Selecting a Sport to Bet on

So, you want to start betting with a system and not randomly huh? But where to begin with? Building a betting system looks like a labyrinth and a heavy task, but not in my book. There are some steps you should take in order to be successful and completing each one of them with the greatest attention will prove invaluable.

First you should decide the sport you are going to bet on. Pick a sport, any sport you like, the one you are a fan of, the one that you hate the most, the sport that you believe has the greatest potential. However, there are some requirements before you blindly select a sport. Let’s check them out…

Great knowledge of the game is more than essential. Gameplay rules and type of games should be known and fully understood. Not just the general type, you should know the game inside out. Say you decide to bet on football (soccer for USA). Am I familiar with cup games and their schedule? Do I know when leagues start and how many games each championship includes? Players’ suspensions, injuries and whether a player is eligible for european cups should ring a bell. Is the game settled on full-time or must extra time be considered?

1. Next comes the ease of data collection. You don’t want to bet on some kind of sport, information of which is provided by just one website in the other side of the world! You’d like to make your life and business easier. You will need some data inevitably, being either statistics, or livescores, or anything else. Are all of these free, and if yes are they in a useful format I can make use of? I may be using Excel spreadsheets, can I copy the info I need easily? Is there a site which has gathered all the needed information and you don’t have to wander around 10 sites? That’s a plus for me. Most importantly, are they up-to-date? Will you have fresh data each morning? Internet is an endless source of information, use it to your benefit.
2. Say you decide to take your business to Betfair. Liquidity is one of the most troublesome aspects of the game and one that should be taken into account. No one wants to develop a profitable strategy only to see that there is no one to bet against! This problem is solved easily if you choose to bet on some other bookmaker. Have in mind however that winners are not welcome to the most of them and moving bankrolls from one bookmaker to another will definately be time-consuming.
3. Time is generally precious and we must make the most out of it. That’s why we need a lot of games to bet on during the year. Pick a sport that offers many betting opportunities, so that you increase your turnover and eventually your profits. Remember, it’s not only the number of games played during a year, it’s also the variety of bets available. If for instance you come to develop a method based on asian handicap betting, you need more games which are offered with that kind of bet.
4. Does the sport need you to be alert 24 hours? Is it necessary to sit in front of the monitor for many hours? Are the games spread throughout the day, or are there only evening matches? Does the time schedule fit in your social life (you don’t want to lose that, do you?) or you are going to end up a sleepless owl? Select a sport that looks promising but at the same time leaves you some breathing room.
5. Finally, you don’t have to be a fan of that sport. Many bettors place their bets on sports they like watching or discussing with other friends. You are not a bettor, you are an investor. You are looking into starting your business, so personal emotions should be left out. Certainly, no one told a baker to open a bakery shop if he didn’t like baking! However, what you like here is betting, not playing or watching football! So, make that hobby of yours pay you!

This is the end of part one of the series on building your own betting system. Tomorrow we will speak of input variables, statistics and how to collect data to use in our system’s database.