It’s July 20th, 2009, and we’re rolling right along towards the first week of NFL regular season play, scheduled to kick off September 10th, 2009. Meanwhile, the skids are greased for pre-season play, which begins in just 2 weeks. So, as you ponder what to do with yourself until all the excitement begins, why not review some of our NFL tips and pointers for the forthcoming season?
sportsbetting3.com NFL football betting Tips 2009
- Don’t bet futures more than 2 weeks in advance – Sportsbooks love to come up with wild future bets, and tend to offer them weeks in advance. Aside from Super Bowl futures, which are widely bet on throughout the regular season, we don’t recommend betting on any futures that will happen more than 2 weeks in advance. This is mostly due to the fact that betting a future for a game 7 days from now, for example, is a safer bet than a game a month from now. Players get hurt, game dynamics change, and most of the time, it’s utterly impossible to predict with any degree of certainty what will happen in the coming weeks. Remember, futures can be tough to win, so don’t dig yourself into a hole right out of the gates by betting futures as soon as the season begins.
- Stick to 4 team Parlays or less – If you’re itching for parlay action, it’s always tempting to go for the 12 team bets that promise thousands if they come in. Unfortunately, unless you only bet a few dollars per parlay “for fun”, money placed on these types of wagers is wasted. It’s one thing to bet $1 on a 15 team parlay for the hell of it, but another to bet $1000 on a 15 team parlay as a serious wager. Play it smart, and play it safe: read up on what’s happening in football and you’ll probably have a good idea about 3-4 teams that will win their games during a given week of regular season play. Yes, 3 or 4 team parlays don’t pay nearly as well as a 10,12 or 15 team parlay, but the likelihood of winning these smaller parlays is much higher. You can easily turn $100 into $500 without much effort and risk at all. Save the 15 team bets for your dreams.
- Mix up your Parlay bets with both NFL and College Teams – As a follow up to the tip above, if you can’t put your finger on 4 NFL winners, pick 2 sure wins in the NFL and pick another 2 sure wins in NCAA football. Again, your return may be slightly diminished, but remember, the idea is to make money, not lose it. Therefore, if your sportsbook allows you to bet across different leagues, we highly recommend mixing up your parlay bets between the NFL and NCAA.
- Teasing and Pleasing Bets – First of all, before you place a Teaser bet, we recommend you review our “What is a Teaser Bet?” page – Click Here. After you understand how the bet works, you should also consult your sportsbook’s house rules and regulations on “Pleasers”, a variant of teasers offered as specialty bets at some major sportsbooks. Take the middle-of-the-road points offered by the book, generally 8, for your bets. This gives you moderate risk with moderate reward. Taking a smaller number of points may be riskier with a higher payoff, opposite to taking a larger number of points with low risk and low payoff. Think of the bell curve, and you’ll know what we’re talking about. Overall, if you understand how Teasers work, they’re a much safer bet than a parlay, and really allow you to play around with the numbers on a close matchup. Like parlay bets, don’t bet big unless you know your ship is going to sail 🙂 .
- Signup at Multiple Sportsbooks – This may sound a little confusing or overly complicated, but in reality, it makes sense to have multiple sportsbook accounts, as backups for contingency planning. Suppose, for example, that you want to place a wager at your favorite sportsbook, but you’re not allowed to deposit anymore money because you’ve exceeded your monthly credit card deposit limit. If this is the case, go to Plan B: Visit the website of your second favorite book, where you’ve already registered, and deposit right away so you can place your bet. Just because you’ve met deposit limits at one book, doesn’t mean you can’t deposit at another. Also, if a sportsbook is slow paying you, giving you the runaround, or otherwise causing trouble, it’s a good idea to have a backup account at another book so that you won’t miss any of the action while you sort out what’s going on. It doesn’t cost anything to signup at a sportsbook, so why not have a couple backup accounts just in case?
So, while you anxiously await the beginning of the 2009-10 NFL football betting season, take time to plan for unforeseen events, figure out betting strategies, and evaluate the various types of bets offered by your sportsbook. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: an informed bettor is a winning bettor, plain and simple.
As always, look to sportsbetting3.com for advice and “how-to” guides for the most common wagers, using the menu located on the left-hand side of this page. We’ve put together some helpful reference guides that will greatly enhance your NFL football betting experience. Finally, check out our 2009-10 NFL football schedule page, where you can find the complete lineup of action for the entire season, including game dates and network TV coverage.
Good luck and Have Fun!