College Basketball Betting Tips
Posted : admin On 4/7/2022Knowing how the public has bet on certain teams can help you make smart College Basketball picks. Instead of making a bet you’re unsure of and crossing your fingers so hard they fall off, use our College Basketball Consensus page to help you make educated wagers. Many people who watch college basketball also bet on it, college sports betting is different from betting on the NBA as less is known about the teams involved (read this – NBA player props betting). However, if you do have the right knowledge then this is a big advantage to. The Home Of Free College Basketball Expert Picks For The 2020/21 Season. College basketball picks and college basketball predictions for the 2020/21 season. Our experts crunch the numbers, betting trends, injury reports, and much more to produce the best free college basketball.
It doesn't matter if you are a novice bettor just learning the ropes or a professional bettor that's seen everything in their 25 years in the business, at one time or another (more like several times in your life time) you will have to throw away an NCAA Basketball Picks ticket in which a team failed to cover the point spread by a half point. It's one of the more frustrating losses in the industry, right next to the classic ninth-inning bullpen collapse in baseball. Some would say losing a bet by the hook is the bettors fault, not the actual players or coaches in the game, and in some cases they would be right. Buying points while sports betting is both a blessing and a curse -- depending on if you know when to do so or not.
Imagine yourself at home on the couch waiting for the last West Coast game to tip off. You've had a terrible Saturday so far betting the early games, and your biggest bet blew up in your face and lost by a half point. You're starting to get angry and make rash decisions with your bankroll. The last game of the night is the typical WCC special -- Gonzaga versus Saint Mary's. The Bulldogs are laying 9.5 points at home. and you are desperate to make up some of the losses suffered just hours earlier. Unfortunately, the last thing on your mind is the half-point loss you just suffered, so you make the decision to by a half-point and lay nine. The Bulldogs end up winning the game 88-85, and that extra half-point you bought didn't even come into play. Instead of paying -110, you just paid -120 or -130, depending on the book, and put yourself into an even bigger hole for no reason.
I understand the thought process of buying points, and it does always seem tempting, but the reality of the matter is that buying points in bad spots is one of the quickest ways to drain your bankroll.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the process of 'buying points,' let me explain. Most sportsbooks will allow you to buy points in any sport that takes bets via the point spread. These points are sold in half-point increments (buying a half point is also known as 'buying the hook'). Most sportsbooks also charge on a 10-percent price for each half point bought. For example, if you like the favorite laying 7.5 points at -110 (-110 is the standard juice on a point-spread wager, meaning you must bet $110 to win $100), then you will have to lay at least -120 to move the line to (-7) and -130 to move it to (-6.5). While it doesn't seem like much to lay an extra $10 on a $110 bet, you will quickly notice that this extra juice adds up in a hurry over the course of a full NBA season. Not to mention, the extra points that you buy aren't going to affect the spread enough to give you a proper return on your investments.
Key Numbers
If you want to be successful handicapper who wins more bets then they lose, it's vital to understand the concept of key numbers in sports that allow point-spread wagering. While most handicappers worry about key numbers in the NFL and college football, the NBA and college basketball has a handful of key numbers of their own. For starters, the number seven is the most prominent key number. The reason for this is the act of fouling at the end of games. A team down by two possessions will be more inclined to foul, thus giving the leading team foul shots in order to extend the lead. Once the lead reaches three possessions with time running out, the losing team is likely to concede and let the clock hit 0:00. The next set of key numbers in the basketball is two, five, six and eight. The same principal holds true for each one of these key numbers regarding the fouling situation at the end of games, except for the number two. If a game is tied late, very rarely will it be won on a game-winning free throw.
Since sportsbooks are in the business of making money, there is absolutely no chance they will allow bettors to buy points off the key numbers of two and seven for the standard 10-cent price. The value of turning a seven-point line to +7.5 for the underdog or -6.5 for the favorite is too much for the sportsbooks to handle. For the books who do allow this, they will likely charge no less than 20 cents. So, a standard -110 line at -7 would become +7.5 or -6.5 (-130) depending on the book you are playing at.
