Pirate Party – We love betting

There are many different sports betting rules you can use to make a profit gambling on your favorite teams and events. Though many sports betting novices only think of betting on a team to win, there are a wide variety of bets available at most sportsbooks that deal with both team and individual performance. Each of these sports bets have their own set of parameters and rules, so it’s important to learn about them before you wager your hard-earned money on a sporting event. Here are five of the most popular sports bets and the betting rules that accompany them.

Moneyline

Moneyline bets are simple wagers that pick which team will win a game. Moneylines are set in the format of either minus or plus a number. When a moneyline is minus, it means that the team is favored to win by those odds. For instance, if the St. Louis Cardinals are -135 to win against the Pittsburgh Pirates that means that you would have to wager $135 on the Cardinals to win $100. However, if the Pittsburgh Pirates are at +135, that means they’re underdogs, and you’ll win significantly more money if you bet on them and they win. These rules often restrict the amount of money you can wager on individual bets, though moneylines typically offer higher overall maximum bets than parlay bets or prop bets.

Point Spread

Point spreads represent a figure set by Las Vegas oddsmakers that are intended to compel people to bet on the game. You can find point spread bets for any sport in which two teams score against each other, though they’re most applicable for basketball and football betting. For instance, if the Miami Heat is favored to win by seven points over the Indiana Pacers that means the Heat would have to win by at least eight points to “cover the spread.” The Pacers, meanwhile, could either win or lose by less than seven points to cover the underdog bet. Like with moneyline bets, most rules at sportsbooks will allow you place high maximum wagers on point spread bets.

Parlay

Parlay bets are a popular form of betting, though many experts steer clear of them because of their higher risk factor. Parlay bets work by combining multiple wagers into one overall bet, meaning every individual aspect of the parlay needs to happen in order for a gambler to win the bet. The more bets you add to a parlay, the more money you could potentially win, but the risk is also extremely high. Most experts recommend steering clear of parlay bets that incorporate over three factors, and many gamblers don’t do them at all. The rules also often prevent bettors from wagering too much money on these bets.

Teaser

Teaser bets function much like parlay bets, except they allow bettors to reduce the total point spreads for each of the individual components of the bet. For instance, in football, if you combine three teams into a teaser, you can “buy” certain odds, reducing the spreads by two, four, and even eight points. Of course, by doing so, you’re reducing the total amount of money you can win on the bet. Because teasers can significantly reduce point spreads, sports betting rules also prevent you from betting too heavily on these bets, frequently topping out at a maximum bet of only $500.

Futures

Futures bets function just like they sound: they look ahead to the future of teams or individual players and ask bettors to make a prediction. This can mean total team win totals, individual player awards like the MVP, or whether or not a team will make the playoffs. These are considered “proposition bets,” or “prop” bets. Many gamblers place these bets before the regular season begins so that they have a strong rooting interest throughout the course of the season and not just week to week.

Though oddsmakers offer a virtually limitless amount of bets you can place on your favorite teams, there are certain sports betting rules governing how much money you can place on them and how many bets you can combine. Parlay bets, teaser bets and prop bets all limit the maximum amount of money you can bet, and they also set the amount of either teams you can add to the parlay or the point spreads you can tease down. Still, savvy gamblers can take advantage of this wide array of available bets and play within the rules to make money betting on their favored match ups.

The greatest game for Atletico Madrid in 40 years comes today at the Vicente Claderon, a CL semifinal against Mourinho’s Chelsea. Full squad for los Cholchoneros as long as key keeper Courtois, who has a contract clause not to play against the team he belongs, Chelsea, got the clearance most probably because Atletico paid the huge fee for his clause, while Arda Turan has been fully recovered and made it to the list. Turan will start to the bench though and another problem may arrives in case that Juanfran, Gabi, Koke (plus Insua) get booked today something that means they are losing the return leg suspended.

Chelsea traveled in Madrid coming from the shocking home defeat against Sunderland, a defeat that as everything shows, will cost them the league title in the Premier League. Of course this is a CL semifinal, Mourinho has the know-how and the experience to cope with that. Peter Cech who didn’t play against the black cats will most probably feature today, right back Ivanović is suspended but Mourinho’s greater concern comes for Belgium forward Eden Hazard who has been struggling recently but made it in the list. He is doubt until last minute, Eto’o is out injured.

