NCAA March Madness College Basketball Betting System

The 2009 NCAA men's basketball tournament, otherwise known as March Madness, is upon us in only two short days. I'm going to Las Vegas, where every serious college basketball sports bettor should be during the first two rounds of NCAA tournament to try to win a little cash. This will be my fifth or sixth year in Las Vegas for March Madness, and I'm thinking about employing a system this year to try to win some money.

Now, at this point, I don't have any idea exactly what that system will be, but I think there are some successful one's out there. A guy I used to work with a few years ago always went to Las Vegas for March Madness and always told me he won money. When I asked him his secret, he said his buddy had a system, that he just followed his buddy, and he always won money. I never could get what the system is, but I think it was heavy on underdogs and heavy on certain seeds covering consistently. That underlying philosophy I think is important for winning during March Madness - stay away from falling in love with specific teams and try to find trends that pay off.

What I'm trying to say is, for the teams, they don't how much they win by. They only want to "survive and advance" during March Madness. That philosophy is great for the team, but bad for college basketball sports bettors betting on the NCAA tournament. This means teams will often pull guys, particularly in the first rounds of play, to rest them for the next game or future games, when up big. That tends to result in terrible teams making remarkable comebacks to cover the spread right at the last second.

The other thing is, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is pressure packed - for those teams with a high seed. They have sights on winning the NCAA tournament and realize fairly quickly that one bad game can end their dreams. Underdogs, both by seed and those designated so by the sports books (it is ridiculous to think that college basketball players don't know the spreads of their games - when I played basketball in high school we knew who was picked to win the game) have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If they lose, it will hurt, but it won't be the same as if a favorite loses. This often results in lower seeded teams playing the higher seeds relatively close - usually the good teams are good enough talent wise to win, but they are playing so tight they don't run away with a game like they normally might. This make betting on college basketball that much harder when you take favorites.

Where am I going with this, you might be asking? I'm not sure. It's a tall task because some teams cover, certainly, and picking which ones is the name of the game.

- I must take an aside here, relying on the greatness of the internet I just googled "ncaa tournament betting trends" and found some great information I think I'll share now that will probably shape my NCAA March Madness betting strategy -

Okay, here are some of the NCAA tournament betting trends I've found that will form the basis of my NCAA tournament betting system. And although I realize in sports betting trends don't really mean a lot, since every game is independent of another, there is something there, even if it is a self-fulfilling prophesy type of a thing. For example, a 12 seed almost always beats a 5 seed (Western Kentucky and Arizona are the two I'm feeling right now), and it probably has nothing to do with trends and more to do with the fact that 12 seeds come into the tournament not just expecting to cover but to win because everyone thinks it is possible, and for one team, is even inevitable. It is hard to beat those odds as a basketball team.

On to the trends - first against the spread (ATS):
- Since 1998 69% of the higher seeded teams have won their games.
- But in that same time, the favorite has only covered against the spread 47.3% of the time.
- Double digit favorites are 65-67-2 in the last two years.
- Favorites of 3 points or less are only 49-57 straight up and 42-64-1 ATS (39.6%)!
- First weekend trends
- In the last 7 years, the favorite has covered 48.8% of the time.
- Over the last 2 years, the lower seeds have covered 56% of the time.
- #1 vs. #16: 28-0 straight up, 16-12 ATS, 14 of 24 totalled games went UNDER.
- #2 vs. #15: 27-1 SU, 12-16 ATS, 16 of 24 games went UNDER.
- #3 vs. #14: 26-2 SU, 16-12 ATS, 9 of 15 games went OVER.
- #4 vs. #13: 22-6 SU, 14-13-1 ATS, 14 of 24 games OVER.
- #5 vs. #12: 17-11 SU, 11-16 ATS, 15 of 24 games OVER.
- #6 vs. #11: 20-8 SU, 15-13 ATS, 14 of 24 UNDER.
- #7 vs. #10: 15-13 SU, 15-13 ATS, 14-8-2 in favor of UNDER.
- #8 vs. #9: 15-13 SU, 14-14 ATS, 13 of 24 OVER.
- What does this tell us, if anything? First, I think its fairly clear that the 8-9 match up is the one to probably stay away from against the spread (if trends hold true). And it looks like taking the 10 to win outright would probably pay out over time (assuming greater odds for an underdog winning). Otherwise, it looks like you want to play underdogs for 2 and 5 seeds, and favorites for 1 and 3 seeds, and truly gamble with the rest.

- General second round trends:
- On Sunday, the lower seed has a straight up record of 27-29 and are 32-24 ATS (57%).
- 52 of 95 (55% of games in the second round have gone over.
- Line Placement:
- Favorites of more than 6 are 26-29 ATS (but 10-6 last two years)
- Favorites of 4-6 points are 11-11 ATS, but over the last two years are 1-4 SU and 0-5 ATS
- Favorites of less than 4 points are 11-20 ATS!
- Seeding Patterns:
- #1, #2, #3 seeds are combined 36-44 (45%) ATS in second round.
- #2 vs. #10 is especially harmful: 5-9 SU and 4-10 ATS.
- #2 vs. #7 though, is not as bad: 9-4 SU and ATS.
- #10 and #8 seeds have best ATS this round, with #10 going 11-4 ATS and #8 11-5 ATS.

I guess maybe we should see if some of these trends hold true. I particularly like some of the second rounds stats, and think I may roll my college sports betting according to this system:
1. #10 to win outright.
2. #1 to cover.
3. #12 to cover.
4. Anyone favorite of less than three points - bet on underdog to cover.

I'll get to my second round system after I see how the first rounds went. Good luck!!

