Sport betting, what is not to love about it?  You can watch your favorite team and make some extra money on the side.  But if you are a serious punter, then you need to go deeper if you want to make serious money.  This starts with spotting the trends, not only in the game itself but also in the odds.  Here is a quick overview on how to find the winning trends in sports betting.

Data not Emotion

To really win big with sports betting you need to have access to data – tons of data.  The good news is that just about every sport today is data driven; and with good reason as the combined salaries of the players in any major sports league is on the order of billions of dollars.

What does this mean for you?  Well, for starters, you need to base your bets on data and not emotions.  While this can be difficult when your favorite team is playing, it is important that you find a way to divorce yourself from the game – if not, then you could end up losing big money.

Live sports results can be a blessing and a curse when it comes to managing your emotions.  On the one hand, they are a godsend as it keeps you informed, while on the other hand staying constantly up-to-date can add stress, especially when things are not going your way.

In fact, this is the same challenge that active traders face in the financial markets as the constant deluge of data can take an emotional toll over time.

Don’t let this happen to you.  Instead, perform your research before placing your bet and then focus on something else.  This is what the best money managers in the world do and it is a best practice you should incorporate into your betting patterns.

Be a Contrarian

The worst thing that can happen in sports betting, or in life for that matter, is to go along with the group without any supporting evidence.  Unfortunately, this happens all too often and these blinders can end up costing punters wads of cash.

To counter this, you need to hone your ability to be a contrarian.  Now, this does not mean that you need to bet against the prevailing sentiment every time but rather question the reason for the sentiment and if possible find the angles to help you to maximize your profit.

One way to tell which way the wind is blowing on a certain game is to look at the betting percentages.  Most bookmakers will publish this information and the key is to find the points in the curve before the house moves the line in the other direction.

These are opportunities to profit especially if you get a couple of extra points on any given bet.  In fact, doing so can add close to 4 percent to your chances of winning and this can be the difference maker over the long run.
Remember, most betting markets are irrational, so don’t accept the prevailing thought at face value.

Get Crafty

Now I don’t mean to cheat but rather to find the edges on any bet and then look for ways to exploit that edge to your advantage.  One example can be football.  Say, the New England Patriots are +14 vs. the New York Jets.

Now you would expect that most of the bets would be on the Patriots in this scenario and you would be right.  However, it is also likely that the line will eventually move.  As such, you want to find a bookmaker with the line that is lagging this trend as it is an opportunity to further pad your winnings.

While this approach can pay off, it requires patience and constant monitoring of sports lines.  In fact, this is akin to high-frequency trading in the stock markets as you are essentially looking for a nanosecond of difference from one house to the other.

There you have it, look for trends that include arbitraging the lines from one house to another and by being skeptical about the prevailing wisdom on a game.  By doing so you can find the winning trends in sports betting and hit it big.