When comes to a CL semi final the home ground gives a strong advantage and this time this advantege becomes gigantic as long as Atletico Madrid is the host team. The rojiblancos have managed to built a fortress in Vicenta Calderon where they allow only 2 shots average in their goal in La Liga. Real escaped with a 2-2 draw shoting just 6 times on target, Barcelona failed to beat them in 4 games this season, they had only 4 shots between Atleti’s posts in the 1st round there!

It will be really difficult for Chelsea – and for every other team around – to go there and beat Atletico. Simeone with a full squad will not get all over Chelsea to win the game from the 1st minute. He has his philosophy and his strategy and if Atletico fails to score with the conventional methods they will start the siege and it will be really interesting to see how much Chelsea will last defending.

If one day your bookmaker offers you a betting credit with which to gamble, you should think very well should you take it or not. At first glance, this proposal looks great, but it can put you in some serious trouble if you lost the control over the situation.

The practice a betting company to offer loans to selected players which to enable them to bet is used by many companies. Of course, with very clear terms and conditions and with small amounts, but there are exceptions.

Just a note here, the betting credit should not be confused with the betting bonuses the bookmakers offer to their clients. They are two different things. When you take the bonus you are not obliged to return the money, but simply to play them out, while if you take a betting loan you have to return every penny you’ve got.

Here comes the main problem with betting loans which is in the ease with which they are received which brings the false sense of money you have available and you can risk by betting.

Indeed, almost all proposals for betting loans are for relatively small amounts, but there are cases where a player get offers for 30 000 pounds. This is precisely the case of a player from England, who once offered such credit within a few years lost all money. Currently he is on court which should decide must he return the whole amount or not.

In general, you should avoid taking betting or other loans for gambling. One of my favorite rules when betting on football matches is to play with money I have earned from the bookmaker. This does not imply quick profits from betting, but if a system is profitable, it will be profitable today and after an year. This gives you the security that you will not lose money when betting and find yourself in similar situation like this player from England.

The battling for keeping its place in the Premier League team of Norwich will travel to play with Southampton, which have solved this problem long ago and on the next year it again will play among the best football teams in England. Norwich definitely don’t play well away from home as they recorded four consecutive away defeats, something that doesn’t help them to improve their chances for staying in the Premier League.

This is seen by the bookies around the world and they offer very high odds for a Canaries’ win in this match. All three world biggest bookmakers – William Hill, bet365 and Bet at home offer odds of six for Norwich to win this match. The odds for a home win are between 1.55 with Bet at home, 1.57 suggested by bet365 and 1.6 which is the offer of William Hill. All those who think that this match will end with a draw will get odds of 3.75 from William Hill and bet365 and 3.8 from Bet at home.

My personal feeling about this match is that the victory will not come so easy for Mauricio Pochettino’s players. Norwich will play this match as hard as possible, just like a team which is in danger from relegation. We all know that in such matches this makes everything possible. That’s why I don’t like so much the idea to bet on so low coefficients offered by the bookies for a home win. A possible bet for a draw or for an away win also seems to me too risky as it is obvious that Norwich can’t play good enough away from home.

However, if you really need to bet on this match the most reasonable bet which I could see is to bet for Norwich on Asian Handicap with +1, although the rate of 1.83 proposed by bet365 doesn’t make this bet particularly attractive.

The goalscoring betting markets also don’t offer many good options so the best advice I can give you is just to stay away from this match and keep your money in your wallets.

Quite often on Internet you can find information about many ELO betting systems and how they can be used in sports betting. In this article we are not going to discuss in details the various statistical formulas used in calculation of the ELO coefficient, but rather how we can use this system most efficiently for the making our betting predictions.

One of the biggest problems which anyone face when using ELO system for betting on football matches is how to convert the advantage or disadvantage for either team in real odds. Here, we probably should explain that all ELO systems give a more real rankings of each team from a given championship, because the real strength of any opponent which a team must play with are calculated before the match.

