One of the things that both players and bettors learn is that you shouldn’t spend time looking ahead to games further up the schedule. The most important game is the next one you are playing, and if you forget that you can make costly mistakes. There are times, though, that it actually makes sense for bettors to be taking a peek at what is to come. Here are four situations in which you should be looking beyond the next games to be played:

Games that teams could be looking ahead to – You need to look ahead at the games that are coming in the future so that you can know when there are games that teams could be looking ahead to. We all can think of many examples when a team has overlooked a seemingly weak opponent because they have a major rival or important competitor coming up next and it has gone badly for them. The media and the betting public will likely be on top of the most obvious of these situations, but you can often find more subtle situations that can provide you a great betting opportunity. You can look ahead for games against a heated rival that follows a game against a weak opponent, or for a team that has a rematch with an opponent that beat them in a big game last time they met.

Games you can bet in advance – Sometimes sports books will offer you the opportunity to bet on some games well in advance. For example, before the NFL season starts you can bet on marquee games throughout the season. There are often too many variables involved to make these legitimate bets, but it is still important to take a look at these situations to see what they have to offer. Perhaps the best thing to look for here is situations where you think that the line is likely to move significantly before the games are played. By making a bet on them now you could put yourself in a position to bet a middle. On the other hand, if you are optimistic about a team that most people don’t seem to be then you could catch a line now that could be much more attractive than it will be by game time if the team performs like you expect them to.

Games you want to bet as soon as possible – By looking ahead you can spot games where you are going to want to make your bets as soon as you possibly can – before the betting public gets their hands on the lines. For example, if you really like how a football team is playing and they are a high profile public team then you will definitely want to look ahead. If they are playing a game in a week or two that offers a matchup that you really like and would likely want to bet then you will want to be prepared to make a decision as soon as you can. The longer you wait to bet on the game the more time the public will have to bet on the same team as you, and the more likely it is that the odds will become less attractive than they are when they are released. If you are interested in a particularly public team that is playing against a less public team then it’s conceivable that the line could move by a couple of points or more. Looking ahead at the schedule, then, could allow you to capture a whole lot more value in your bet.

Games that are totally confusing to you – No matter how good you are at handicapping there are going to be some games that totally confuse you. It could be because there are some types of teams that you can’t get a handle on, or it could be because it involves teams that you can never seem to pick correctly. By looking ahead at the games that are coming down the line you can spot out these games that are likely to be problems for you. The sooner you know that they are coming and when, the sooner you can start to take note of what is going on with the teams involved, and what that could mean for the game in question. For example, if you are confused by a team because you don’t have a good sense of how an explosive offense will deal with a particularly good defense then by spotting the game early you can look at how that offense performs against other good defenses, or how the defense responds when they face speed. You might be able tot spot something that isn’t obvious in the boxscores, and that make be enough to lift the fog of the game from your mind.