Handicapping is just lingo for deciphering who will win any given event. It also includes figuring out totals, or any other aspect of the game that can be wagered upon including prop bets. Bettors use the term handicapping as another word for doing their research or homework on a particular event.
There is no crystal ball that allows you to see into the future. There is no right or wrong way to handicap a particular event. It’s a very personalized subject and odds are that the way you handicap an event will be widely different than the way somebody else does.
Researching or handicapping a game to support a conclusion can be complicated or simple. Find what works best for you. The only given is that the more work you put into it, the odds are that your results will be better. Some people are very heavy into statistics and some are more prone to follow trends. Others break down each aspect of a game and attempt to simulate the outcome while others just make educated guesses. Whatever methodology you decide to use, realize that you are handicapping the game or event.
There is no rhyme or reason to why a particular event turns out the way it does. If you could go into the future and find the sports section of a newspaper you would become rich, similar to the scene in Back to the Future 2. But that isn’t reality. Reality is that studying games, sports, trends, numbers, etc. and figuring out how to get yourself in the best position to make positive outcome bets is handicapping done the correct way.
A break even better hits around 50 percent of his bets. A sharp or long-term winner can hit closer to 56-58 percent of their bets over the course of decades. Six percent doesn’t seem like much, but that six percent is the difference to having books scared of you, or books begging for your business.
I hoped you weren’t expecting a break-down of how to analyze games, because there are just too many ways to do it and it differs between sports. The best thing anyone from beginner to expert can do is have the most information available to them. In the age of the internet, the books are rarely left behind. Just because you just found out that Russel Wilson might be out for his next game doesn’t mean the books didn’t know hours ago and have already adjusted the line.
Study the event and the sport. Find lines that give you a good price on what you think will occur in the game or match. Do your homework and put yourself in a position to win using whichever method works best for you.
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