NFL Gambling Basics

Gamblers or prospective gamblers beware! Most NFL gambling hype you read, see, or hear in regard to betting sports is misinformed, erroneous or simply designed to take your money before you even place a bet. In order to be successful sports bettor, you have to have skills in money management, play selection, a good attitude, and reasonable expectations as to what you can expect to win if you are successful. Let me give you a method of money management as an eye opener:

Size of Bet	Minimum Bankroll
$20 - $30 per game	$1,000 - $2,000
$40 - $50 per game	$2,000 - $3,000
$100 per game $5,000	$500 per game $25,000

Most players start the season with absolutely no clue as to how much capital it takes to withstand the ups and downs of a typical football season. You should give yourself enough money to have a chance all year. NFL gambling is nearly always full of streaks. Even with great handicapping, you're still going to lose 40 percent of your bets, so be prepared. You've got a bankroll, so what's next? Divide it up as follows:

Bankroll	Average Bet	College	Pro	Reserve
$1,000	-$25	$400	$400	$200
$2,000	-$50	$800	$800	$400
$5,000	-$100	$2,000	$2,000	$1,000
$25,000	-$500	$10,000	$10,000	$5,000

Here is the important part. Never risk more than 25 percent to 30 percent of your bankroll on any week. On the best plays you will bet 8 percent and maybe 2 to 3 times a year you will find a game that's worth 10 percent of your bankroll. If you love a lot of action, simply drop your bet size (2 percent to 3 percent), but never risk more than 33 percent of your bankroll in one day. If you win one week, your bankroll is larger so you'll automatically increase your bets as you win and conversely decrease your bets as you lose. The purpose of the reserve is to re-capitalize one of your bankrolls if the season starts out cold and you hit an early losing streak. In a typical year you should be cautious weeks 1 - 4, be bold weeks 5 - 12, and then revert to caution until the play-offs and bowl games.

This is a simple money management scheme and we'll coach you on taking profits or when to use your reserve as the season progresses. There are more sophisticated methods of money management available, but for most people this method should work just fine.

This should give you a start in the right direction. As the year progresses we will discuss how a NFL gambling season is really 4 seasons, each of which must be bet differently. We'll discuss the importance in NFL gambling of the line or point spread and which line moves are significant and which aren't, as well as recap for you weekly where the syndicate (Gambling Syndicate) money was placed as well as how the sports books themselves actually fared.