There's a growing debate in youth sports today about the inherent dangers of children being funneled 24/7, 12 months a year into one sport. The conclusion among the experts is that this is not a good thing from a physical, emotional and mental standpoint. There's always been a similar debate when it comes to sports betting. Is it the wise bettor who chooses one sport to wager on, follows that sport religiously and doesn't venture from this chosen path? The conclusion among the experts is that this is a very astute way to wager.
Should You Be A One-Sport Specialist?
Benefits Of One-Sport Betting
The explosion in the online sports betting industry over the past decade is evidenced by the smorgasbord of wagering options that are available to the sports bettor. Let's pick an online sportsbook and go down the menu of sports to see all that they offer.
Over at Bovada, you are able to wager on Major League Baseball, a vast array of soccer that includes international tournaments like the World Cup and European Championship, the UEFA Champions League, the MLS, top domestic European leagues such as the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Spanish La Liga, as well as smaller domestic leagues from Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
You can bet on the NFL, on the NBA, NCAA football and basketball, and the CFL. Golf betting options cover the PGA, LPGA, Champions Tour, European Tour, all four majors and international events like the Ryder Cup. Tennis includes wagering on each of the four Grand Slam events, as well as regular tournaments on the ATP, WTA and Challenger Tours. Beyond the NBA, basketball fans are able to bet on the WNBA, all international events and domestic competitions from around the globe.
There is wagering on boxing and UFC and other MMA competitions, cricket, darts, rugby union and rugby league, snooker, cycling, volleyball, Aussie Rules, team handball, Gaelic games, motor sports, table tennis, badminton and poker. You can even place bets on esports and political, religious and entertainment events.
You're getting the picture, aren't you? There's a lot to absorb and to try and take it all in would not only be all-encompassing, it might border on insanity.
Narrow Your Focus
Its easy to get overwhelmed in this sea of sports betting opportunities and while it might be a kick to bet on Danish soccer, team handball games from Iceland or hurling from Ireland, the reality is that you probably don't know a lick about any of those sports. That's why the wisest approach to betting is the same sage advice often offered to authors - stick to what you know.
Even to simply try to maintain focus on the four main North American sports - the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB - would be an overwhelming chore in itself. The seasons overlap and with more than 30 teams in each league, there would literally be thousands of variables you would be required to unearth and take into account. Who's playing? Who's hurt? Who's hot? Who's slumping? Who's about to embark on a road trip? See what we mean?
In the film Forget Paris, Billy Crystal portrays an NBA referee who when travelling on the road, no matter the town, no matter the restaurant, always orders chicken parmesan for dinner. His fellow referees chide him over his obstinence, and suggest that he choose from other areas of the menu. Great strategy for life. Bad strategy for sports betting.
Crystal's character might not understand a thing about veal piccata, but on other hand, if you wanted to know the best place in every NBA city to get chicken parmesan, there would be no better person on the planet with which to consult.
You should apply the same approach when betting on sports. Your best bet to betting success is to narrow your focus down to one chosen sport. You know that the online sportsbooks are doing this. They will have experts assigned to every sport whose sole task will be to research and maintain databases on the goings on in that league. They will know every tendency, every winning streak, every injury, every player who carries a hot hand against a certain opponent.
Sports betting is already a tough nut to crack on a consistent basis. By spreading yourself too thin, you are not only making your own task arduous and nearly impossible, you are making it easier for the bookmakers to profit off your inevitable betting mistakes.
Choose Your Sport
Everyone has a favorite sport, the one that they would select above all others if there was a conflict in terms of what you were going to watch that day. Apply this same line of thinking to your sports betting practices, and you will find that it will be getting easier to stay on top of what you need to know with every passing day.
For sake of argument, let's say you chose the NFL as your sport in order to display the approach you should take to one-sport betting. Once that choice is made, going forward, you entire focus, your purpose in life in terms of sports is to get to know every nuance, every detail, all the goings-on of the NFL.
Read what the experts have to say about upcoming games. Know each team's roster forward and backward. Devour stats and analytics. Study the history of match ups and recognize when there is a mismatch. Peruse the daily transactions, read up on player movements within the team's starters and most of all, memorize the weekly injury reports. Do all of this and you will have a fighting chance to come out ahead when you bet on the NFL.
During the off-season, there will be prop and future bets to wager on, as well as potential player and coaching moves, and of course the draft. And if you want to place bets on another sport, this would be the time to do so. But don't do it willy nilly. Take the same approach as you have with the NFL and do your due diligence before you make your play. The effort will literally pay off in terms of winning wagers.