One option to calculate this is to calculate the probability of a team to score a goal. For this purpose we need to do an ELO table which is not about who will win, lose or draw, but about whether a team will be able to score one, two, three or more goals.

In practice, this means we should have four or five ELO tables which we should convert into probabilities for each team to score a goal or not to. When we are ready, all that we should do is to convert the chances for each of both teams to score a certain number of goals in a comparative table.

Through this table and comparing the odds of both teams, we can easily calculate the percentages for each result and hence grouping together the different rates for different results. When we are ready with that we can easily calculate the chances of each team to be the winner in a match, to make a draw and so on. Similarly, we can easily calculate the odds for Under or Over 2.5 goals scored by both teams as well as any other similar betting option.

I am pretty sure that this betting system is interesting enough and you could try it in your betting repertoire.

This list of 10 fundamental concepts for sports betting success is primarily intended for those new to the discipline, but could be helpful to more experienced bettors. This list isn’t exhaustive or definitive. Your ‘mileage may vary’ but these are concepts that provide a good theoretical foundation for profitable handicapping and betting:

1) Educate yourself to how the line is made and why it moves: A common mistake of the inexperienced sports bettor is an erroneous understanding of what the pointspread represents. The conventional wisdom is that the pointspread is a prediction of who will win and by how much. There is predictive component to it, of course, but its primary purpose is to split the betting action equally on each side. This seldom works out perfectly with the opening number which is why the line is moved after it is made–to attract more money to one side or other. Understanding as much as possible about the art and science of pointspread formulation and movement is essential to successful handicapping.

2) Compile and Use Power Ratings: Successful sports handicapping is an aggregation of small edges that will add up over time to produce longterm profits. The key to consistent profitability is to exploit lines that offer wagering value on one side or the other. The first step in finding value is to compile and use power ratings, which are simply numeric ratings of each team. This provides an objective basis for comparison against the pointspread. You can either make your own power ratings, use the ratings from publications like The Gold Sheet with or without modification, or a hybrid of the two. Power ratings are typically a ‘starting point’ for more in depth handicapping but they’re essential when trying to work through a long card of college basketball or football.

3) Shop for the Best Price: Once you know how you want to bet it’s time to go shopping—shop around and find the most advantageous line at which to place your wager. On the surface a half point here and there may not seem significant but these small edges add up over time.

4) Look for opportunities to bet against ‘popular teams’: There are worse things to be in sports gambling than a ‘contrarian’ and more often than not its advisable to go against ‘popular’ teams. The public has a tendency to overrate the teams they like and underrate the ones they don’t care as much about. Furthermore, bookmakers often ‘shade’ the line according to this public popularity—in essence charging bettors a ‘premium’ for playing the popular side.

5) When handicapping football, understand the importance of “key” numbers, particularly 7 and 3: We’ll discuss key numbers in greater detail closer to football season but long story short—the most common margins of victory in football are 3 and 7 points along with multiples thereof. For that reason the corresponding pointspreads are referred to as ‘key numbers’. Moves on to or off of key numbers are much more significant than garden variety line movement.

6) If you can be objective, a “local” team can be a great advantage: The trick here, of course, is the ‘objectivity’ component. Assuming you don’t have an emotional investment in the fortunes of a local team it’s much easier to get in depth information that could be relevant to your handicapping. The Internet has leveled the playing field somewhat in terms of getting information once available only to ‘locals’ but you’d be amazed how much actionable information never makes it into the media. Here’s a tip—if you live near a college campus befriend a member of the campus police force. The information they have privy to—particularly at bigtime football schools—is incredible.

7) Require a greater ‘burden of proof’ for playing the favorite: Pretty much self-explanatory. In simplest terms, there are three things that can happen in any sports wagering proposition involving a pointspread: The favorite can win and cover, the favorite can win and not cover, and the dog can win outright. If you’re betting a favorite, two of the three possible occurrences will cost you your bet For that reason, it’s not a bad idea to require a higher standard for playing favorites. There are opportunities where a favorite can present a good value but more often than not you’re better looking at underdogs first. This isn’t to say that you can’t find value betting on favorites but don’t get hoodwinked into laying points just because mainstream sports media types label them as ‘superior’ to their opposition.

