearly three months.

In laymen’s terms, RPI is used to assess a team’s strength of schedule. When it comes to handicapping a game between two teams, NBA trade deadline enthusiasts like to look at who each team’s are facing. For example, when Duke and UCLA face each other, the hardcore handicapper will look at their RPI scores, to see which team is better. For all intents and purposes, both teams have an equal talent pool, but Duke may have a better RPI score, because they have faced tougher teams leading up to the game, then UCLA.

There are three parts to determining the RPI rating, the win percentage of the team you are choosing, the win percentage of their opponent in the game you are betting upon, and average winning percentage of the last five opponents of the opposing team in your game. What confuses a lot of people using RPI as a credible statistic, is that the combination of your team’s winning percentage and the opponents of the opposing teams win percentage make up 50 percent of the rating, while the individual winning percentage of the opposing team in this game makes up its own 50 percent. In other words, if the opposing team has a low RPI, then it may have a skewing affect on your team’s RPI. For this reason, things are flawed, but NCAA AP 25 ratings panelists most commonly use RPI.

In any given game the college basketball totals are much more difficult to predict for one simple reason, maturity. For all intents and purposes, in professional sports, the distinguishing factor is that the good teams are always up for every game no matter the opponent, while in college basketball it really depends on the opponent. Similar to the NHL trade deadline, the impact of who a team is specifically facing, can’t be overlooked. For example, at the beginning of this season, the North Carolina Tar Heels had two games, in which they faced the UNLV Rebels who were unranked, and a mid major team, and the Kentucky Wildcats the second place team in the country. Since the Rebels were unranked and not a power six team, the Tar Heels overlooked them. As a result, the defense they had been praised for in the games leading up to their clash with the Rebels had basically disappeared, since the players were overlooking their opponent. With this being the case, the game went over the total.

Then 72 hours later, when the Wildcats and Tar Heels collided, the game went under the total, despite UNC facing a much better team. The reason for this, was that not only were the Tar Heels up in emotion to play against elite competition, but they also wanted to prove the loss to UNLV was a fluke. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the Tar Heels also lost to the Wildcats and fell to a losing record against the spread. The moral of this story, is that the March Madness betting tournament is one in which you can make a ton of money, based on the emotion of specific teams.

While it is totally fine to use handicapping forums, sports betting systems and the local bookie for advice when picking teams in the sport you are specializing in, in the long run you are better off doing your own research. Essentially, a sports bettor can actively discuss various bets and types of bets with their peers, but in the end if they are placing bets based on someone else’s suggestion, or based on whom their favorite team is, they are creating a losing proposition for themselves. The main difference between good and terrible gamblers is twofold, excellent money management and betting with your brain.

There is an old saying that the difference between a sports bettor and a sports fan, is that a sports bettor wagers with their brain, while the sports fan bets with their heart. The handicapping forum, betting system and local bookie will tell you what you want to hear, which is you can win at a high rate by listening to them. However, for all intents and purposes, studying the trends on your favorite team and their opponent week in and week out isn’t as daunting as pitching a perfect MLB game.

For example, Real Madrid one of the European football giants, is an impressive 11 and one at home. Yet, on the road, they are a miserable five four and three. At the same time, Newcastle another strong European team, is seven three and three at home, but a dastardly two eight and two on the road. At first glance of both Real Madrid and Newcastle’s records, you might wonder, why there’s such a huge discrepancy in NFL score records from home to away? What’s also alarming, is that the longest road trip for most football clubs in Europe, is a few hours bus ride rather then a flight across the country.

The big reason for the change in record is the unofficial 12^th man known as the fans. In soccer, the fans are more passionate then in hockey or football, as many will live and die by their team. With this in mind, the teams with the best fans, usually own the best home records, while faring not as well on the road. The big reason for the poor road record is that fans of away teams aren’t allowed in the arenas due to riots between clubs in earlier years. This makes home field advantage all the more important.

Similar to purchasing stocks, there are good and bad bets that bettors can place money on. Ultimately, when you invest in RIM stocks or in a BetOnline account, you are taking a chance, that you will make a profit. In both industries, the odds of taking a chance and turning a profit can be completely different. As a matter of fact, in the online betting industry, if you can win at least half your wagers, you are considered a smart bettor. Yet, if you believe you can win 90 percent of your wagers, you may want to find a new hobby.

The main reason bettors lose, isn’t because of the sports they are interested in, but rather how they handle their money. For instance, a bettor that breaks his or her bets down into a percentage and plays within that percentage, is more likely to turn a profit, then someone who doubles up after every loss. While the latter approach could turn you a nice profit, it could also make you lose twice as much. Think about it, just because you increase the amount you wager, doesn’t mean the odds will go up. If anything, the odds will diminish on your wager. That is why exercising the right amount of patience is integral to the success of your bank account on NFL games.