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Winning punters learn where to focus their energy. They find the best way to make money and pour all their attention into it.
You’ll be able to concentrate on things that are more likely to make you money if you avoid the 6 sports bets punters should avoid listed below.
1 – Parlays
When you bet a parlay you bet on two or more games and must win every game to collect.
You win a higher amount when you win, but it’s more difficult to win on a consistent basis.
Common pay outs for a two team parlay are 13 to 5, for a three team parlay 6 to 1, and 10 to 1 for a four team parlay.
Most punters look at a payout of 6 to 1 or 10 to 1 and start thinking that they don’t have to win very often to turn a profit. While this may be true, the reality is most punters lose money on parlays in the long run. It’s hard to pick three or four teams to win any given week. And if you lose one game you lose the entire bet.
If you place straight bets and win two out of three you make money but a three team parlay loses money. Don’t place parlay bets unless you already win on most of your straight bets. Even then it might be a bad idea.
2 – Teasers
A teaser bet is when you bet on two or more games and receive points to adjust the lines. This may seem like a great way to place bets but the reduced price you get when you win makes it difficult to show a long term profit.
Here’s how a teaser bet works.
A 6 point teaser on two games lets you move the point spread 6 points on two different games. You have to bet 110 to win 100 and you have to win both games.
The pay out for a three team six point teaser is usually bet 100 to win 180. This is shown as 9 / 5 in many places.
On the surface teaser bets look like a great way to beat the sports books, but don’t forget the sports books are making money and most sports bettors lose in the long run.
Once you prove you can beat the spread games on a regular basis you can consider teaser bets, but most professional punters know better than to try them.
3 – Their Favorite Teams
Punters are notorious for betting on their favorite teams.
Why shouldn’t I bet on my favorite team?
The reason is because if you want to win you need to be able to handicap games without any bias. Your favorite team has a built in bias when you handicap games involving them because you want them to do better than they really are.
Don’t even think about placing bets on games involving your favorite team if you want to think of yourself as a professional punter. You’ll find there’s just no money in it.
4 – Prop Bets
Prop bets are any bets offered outside the normal wagers.
For the most part, normal bets are money line bets, wagers with or against the spread, and over / under bets.
Examples of prop bets include:
- Which team will score first
- How many points will be scored in the first quarter
- How many runs will be scored in the first inning
- How many points will be scored in the second half
- How many touchdowns will Dan Fouts throw in the game
A prop bet can be just about anything you can imagine, but most of them deal with things that happen in a game. The Super Bowl is the most popular event dealing with prop bets every year.
Becoming a winning punter is hard enough when you focus on regular wagers. Don’t divide your attention and start looking at prop bets until you have a solid winning track record.
5 – Huge Money Line Favorites
Everyone looks at a game with a huge favorite as a sure thing. When Alabama or Ohio State plays a small college football team early in the season inexperienced punters don’t see any way they can lose.
So what if the money line is $2,200 to win $100?
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that a game is guaranteed to win. And to be honest, most of the time the giant program will win when they’re a big favorite. But do you know the actual math behind a bet like this? Do you know how many times the favorite has to win to make this bet profitable?
If you don’t think a big upset is possible just look at any college football season in recent history. You’ll find big upsets every single year.
In the example above, the favorite has to win at least 96% of the time to turn a profit. If you placed this bet 100 times and the favorite won 96 times your total profit would be $800. That’s only an average of $8 per bet. And that’s assuming the favorite can win 96 out of 100 times.
Are you willing to risk $2,200 for the chance to win $8 on average every time you do it?
You’d be better off working at McDonalds.
6 – Any Sport You Haven’t Mastered
Betting on a sport you haven’t taken the time to handicap properly is about the same as setting your money on fire. You might get lucky and win a few games but in the long run you have no hope to win.
Being a winning punter takes hard work and time. You have to treat your betting like a business and concentrate on doing what it takes to be successful. Just picking games without doing the proper research isn’t treating your betting like a business.
Conclusion
It’s hard to be a winning punter.
Don’t make it any harder on yourself by trying the six bets described above. Concentrate on finding specific areas where you can turn a profit and work on expanding these areas slowly and surely. You won’t find professional punters messing around with these bets.