8) When It Comes to Sports Services, ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’: Here’s the bottom line: if a sports service says a game is a ‘lock’ or a ‘fix’, or if they say that a point shaving situation exists, or if they say that they’ve hit 70% or higher for a season, 99.9% of the time–if not more–they are lying. Plain and simple. I’m not going to naively suggest that situations of point shaving and fixing don’t exist, but when they do your friendly sports service won’t know about it until they hear it on the news like the rest of us.

Good sports handicappers and sports services are like good stockbrokers. They should be information resources–using their specialized knowledge and experience to do work that you don’t have the time to do Sports handicapping isn’t rocket science–it does, however, require a significant investment in time and good sources of information. Experience and contacts within the sports gambling industry are also helpful. This is what good sports services offer, but separating the wheat from the chaff is no small feat. Just remember the old saying ‘if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.’

9) Don’t ever think you “know it all” and don’t trust anyone who says they do: Sports handicapping is like any other discipline–exceedingly complex. The more you learn about it, the more you realize how much more that there is to know. The biggest mistake a handicapper can make–or anyone in any endeavor for that matter– is to think that a complex discipline is ‘easy’. Minds are like parachutes–they don’t function unless they are open. It is essential to remember that in sports handicapping, as in life, there is always more to learn.

10) Work to develop a disciplined, systematic approach to sports wagering: Simply stated, always do your work. Knowing when NOT to bet is as important as knowing what to bet on. If you haven’t had time to accurately handicap a game or games, just pass. Don’t make significant bets on ‘hunches’ or just to have action. Hard work and intelligent work are the keys to sports handicapping success.

This series of articles will look at tennis betting from a beginners point of view. It will explain to you the main factors you should keep in mind when placing your bets, and help you to not only achieve extra entertainment through betting, but also to help you place smarter bets so that you actually earn money while doing something you truly enjoy!

How to bet on tennis – Introduction

Tennis is a very popular and worldwide sport, and if you are among the millions that enjoy watching tennis matches, then tennis betting can enhance your entertainment value significantly. Betting on tennis has changed a lot over the last years. While some years ago you could only bet on who would win the match and had to place your bet before the match started, you can nowadays bet on who wins the first set, whether or not your player will win 2-0 or 2-1, total games in the match, and you can place many of your bets during the match (tennis live betting). There are, in other words, a great selection of bets available to make, and therefore all the more important to know what you should bet on and what not. But do not worry, we are here to explain to you all the main factors you need to keep in mind so you do not get lost in the jungle of betting options!

How to bet on tennis – Player ranking and seeding

There are rankings published for both men’s and women’s tennis on a weekly basis, and these are based on a 52-week cumulative and rolling system. The players are awarded points based on their results in the tournaments, the better result the higher amount of points, and the higher the total points the higher the ranking will be.

So when you are in the mood for some tennis betting, but unsure if the odds on offer are good enough to bet, then checking the player rankings of each player in the matchup is a very good start. The rankings will tell you a lot about the players’ general skill level, and often what you thought was an attractive price will not seem that attractive once you consider the rankings. Then again, there will be times when it seems like the prices are too attractive and do not make that much sense based on the rankings. So the rankings are very useful, but only a starting point and there are many other things to consider (which we will write about below).

You will no doubt come across the term seeding also. The player seeding not necessarily the same as the player ranking, a player’s seeding is for individual tournaments and used to ensure that the best players do not meet in the opening rounds (so that players seeded number one and two will meet in the final if they win all previous matches). If the players with rank 1, 2, 3, and 4 all start in the tournament then they will be seeded the same as their rank. But if for instance only players with rank 1 and 4 start, then they will be seeded 1 and 2. So it is very useful to know the actual rank and not just use the seeding when assessing the players’ skills (as in this example a rank 4 and rank 2 can make quite a big difference price wise).

How to bet on tennis – Final notes

We hope you enjoyed the above text and that it is useful for you a a beginning tennis punter. Remember that the text only covers the very basics, and stay tuned as we in part two will cover other factors such as head to head stats, surfaces, form, etc.

