Sports Wagering 101 by The Outlaw Micheal Tomsik

I believe sports wagering is not only for some fun and entertainment but can be a means of making money. However most of the people who wager on sports is more for the entertainment value of it all.
If you want to make money you have to look at it in an entirely different prospective.

First Lesson: Your not playing against the sportsbook or house. 

Many people buy into the belief they need to break the books. 

Las Vegas opened the first sports book in 1949 and they still operate today. 

So they have been around 71 years to date. 

So believe me when I tell you they have figured out how to make money. 

Sports wagering and the sports books broke nearly 11 billion mark in 2019, and made about 750 million dollars from people losing wagers.

So if your planning on doing sports wagering as a way to make money get it out of your head your attempting to break the books. 

It just is not going to happen.

Second Lesson: Know how much money you want to make and how much money your going to lose

I recall the first time I wagered for my company called Outlaw Sports Betting Club answering to my investors I could have lost a ton of money the very first day. I had done nearly 1 year of research however and had 10 years of working in sports books to rely on. I still sometimes look back at my whole experience for nearly 3 years of wagering on sports 5 to 7 days per week and 10 months out of the year. How many games I wagered and the amounts of money that flowed through my business was amazing.

BANKROLL: A bankroll is money used for wagering sports, it should be an amount your comfortable losing or being able to replace if needed.

Treat it as a business  and not as personal entertainment, if your just wagering for entertainment great, but if your wagering to make money it is a business. 

Third Lesson: Make sure you understand how to wager and how point spreads, money lines, over and unders all work.

Sports books over the years keep changing with the times.

They are there to make money.

Sports books take what is called a VIC.  

The VIC is usually 10 percent of every wager win or lose.

Point spreads,money lines, and over and unders can change fast as wagers are placed the sports books adjust the odds so that they can make the money.

Sports wagering is actually the biggest risk in the casino as far as losses in gambling for the casino or sports book.

Fourth Lesson: Sign up for mobile apps and players club cards

Though sports wagering is the least compensated in gambling you can still earn rewards from many sports books and casinos. However you must have a players club and many of them require it when you apply for a mobile app.

Fifth Lesson:  Taxes withholding and when you will need and ID and Social Security Card

To apply for a players card or mobile app you will need and ID, however a social security card is only needed in you plan on exceeding wagering or cashing in over 10,000 in a 24 hour period. 

Casinos are regulated by the Treasury Department, and Gaming Commission that follow both State and Federal regulations regarding wagering on sports.

As far as taxes most of the time there are no taxes withheld from sports wagering, however there are certain circumstances that a sportsbook may have to withhold taxes from a winning sports wager.

Sports Books are required by law to keep track of transactions exceeding 10,000 in a 24 hour period so plan on providing ID and Social Security.

The sports book may even investigate where your getting the money from if you wagering large amounts.

Sixth Lesson: How much to wager 

This goes back to your bankroll, most sports books have a $5 minimum wager on sports, however some books allow $2 wagers. 

As far as how much you can wager depends on the book, most books will allow you to wager between $5 to $10000 per game maximum. 

However it really depends on the sports book, how well they know you, what wagers are on the game, how much the sports book wants to risk on the game.

In my books I compared it to a full time job. 

Let's say you wanted a position that pays $15 an hour so in an 8 hour shift you would make $120 per day.

So you could make one wager that would make you $120, but what if that wager loses? 

Than you are out the amount you wagered this is why a bank roll is needed and to have a good plan for losses.

How much to wager is really up to you, again we are looking at this as a business however not for entertainment.

So based on my theory of comparing it to wages earned your would make $600 per week getting paid $15 per hour.

Based on this I would start with a bankroll double of that meaning $1200.00 dollars.

You will wager the $600 to make the money, the other $600 is to cover losses if needed.

When you wager sports you must put up money to win the money, if you win your wager you get the money you wagered plus whatever you win back, if you lose you get nothing the book keeps it.

Seventh Lesson: Understanding the lines

There are three basic lines in sports:

MONEY LINE< POINT SPREAD<OVER/UNDER

A Money line is an amount that is set by the books that Team A or Team B will win the game one team is considered the favorite and one is considered the underdog.

The Sportsbooks use money lines in hockey, baseball, boxing, mma, football, and really in all the sports.

However you must understand how this line works to wager on sports.

NEGATIVE NUMBERS (-110) The negative number will always be on the favorite team, and can change depending on a variety of factors. What it means is that if you are going to wager to win $1 you will need to place $1,10 wager, and if you win your return would be $2.10.

POSITIVE NUMBERS (+110) The positive number will always be on the underdog team, and can change depending on a variety of factors. What it means is that you make $1,10 for every dollar you wager.In this case you would wager $1 and if you won you would win $2,10.

I only used the $1.10 for an example sportsbooks will never have the money line the same the favorite will have a larger negative number, and the underdog will have a larger positive number.

EXAMPLE:

TEAM A          -125
TEAM B         +105

I think this is enough lessons for this blog I will be writing some more soon!