College Basketball Betting Tips
The only problem with focusing on key numbers while betting the college basketball is that there are so many points scored throughout the course of a game that the lines are often vulnerable to different factors such as pace of play or teams hitting or missing every shot. Sportsbooks will take those factors into consideration before posting lines that feature key numbers. Very rarely will you see a two or seven-point spread. However, when you do, it is very unlikely that they move off those numbers unless there is very heavy action on one side of the number.
In terms of other secondary key numbers, shopping around for the best lines is always the ideal method. If you aren't afforded the luxury of being able to shop around, you may still be able to get half-points off five, six, and eight at a decent price. However, if you are in such a desperate state that you absolutely need to pay such a high-price to get a key number, passing completely on the game may save your bankroll from going up in flames.
Garbage Numbers
While key numbers in college basketball are important, there are also a lot of numbers that I consider 'garbage numbers,' and buying points onto garbage numbers is a mistake that almost all novice bettors will make. While it seems like many college basketball games are really close at the end, not many games are decided by one point. If you have a one-point underdog and buy a half point to move your line to +1.5, you are not getting good value for the price you pay since games are so rarely decided by one point, It's the same scenario for buying a half point to move a 4.5-point favorite down to four.
Shop for the Best Numbers
I can't stress this enough to all novice bettors who are looking to make a name for themselves in the betting world. Shopping around for the best numbers is among the most important things you can possibly do to limit the losses and increase the bankroll. Having multiple options to place a bet with will allow you to compare lines and furthermore bet the best line available.
Shopping around for the best numbers will almost eliminate the need to buy points completely. The majority of sportsbooks often differ among their lines, so with a little due-diligence you can avoid that line of +7 and find it somewhere at +7.5.
The reality of the matter is that over the course of the college basketball season, you may net a few extra wins or avoid a few losses by turning them into pushes by buying points. However, the juice you pay will burn your bankroll in a hurry if you go on any extended losing streak. In all my years of betting on sports, I've come to believe that buying points is a losing proposition over the long haul and I would much prefer to have several different books in order to shop around for the best lines.
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We lost the 2020 NCAA Tournament, unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. It was a tough way for a great and wide-open season of college basketball to wrap up. A lot of people tend to play the brackets or bet on NCAA Tournament games, but they do not take the time to research and study during the regular season. We’ll help you get prepared for the 2020-21 college basketball season so you can build your bankroll. Some beginners aren’t familiar with the basic workings of wagering. We’ll hit all of that below.
College Basketball betting: Ways to bet
Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list of today’s sports betting odds and lines.
Whether you’re a beginner, an intermediate bettor or you’ve been wagering your whole life, when you bet college hoops, it’s all about limits. The best rule of thumb for better success is to select just a few conferences on which to focus. If you try to bet all 353 Division I teams, the only thing guarantee guaranteed is that you will lose. That’s too much, even for the pro cappers.
For beginners, focus on one or two conferences, intermediate bettors can handle up to three, and the long-term guys can expand their focus to four or five conferences. Know them inside and out, study the injury reports each week and follow trends and statistics closely. Long-term players might also want to keep a spreadsheet with results and trends, and try and develop a statistical system.
College Basketball betting: Key betting terms to know
Most college hoops bettors wager on the spread. You either take Team A or Team B to win with a point spread. You can also bet the moneyline, which is simply taking one team or the other to win outright, regardless of the margin. In addition, you can bet the Over/Under on the total number of points in a game.
If you choose to bet a parlay, you bet two or more different things, and each bet needs to win for you to cash a winning ticket. Generally, the odds are much better with the more bets you include in a parlay, but the risk rises with each addition to the ticket.
College Basketball betting: How do odds work?
Let’s say Michigan is favored by 7 1/2 points over Indiana with a total of 129 points. If you bet the favorite, you need Michigan to win by at least 8 points to cash. If you bet the underdog, you need Indiana to stay within 7 points in a loss, or win outright.
If you were to bet the Over, you would need a total of 130 or more points for a winning ticket. If you bet the Under, you would need 128 or fewer points for your bet to cash.
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College Basketball Betting Strategies
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