What is Good Sports Betting Information?

Betting on sports has been around since the sports were invented. Nowadays via a site like bwin.com you are able to bet on almost any major sport and even on things like number of corners in a football match or which player will win the first set in Tennis. For those wanting to bet in play, bookmakers offer a selection of live betting opportunities allowing you to sit at your computer and watch the action through live streaming.

Odds compilers gather as much information as they can on the sports match to take place and assign odds to each outcome. Punters can then wager on that as a bet. The bookmakers make money because they do not offer a return bigger than the chances of the outcome actually taking place. For example, if one outcome in the sports bet would happen 80% of the time then the bookmaker would offer you odds of 70% for the favourite, guaranteeing over time you lose 10% of your money. Does this sound unfair? This is how bookmakers make their business work and the skill in odds compiling is always maintaining their bookmaker’s edge. The skill in betting on sport as a punter is being able to find winning bets that offer value so over time you stay in profit.

Considering bookmakers still accept bets on sports you can be assured that no-one has yet found a solution to beating the bookmaker. What punters need and constantly search for is good information to help them find these winning bets at a price that represents value.

Good information in sports betting is anything that you know that would alter the chances of the outcome of the match. If a golfer has a sore wrist, for example, or is struggling on the putting green this may be a reason to avoid the bet despite attractive looking odds. If you spot a value price you should stop and think if the bookmaker has made an error or are they privy to the same information you are aware of. Consider if your own research is accurate as they do not miss much.

Many punters check the early odds then place bets as information becomes available, racing against the bookmakers before a price change can take place. This is particularly common in horse racing when a gamble occurs and a horse price becomes a “steamer” (where the price drops dramatically in a short space of time). It happens in sports too, for example, when it turns out two or three star players of one football team will be missing through injury for a key match.

Sports betting information must be reliable. You should treat any information you hear as possibly relevant until you can confirm it. Sometimes football teams say that a player is going to miss a key match to throw their opponents tactical preparations. If you can find out that this player is in full training, perhaps in secret, you may get value at the current price.

In snooker, for example, I know that Peter Ebdon practised a lot with Liang Wenbo and Ding Jun-Hui before they became big names in Snooker and has great respect for their games. They both beat Ebdon in practise and when the odds favour Ebdon I back the young Chinese players, knowing he has lost to them many times and fully appreciates their talents at the table. Check the results from the past; I have done quite well from this. Any information you can obtain that an odds compiler may not be aware of is very useful to help you decide if you can bet in an advantageous position against the bookmaker.

Knowledge is definitely power in sports betting.

By Malcolm Clarke