A debate you will always hear when it comes to sports betting is what the ideal number of bets to make is. Should you look to make a large number of bets each week, or should you instead concentrate on a few games that are the highest quality and give you the best chance of succeeding. You might expect someone in my position to tell you that you should focus on making the best quality picks you possibly can at all times. I’m not going to do that because I don’t think that it is necessarily true. There is no one right answer for most situations in sports betting. What is important is you go down the path that is right for you. That means that you need to evaluate what your strengths, weaknesses, and goals as a sports bettor, and pick the approach that is best for you. Here are six questions to ask yourself to help determine if quality or quantity is the approach for you when handicapping:
What are your goals? – there is another way you could ask this – why are you betting? Is your goal to make as much money as you possibly can? Or do you enjoy the puzzle and the challenge of trying to figure out how a game is going to turn out and who is going to win? Do you like to watch every game that you bet on to enjoy the thrill of watching? Or do you like to have lots of bets live at the same time so you can pay attention to them all? Are you committed to making a meaningful amount of money from your betting, or are you more interested in the action? The more of an honest sense you can get of what you want to get out of betting the better you can answer the question of what approach is best for you.
Can you bet more games and still be a winner? – If you want to consider betting on more games then you need to make sure that you stand a good chance of being profitable while doing so. If not then what’s the point? In order to consider increasing your quantity of bets, then, you need to be sure that you are making a solid profit per game now at the level you are betting. Your profit per game is likely to decrease as you bet more games, so you need to make sure that you can still make a profit if you make less per game. This involves some guess work, but by looking back at your sports betting records you can likely make a reasonable guess.
Can you streamline your handicapping process to make it faster? – In order to bet a lot of games you need to be able to effectively handicap a lot of games. That’s not rocket science. You still need to be able to handicap effectively, though – if you are sacrificing significant handicapping effectiveness to bet more games then you likely ultimately aren’t going to be any further ahead – and you are undertaking a whole lot more risk in the process.
How much time do you have to get ready? – This is really an extension of the last point. Betting one more games means more time handicapping (likely), more time making bets, more time following those bets, and more time recording and interpreting the results. There is nothing wrong with spending more time doing those things, but only if it makes sense for you and helps you reach your goals more effectively. If you don’t have the time to properly bet more games then your handicapping quality – and ultimately your results – are going to suffer.
How big is your bankroll? – When you are betting on more games you are likely to have more money exposed at the same time. Even if you decrease your unit size slightly because of the increased number of bets you are making you could still have several active bets at the same time. If you don’t have a big enough bankroll to handle the risk – and the potential that you could fall into a pretty good hole if you hit a losing streak – then you are not going to be able to succeed over the long term. It is always important to be properly funded for your sports betting, but it is especially important when you are going to be betting a lot.
Why do you want to bet more games? – Ultimately this is what it all comes down to in sports betting. If you have a good reason that makes you want to bet on more games, and you are reasonably confident that you can do it effectively, then there is no reason not to do it. One of the great joys of sports betting is that you only have to answer to yourself.