Statistics play an important role, when a sports bettor works on a betting system. This is also true when betting on tennis.

In football, a betting system may take into account statistical data of the teams, as in scorelines, wins, defeats, goals, and results on home and away games.

Similarly, a tennis betting system must conclude on the characteristics and performance of the tennis players we are interested in. This information will act as input data for studying our system.

Let us discuss 3 important tennis stats, which could help us predict more efficiently the outcome of tennis games.
1. Aces

The frequency in which a tennis player achieves an ace, in comparison to another player, might affect the outcome of the game. In tennis, a major advantage has often the athlete who serves.

Therefore, if a tennis player is very good at serving the ball, we can understand that their advantage increases. Thus, an important statistical parameter that could indicate if a tennis player has a significant lead over the rival player, is their frequency of aces during a game.
2. Breaks

The frequency in which a tennis player breaks the opponent’s serve is another important statistical factor. It is exactly the opposite of the previous situation, while it can help us to have a more accurate approach, evaluating the two competing tennis athletes.

A tennis player who scores fewer aces but handles more breaks might somehow balance the difference.

However, if a tennis player is not so good either on aces or on breaks, the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of the opponent, who will not only win more of the balls when serving, but also can deal with several of the opponent’s.
3. Unforced errors

Some missed hits in tennis could end up with a point in favor of the opponent. For example, when the ball goes out of the bounds or hits at the net. The more unforced errors recorded on average by a tennis player in every match, the easier rival will be for the opponent, since there is no need for elaborate tactics to win a point.

If we are talking about the top tennis players in the world ranking, this statistic probably will not make any difference, since all high level players already improved this factor. However, going down the list of professional tennis players, it could be valuable information in predicting the outcome of a tennis game.
Secondary tennis stats we should include in a tennis betting system

These are the most important tennis stats, relevant to the performance of the tennis players competing, which we should take under consideration when implementing our tennis betting system. Yet, attention must also be paid to the strength and speed of the athletes, as a strong stoke would require an immediate reaction by the opponent.

Some additional and equally important parameters that need to be considered refer to the playing strategy: if, for example, a tennis player usually approaches the net or not, and whether their favorite stroke is forehand or backhand, in direct relation to the distinction of players to left-handers and right-handers.

If the above data are entered into our betting system, we have put the necessary foundations for a profitable betting system in tennis.

The horse race betting offer is expanding further and further. It is primordial to choose your bookmaker carefully if you want to bet with complete peace of mind on a site that matches your expectations.

1001 Bookmakers discloses important elements you should not neglect before you register with a bookmaker.

Bets on offer and odds

The variety of bets offered by the bookmaker is a decisive element when you choose your bookmaker. While the types of bets offered by most horse racing bookmakers used to be modelled on basic ones most of the time, nowadays some sites offer other more original bets, such as “betting on the horse’s position”.

The odds (or returns) offered by operators can also vary, some yielding more than others. It is therefore interesting to register with several horse racing bookmakers in order to enjoy the best profits.

Bonuses

Bonuses are amounts of money offered by bookmakers when you register or when you make your first deposit on the site. Nowadays, online gambling sites specialising in horse racing make sure they offer great welcome bonuses : some of those bonuses even exceed those offered by sports betting websites. Those beautiful sums represent a great opportunity for you to constitute a basic portfolio to start betting, but you also need to pay attention to the nature of the bonus, i.e. what type of bonus it is.

Research the conditions to take advantage of this bonus carefully, as they are sometimes complex. A bonus that is too difficult to obtain may encourage you to head to another bookmaker without regrets.

Transactions

All the horse racing sites we list in our rankings are certified: transaction security is therefore guaranteed. Depositing money on a site in order to be able to bet is an essential step, as is the withdrawal of your profits.

All bookmakers offer debit cards as a deposit method, but others are available depending on the operators, such as Ticket Premium and Neosurf, which are top-up pre-payed tickets, or electronic money services like Skrill and Neteller. Transactions are usually fast, but you should not forget to check the amount of transaction fees, which are different according to the method you use and to the website you are registered with.

Customer service

Bookmakers were created to offer bets, but they also need to take care of their customers. As is the case with any commercial relationship, the quality of customer service is important. All sites have a phone line and email to answer your queries.

