Whether you have been around the sports betting game for a while, or are new as well as have been following the advice found on this site, chances are you’ve been to sites like Covers.com while doing research on upcoming games. Chances are you have also noticed the little « consensus » tidbit next to each game, telling you which team the general public thinks will win. You may see that a team has a 70% popular opinion and feel like that could be quite a good bet that you can make. While nothing is ever certain worldwide of sports betting, this feeling will be incorrect.

One of the most important concepts to take into account when betting on sports is this: if the public won more than they lost, sports books would cease to exist. That is simplifying things just a little, keep in mind, but most of the time that’s a true statement. Casinos and sport books will be in business to make money–lots of cash. Should they are losing money in a particular area, they are going to either change the guidelines or stop offering it entirely. Considering that the world of playing online casino sport books is alive and thriving, it’s then safe to assume that they are making money and that, in the long run, the public loses their cash.

I have been telling people to subscribe to the theory of reverse general sediment for years now. As is the case with a lot of the advice I have offered here at SportBooksReview, I’m not suggesting that individuals blindly bet against the team with higher public support every night–just keep it in your mind when doing your research. You can find some situations where observing the general public consensus and comparing it to line movement may be very eye-opening, and these are the situations where you can pounce.

Since we discussed in our Line Movement article, there are various of aspects that may cause sport books to move the line. One particular factor is just one team getting decidedly more money wagered on it than the other, creating a scenario where the books would lose a sizable sum of cash if one team wins. Books would prefer to have an excellent, even sum of cash bet on both sides of a game, to ensure that regardless of which team wins, they’ll come out on top because of the juice (newbies: betting $110 to win $100, the $10 will be the juice). This is why it’s really a wise decision to take a quick peek at the consensus percentages together with the line movement for the games you want to bet on–there can sometimes be some very useful hidden information to give you a benefit.

When doing your research, if you happen to find out a game where the public is very heavily betting on one team, say 70% or higher, yet the line did not move from it’s original number, then you have to ask yourself why which is. Should the public is betting most of their money on a team, although the books do not move the number to attract betters for the additional team, then it’s telling you something. Either the books are confident that the general public will lose, or even the big-money sharp betters have already made their bets on the other team. No matter what, this really is a significant red flag. Again, don’t blindly bet your money on this strategy, but there will be situations where these numbers are too strong to ignore.

In many instances, I like fading the public–especially when there’s a strong public consensus betting on the underdog in a game. While you surely already know, the common theme of my articles is research–we’re speaking about your money here, so it’s extremely crucial that you make every effort to search out a benefit before making your bet. As will be the case with a lot of my advice, this isn’t meant to be a one size fits all strategy, but part of a larger overall strategy of doing your homework and ultimately finding solid money-making opportunities. If you follow the advice I have offered in the article and combine it with some of my other strategies, you will win money–the only question is: the amount?