When it comes to betting on sports, everyone insists that they have a foolproof system. Whether it’s wagering on football or playing the ponies, you’re going to run across people who will tell you that they’ve developed a strategy that never fails to succeed.
The fact of the matter is that there is no unbeatable system. If that were indeed the case, there would be an awful lot of millionaires walking around flashing their wagering winnings, and online sportsbooks would be going out of business faster than typewriter repair shops.
There is one facet when it comes to sports betting that in reality applies with similar impact in virtually all pursuits. It’s an old saying, an adage if you will, and it goes something like this: knowledge is king.
The more you know, the better the chance is that you will succeed in whatever pursuit it is that you’ve decided to go out and try. Treat betting like you would any other aspect of your life. Do your homework, study and learn as much as you possibly can before placing that first wager. After all, it is your money that you’ll be risking on that bet.
To that end, check out these statistics and analytics sites in order to seek to gain the edge that could make you a winner at the betting window.
FiveThirtyEight.com
Nate Silver, the man behind the statistical analysis site FiveThirtyEight.com, built his reputation around assessing political races, but the work they do applies just as efficiently to all types of sports.
They are especially strong with their predictive analysis on football and basketball, which also happen to be the two sports most frequently bet on in the USA.
They’ve devised their own systems of analysis to help predict the outcomes of games. They describe their Elo ratings as being an assessment of a team’s strength that weighs head-to-head results, margin of victory and quality of opponent. Their CARM-Elo ratings are built to assess player strength. It offers projections of a player’s future performance by comparing their progress to other players of similar style.
The data they offer employs thousands of simulations of events in order to conclude what the outcome will be. They explain their findings and reasoning in clear, easy-to-understand wording. Best of all, FiveThirtyEight.com is 100 free to use.
TeamRankings.com
If the NFL is the sport that you intend to wager upon, then TeamRankings.com is a must-use site. It’s easy to maneuver stats page will answer all of your NFL betting questions in a matter of moments.
Should you bet the Indianapolis Colts off a rest advantage? Are the Seattle Seahawks a good play as a home underdog? Should you wager on the Pittsburgh Steelers to go over or under on the total?
Utilizing the Team Rankings calculator, you can do the math and have your answer in seconds. This data can be calculated on a straight up outcome, or against the point spread. It’s your call. Their data goes all the back through the 2003 NFL season.
For those willing to pay for even more in depth data, there’s also a subscription service that delves into even greater detail.
ProFootballFocus.com
As their title suggests, they specialize in the gridiron game, but aren’t limited to the NFL. The analysis at ProFootballFocus (PFF) goes in depth on both the NFL and NCAA games.
Each week, they assess and assign grades to players at all positions, as well as to team units. Want to know the best run-blocking offensive line? The cornerback who supplies the tightest pass coverage? The punter who gives his team a stellar field-position advantage? It’s all there for your perusal. Many NFL pro scouts are known to utilize PFF’s data, so you can be certain that it’s reliable information
It’s broken down per week as well as issuing overall grades for the season. This type of data can prove extremely helpful when determining player and team props in an upcoming game. Want to know whether to bet over or under on a running back’s rushing yardage total? Check with PFF to see how effective the opposition defensive front seven is at curtailing the run.
As with TeamRankings.com. PFF offers both free and subscription services.
