Where to start?

Asiafever · May 5, 2007

Hi everyone,

I'm a complete newbie to sport betting. I have been counting cards for a few months and I sometimes play video poker if I can find a machine with a positive return. I am pretty much wondering about every kind of bets where it's possible to get an edge. Right now, all I know about sport betting is that if you see -X you have to bet $X to win $100 and if you see +X you get $X every times you bet $100, that's it

I never really watched sports on TV and I barely know any player's name, the only reason why sport betting attracted my attention was the possibility to get an edge by betting intelligently. Where should I start? Is there any books or website someone can recommend me? I looked up on Google but there seem to be many scams around so I don't want to read the bad things.

Thanks in advance.

wilheim · May 5, 2007

AsiaFever, welcome to The Rx. I hope you enjoy the site and become a regular poster. For a beginner I highly recommed "Education of a Sports Bettor" by the late Bob McCune. It is available online at the Gamblers Book Shop in Las Vegas. The shop has a great collection of gambling books at reasonable prices that you can have shipped to your door.

Best of luck, wilheim.

PS. Click on the red letters to link to the store.

Asiafever · May 6, 2007

Thanks a lot, going to check this out. Also, are there any authors you recommend me to avoid? I'm sure there are many con artists publishing books filled with crap I would not like to read but as I'm still new to this whole thing it's sometimes hard for me to distinguish both kind of books.

wilheim · May 7, 2007

Asia, take a look at gambling book critic Howard Swartz, he will take you in the right direction. Click on the link.

http://www.casinogaming.com/columnists/shelf/index.html

Best of Luck, wilheim

bonuswhomer · May 10, 2007

Once you start betting, try to have cash at as many books as your roll can afford. By taking the time to shop lines, you can bet many games with little to no vig (in other words, you could find +110 on one side at one book and -110 on the other side at another). Honestly, you can beat sports betting without any handicapping knowledge whatsoever, so once you add in those skills you'll be killing the books.

Asiafever · May 10, 2007

What online Casinos would you recommend me to start with? I only know Bodog right now and I heard they offer bad odds sometimes. My bankroll is not huge now and it would be quite hard for me to get it back if I was to loose it all as I'm still a student, therefore I will read more books before starting anything, but knowing the best online sport books will definitively help me when I will start betting

p1zza_man · May 12, 2007

To a beginner ... I would suggest system betting ... its something i have made and that i adore ... system betting is easily and can be performed betting blind. Do some research on system betting b/c there is one for every sport. So you can system bet all year round making 100+ units in a sport.

Asiafever · May 12, 2007

Sorry, but I don't believe in systems. These have been proven way too many times to be unsuccessful, and I don't want to blindly bet. If I wanted an easy game that don't require thinking I would be playing roulette at a casino.

brewer · May 13, 2007

please be careful and dont get in over your head. learn from the best and take notes. hard work pays off. bol.

fucnluc · May 15, 2007

tsm123 said:
Word of caution to newbies -

You have chosen to enter the "World of Eleven To Ten".

Do not be naieve.

Your opponent is formidable.

You are about to lose FAR MORE than you will win.

You are facing a ton of danger vs an ounce of thrills.

Pay attention to this addage -

"Chance Favors A Prepared Mind."

Good luck.

.

Tchocky · May 15, 2007

You should stay away from sportsbetting if you know absolutely nothing about sports. I watch about 24 to 48 hours of sports a week. You need to watch the games and know all the teams & players before you know how to bet properly.

p1zza_man · May 18, 2007

Asiafever said:
Sorry, but I don't believe in systems. These have been proven way too many times to be unsuccessful, and I don't want to blindly bet. If I wanted an easy game that don't require thinking I would be playing roulette at a casino.

:lolBIG:

i guess the n00bs dont like money

danf · May 21, 2007

Where did the Neteller Topic go???

I haven't heard anything on neteller lately. If anyone has some new information let me know.

raw280 · May 21, 2007

Just beginning.

Tchocky said:
You should stay away from sportsbetting if you know absolutely nothing about sports. I watch about 24 to 48 hours of sports a week. You need to watch the games and know all the teams & players before you know how to bet properly.

