Betting is fun, College Football is tremendous fun, betting on college football is fun squared. Betting (well, winning) on College Football is also extremely difficult to do long term and most will fail to do so. I classify CFB gambling as entertainment, and budget it as such. I view losing a bet as paying X dollars to be entertained for 3+ hours. I don't encourage anyone to bet by any other measurement, unless you are truly a professional with the time, resources, skill and dedication to make money doing so. Have you seen the buildings in Las Vegas? They didn't build them with charity money. They build them because suckers like you and I are willing to risk our hard earned money on games of chance, and they're better at it than we are. If you're looking for professional gambling advice, there are a ton of resources out there with better information than what I can provide. I'm here for the recreational bettor, someone who's learned that if you want to make an otherwise boring game when Ohio State plays Purdue feel like the national championship, put a few duckets on Purdue +40 points. The money, for me at least, represents my emotional investment in the game.
Obviously, I am not a professional gambler. I do not have insider knowledge, other than what I've learned or created on my own on this site. I will not lose sleep on any bets that I make from a financial standpoint. I've learned that betting outside of my limits is not fun for me, it's stressful. I don't ever want to turn a recreational passion into a negative. I have also been doing this for a long time, and will win money most seasons. Most of the time it's simply a matter of building a line for a game, adjusting as necessary, shopping around for the best number and finding value. If you thought I'd say something like home teams off a bye after a loss in a conference game... 99% of that information is white noise, it's not relevant. College Football, more than almost any other sport, is not a game of trends. The sample size is just too small to be relevant. I like to learn who the public likes in a game, but mostly to see if/how that could impact future lines. If you tell me a team is hot my first instinct is to bet against them. Say Ohio State does drub Purdue 73-0, I'm usually looking for ways to bet against them next week. Gamblors love blowouts, and if they see that score they will lay overpriced odds the following week.
I love the challange that CFB gambling presents. I love getting fired up for Saturdays whether I have no bets or 10, I'm a fan of the emotional swings a full slate of games provides. I have my own allegience (#Go Irish), and almost never bet on Notre Dame games as I have enough emotionally invested in them already. I really learned to gamble during the Bob Davie/Tyrone Willingham years, because ND sucked and were not much fun. But I was not good at it, and didn't understand why. I knew all the teams, who was good, who was awful, how could I not win at this? I'd see commercials where guys proclaim they win 90% of the time, heck I know as much football as them! What I learned was those guys were crooks, and winning at CFB betting is all about numbers. I built this site over many years trying to find the edge, or edges, that would make me a winner. It's just not that simple. The best you can hope for is to find an advantage on a team, or even a coach, that is simply much better or worse than most people realize, and that will only last a couple of games at best. The trick is to find those small advantages every week, something most people don't have the time or inclination to do. I am not a great gamblor, even with all of this information I accumlate and put to work. I am a good gamblor, mostly because I follow the rules below, most of them I learned the hard way. I hope this helps or at least entertains you...
My Personal Betting Rules
Obviously, I am not a professional gambler. I do not have insider knowledge, other than what I've learned or created on my own on this site. I will not lose sleep on any bets that I make from a financial standpoint. I've learned that betting outside of my limits is not fun for me, it's stressful. I don't ever want to turn a recreational passion into a negative. I have also been doing this for a long time, and will win money most seasons. Most of the time it's simply a matter of building a line for a game, adjusting as necessary, shopping around for the best number and finding value. If you thought I'd say something like home teams off a bye after a loss in a conference game... 99% of that information is white noise, it's not relevant. College Football, more than almost any other sport, is not a game of trends. The sample size is just too small to be relevant. I like to learn who the public likes in a game, but mostly to see if/how that could impact future lines. If you tell me a team is hot my first instinct is to bet against them. Say Ohio State does drub Purdue 73-0, I'm usually looking for ways to bet against them next week. Gamblors love blowouts, and if they see that score they will lay overpriced odds the following week.
I love the challange that CFB gambling presents. I love getting fired up for Saturdays whether I have no bets or 10, I'm a fan of the emotional swings a full slate of games provides. I have my own allegience (#Go Irish), and almost never bet on Notre Dame games as I have enough emotionally invested in them already. I really learned to gamble during the Bob Davie/Tyrone Willingham years, because ND sucked and were not much fun. But I was not good at it, and didn't understand why. I knew all the teams, who was good, who was awful, how could I not win at this? I'd see commercials where guys proclaim they win 90% of the time, heck I know as much football as them! What I learned was those guys were crooks, and winning at CFB betting is all about numbers. I built this site over many years trying to find the edge, or edges, that would make me a winner. It's just not that simple. The best you can hope for is to find an advantage on a team, or even a coach, that is simply much better or worse than most people realize, and that will only last a couple of games at best. The trick is to find those small advantages every week, something most people don't have the time or inclination to do. I am not a great gamblor, even with all of this information I accumlate and put to work. I am a good gamblor, mostly because I follow the rules below, most of them I learned the hard way. I hope this helps or at least entertains you...
My Personal Betting Rules
- Build a Budget - I set a budget of what I'm willing to lose for the entire season. I've found this is key.
- Manage my Budget - Having a yearly limit best leads me to game limits, I don't want to blow my budget by week 5.
- Bet by Percentages - If my standard bet is $100, 90% of bets are this amount. I may bet up to $150, including live bets, but never more.
- Know my limits - No bet is worth more than 1 1/2x my standard game limit, no bet under 1/2x is worth betting.
- Multiple books - I divide funds over multiple books. Always shop for the best number.
- Know your books - Circa & Pinnacle are the leaders, everyone else follows. If their line moves, it's coming for your book.
- Strategy - every bet is different, but general rule is I want to bet favorites & overs early, underdogs & unders late.
- Handle emotions - Betting is very emotional, stick to the math. Don't press when down, NEVER give it all back.
- Know what's real information - public bets, trends, line movements, even sites like mine. Trust only what you know to be true.
- Be willing to be wrong, but adjust - we've all lost bets so badly we've questioned our own sanity. Don't react, adjust.
- Good Bets Lose - A loss doesn't necessarily mean a bad pick. A win doesn't automatically mean a good pick.
- Buying points - only makes sense off the numbers 3 & 7. General rule, buying points makes you feel better pregame, not postgame.
- Parlays - are fun, but sucker bets. I'll bet parlays for 5-10 bucks at most, and I'll hedge if things get interesting.
- Live Bets - aren't for everyone, but I have numbers I trust and have made good $$ sticking to that when games start out weird.
- It's College Football - 136 teams, countless players/coaches having good & bad days. Identifying what results matter & don't is hard, but key.
- Nothing is a lock - Your stone cold lock may only be as strong as your QB's knee or your coach's marriage.
- Enjoy winning - I hate losing, it sticks with me, so I need this reminder. Focus on W's & L's equally.
- This is for fun - we all work hard for our money, and this is a recreation. There are millions of others if this is no longer fun.
- Leave emotion at the door - F that... I'm Irish and very competitive, winning and losing warrants an emotional response. If it goes beyond that though, shut it down. But I love winning man, I f'ing love it. You know, it's like better than losing (the great Ebby Calvin LaLoosh).
- 💵💵🐓🍽 - is my favorite text to send on Saturdays.
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