Some of them even offer a Live Chat feature, such as Bet365, which is very convenient (since you get quick answers by chatting with an adviser live on your computer), but still too rare with horse racing bookmakers.

Now, what horse racing Bookmaker should you choose?

A multitude of websites now offers horse racing betting, which proves that the market has developed considerably. In order to choose the horse racing site that suits you best, have a look at our rankings of the best horse racing operators. You will realise that a few of these websites have become essential, such as Bet365, Sky Bet, Ladbrokes, William Hill, etc.

1 Set Kroos loose

Toni Kroos, out for the past two months with a groin injury, has played the majority of the campaign at the tip of Bayern’s midfield triangle, drifting into deeper positions to help retain position, then scampering forward to create overloads in the final third. As Bayern struggled to get the ball past Dortmund’s first-half pressing on Saturday night, they missed Kroos’ positional intelligence. Kroos’ technical brilliance is unquestionable, but Pep Guardiola will appreciate his movement and selflessness– and there’s a feeling that the 23-year-old German playmaker can become even better. The new manager might be pleased Kroos missed the European Cup final through injury – he, more than anyone, will have the hunger to ensure Bayern reach the final in Lisbon next year, and he could become Guardiola’s most important player.

2 Find the ideal role for Götze

As the injured Mario Götze cheered on Dortmund from the sidelines at Wembley, he must have wondered quite where he will fit in at Bayern when he completes his €37m transfer later this summer. It seems most likely that Guardiola will deploy the 20-year-old as a false nine – the highest attacker up the pitch, but more of a No10 than a No9. Lionel Messi’s development into one of the all-time great footballers came after Guardiola moved him into that central role, and Götze has experience of playing as a false nine for Germany, showcasing his direct dribbling, but also proving he has an eye for goal. There may be further signings, but with Götze and Kroos set to play significant roles, Guardiola’s regular selection will be significantly different to the XI that started on Saturday.

3 Perfect the back-three alternative

As Dortmund pressed with intensity at the beginning of the final, Bayern were forced back. By half-time they had completed twice as many passes as Dortmund, but the vast majority were close to their own goal. In response, Bastian Schweinsteiger dropped into the centre of defence to form a back three, but this didn’t help Bayern work the ball forward. Under Guardiola, Barcelona often dropped Sergio Busquets back into the centre of defence, but there was more certainty about the way the entire side shifted between the two formations.

Bayern’s problem was that Thomas Müller, the attacking midfielder, didn’t drop deep to offer an easy forward passing option – under Guardiola, who experimented with a back-three starting formation during his final season at Barça, Bayern will look more fluent when a midfielder drops back, and Javi Martínez is a better fit there than Schweinsteiger.

4 When to use an orthodox No9

On Saturday, Guardiola was probably watching both his future strikers – Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski is expected to follow Götze to Bayern, to provide competition for the first goalscorer Mario Mandzukic.

While Guardiola became famous for his distrust of traditional strikers at Barcelona, he broke the club’s transfer record to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in the belief Barça needed a static central striker to offer variety and directness to their buildup play. His personal relationship with the Swede deteriorated quickly, but both Mandzukic and Lewandowski are more hard-working than Ibrahimovic, and Mandzukic is particularly adept at pressing from the front, then dropping back to make Bayern compact without the ball. Götze may start many games up front, but the pursuit of another top-class No9 suggests Guardiola will regularly use a player in that mould.

5 Encourage cohesive movement

For Guardiola’s Barcelona, what initially appeared to be sporadic drifts from attackers given licence to roam freely was actually incredibly detailed, pre-planned, integrated movement that originated from the training ground. Guardiola places big emphasis upon covering space efficiently – this gives his side a variety of options in possession and fully stretches the opposition, but also means the players are distributed evenly across the pitch, and therefore in a position to press without leaving gaps.

One area in which Bayern can improve when they have got the ball is their movement off it. Robben and Müller switched position to great effect in the second half, but that type of rotation will become much more regular under Guardiola. With Müller, Kroos and Götze all highly versatile, Bayern will become even more unpredictable when attacking.