I would like to kow how to you take bets and payoff, etc. Is it a book or site information you can steer me to. Also, I know quite a bit about sport. Thanks for the help in adavnce.

raw280 · May 21, 2007

Newbie also.

I have a great deal of knowledge of sport from playing and coaching. I have being asked to take a few bets from some associates, working professional gentlemen and women. I'm asking for help on “How to take bets on NFL/NCAA football and NBA/NCAA basketball.” Professional in sport, newbie in the art of taking bets. Thanks for help. Sorry for double post.

newb411breaker19 · May 27, 2007

asiafever good luck on your endeavor, It's best to learn as much as you can before you start betting.. In education of a sports bettor I would not make lines the way bob mccune explains for the nba, there's a much better method, and for this i would recommend you read "Basketball on Paper"..
you can't go wrong getting.. "sharp sports betting" by Stanford Wong.. it's not so much a handicapping book as it is a "betting" book, but the charts in the book are very useful.. geared more towards NFL than anything as well as beating props
Another good book that I liked was Michael Murray's "betting baseball" as it puts you on the right track towards handicapping correctly.
I just ordered Dan Gordon's beat the sports books but have yet to receive it however it has received good reviews from guys like fezzik, and this book is more of a "handicapping" approach to beating the line from what I've heard.
I just read "college basketball, Wagering to Win" by Larry Seidel and there is some very useful information in this book, however the money management advice is quite poor, but I'd definitely get either this book or the more expensive, "Investing in College Basketball" (same author).
If you have any questions you can email me at my rx screen name @hotmail.com
good luck to you

newb411breaker19 · May 27, 2007

Tchocky said:
You should stay away from sportsbetting if you know absolutely nothing about sports. I watch about 24 to 48 hours of sports a week. You need to watch the games and know all the teams & players before you know how to bet properly.

true for some, not true for others.. dr. bob who's arguably one of the best college football handicappers says that he hardly ever watches games.. it really depends on your approach to handicapping

Asiafever · May 29, 2007

Thanks a lot for these books newb411breaker19, will look them up on amazon ^_^

Hopefully I can start betting soon. I don't really think I need that much sports knowledge anyway, I think it's more about watching the lines than other things.

Enfuego · May 31, 2007

Sorry to tell you Asia but you do need to know sports. Sports betting is much more than line movements. Teams/players tendencies and emotions play a huge role in what you should do.

For example, last night the Mariners were at the LAA. LAA was favored at -125 to -135 and a ton of people were on the M's. But for those of us who are Mariners fans there's no way I'd have touched the M's last night. The M's simply don't play well in LAA and never have. LAA is a good home team with a dominate right hander not to mention the LAA hit .313 against righties at home. The fact that I've watched the M's for more than 20-25 years and I know they suck in LAA was more than enough for me to play the LAA. You can't learn that over night or by watching line movements.

But I'll give you a very valuable tip that may help you big time.

1) Watch for a team that is being wagered on by more than 70% of the public wagers.

2) If the line moves in the opposite direction by 10-15 points in the opposite direction then pound the underdog.

For example:

At 3 p.m. EST the
Pittsburgh Pirates -150 (75% of public are on Pirates)
St. Louis Cardinals +135 (25% of public on Cards)

At 5 p.m. EST the
Pittsburgh Pirates are -130 (76% of public are on the Pirates still)
St. Louis Cards are +115 (24% of public are on the Cards)

POUND THE CARDS ON THIS PLAY!

The rationale and I truly believe this is if the majority of the public is on the Pirates then why does the number drop instead of rising? It makes no sense and usually the dawg will win in this spot. The bookmakers are not stupid and will drop the number because they're smarter than us. I've been following this for about 3 years and it really does hit more than it loses. Just my .02 worth.

Betting4Fun · May 31, 2007

Asiafever ,after you eductae yourself and since you are based in Canada for sport betting i would advise you to use BetFair , a betting exchange where you could back or lay,in other words place your own offers and or accept others,our fellow americans unfortunately can't use that site which is a top class.One of the things i love there is tons of live wagers where at many occasions you can end up with profit regardless of the winner since you can take others wagers and offer your own.as far as to reliability,they have great customer support,toll free for Canadians as well and their payouts are super fast.Best of luck