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College Basketball Sports Betting | Picks of the Day

Yesterday my college basketball sports bets of the day were okay at best. I was 3-5 on the day, but two of the three I was correct on were my two unit picks, so I almost broke even for the day. There were just a lot more upsets (outright even) than I saw coming. Just one of those days.

My record for the season is:
Two Unit Picks - 2-0
One Unit Picks - 16-16-2
Parlays - 1-4

Hopefully we can turn it around a little bit and make some money betting on college basketball. Here are my picks:

Michigan (+120) vs. Illinois - Michigan to win for one unit. I was going to pick this before Illinois lost their starting point guard. Now I'm even more sure.

Ga Tech vs. Florida St (-5) - Florida St for one unit. Ga Tech had their one flash in the pan yesterday. Fl. St. is too good to take these guys lightly now.

Miss St. vs. S. Carolina (-2.5) - S. Carolina for one unit. Miss St had to play yesterday and Carolina is the better team.

Alabama vs. Tennessee (-7) - Tennessee for one unit. Tenn is too athletic for Alabama. And Alabama is not that good. Not a good combination for Alabama.

Florida vs. Auburn (+145) - Auburn for one unit. They are playing really hot right now and need this game to secure an NCAA birth. Florida will be playing hard, but I think Auburn has the horses to pull this upset off.

Baylor vs. Texas (o/u 140) - Over for one unit. Baylor looked to be getting hot in their win yesterday over Kansas. These two teams will run it up and down the floor, and both will put the basketball in the hoop.

Ohio St. vs. Wisconsin (-3) - Wisconsin for one unit. Don't have a great feel for this game. Wisconsin is better and they are more experienced. That is usually a pretty good formula for success.

I also parlayed Tenn, Florida St, and S Carolina for one unit. Have a great time watching NCAA basketball games and getting ready for March Madness. If you are like me, this is your favorite time of the year, as the college basketball is great and the sports betting is even better.

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College Basketball Sports Betting | Picks of the Day

Here we are for another day of college basketball sports betting. Yesterday was a pretty good day, going 4-2 overall and 0-1 for my parlay. This makes my college basketball sports betting record 15-1-2 and my parlay record 1-3. Not bad so far. There are some pretty great match ups out there with the conference tournaments in full swing. Great college basketball lines out there to take advantage of.

In light of the number of games, I've made quite a number of college basketball sports wagers today. Hopefully they pan out. Here we go:

Georgia Tech vs. Clemson (-9.5) - Clemson for one unit. Clemson is the better team here. They are playing in Atlanta, but if Clemson doesn't come out asleep, they should be okay.

Marquette vs. Villanova (-3) - Marquette for one unit. With the injury to James, they just don't have the depth to play back to back games, particularly with the degree of difficulty increase in level of competition.

Air Force vs. BYU (-16.5) - BYU for one unit. Air Force didn't win a conference game until last night. BYU is a perennial conference basketball powerhouse. They should roll Air Force.

Indiana vs. Penn St. (-9) - Penn St. for one unit. Indiana is terrible and Penn St. needs to win this game to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. If Penn St. wants to experience March Madness, they had better win this game. And Indiana is terrible.

Fresno St. vs. Utah St. (-10) - Utah St. for two units. This is my first two unit bet. Fresno St. is terrible, has already played one game, and Utah St. was undefeated for the better part of the year. They should roll Fresno St.

Ok. St. vs. Oklahoma (-5) - Oklahoma for one unit. OU is playing for a one seed in the NCAA tournament, and needs a good showing in every game to get that consideration. These two teams just played, but Oklahoma St. has already played a game, making it susceptible to fatigue.

TCU vs. Utah (-10) - Utah for one unit. Utah is just the better team.

Texas Tech vs. Missouri (-12) - Missouri for two units. Texas Tech is a terrible team. They had to fight back from a 20+ point deficit last night to win the game. Missouri's goal is to get wear you out. Texas Tech, by the end of the game, will have no legs.

And, last but not least, a parlay. Mizzou, Utah St. and Utah. Good luck, and let's win some money betting on college basketball!

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College Basketball Lines | Picks of the Day

If you are following along, yesterday I was 1-1 picking college basketball betting lines. That is kind of like kissing your sister. But I'm still ahead on the year, so I've got that going for me. No sports betting advice today. Just picks. My record, after yesterday, is 11-10-2 and 1-2 on parlays.

Here are my college basketball sports bets of the day:

St. Johns vs. Marquette (-7.5) - my pick is St. Johns for 1 unit. This is the Big East Tournament, being played in St. John's backyard. Hopefully they can keep this one close.

Notre Dame vs. West Virginia (-5.5) - my pick is West Virginia for one unit. They are just the better team. Period.

Charlotte vs. St. Joe's (-2) - My pick is St. Joe's for one unit. Same reasoning as St. Johns (this is not the Big East, but they are playing in New Jersey).

Iowa St. vs. Oklahoma St. (-10.5) - my pick is Ok. St. for one unit. Ok. State is the better team and they are playing in Oklahoma City.

Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M (-6.5) - my pick is A&M for one unit. A&M is just better. This line is pretty favorable for A&M.

Seton Hall vs. Syracuse (-6.5) - my pick is Syracuse for one unit. See St. Johns for reasons.

I also parlayed St. Johns, Oklahoma St., and Syracuse for one unit.

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College Sports Betting Rule #2 | Don't Bet on Your Favorite Team

Time for successful college sports betting rule #2 - do not bet on your favorite college sports teams. Rule number one discussed how terrible the odds are for parlays and how if you want to win money betting on sports you should not bet on parlays. If you follow these rules, I won't guarantee that you'll make money betting on college sports, but I will guarantee that you at least won't throw it away foolishly.

On to the rule. If you are any bit of a college sports fan like I am, you can't help but take a look at the betting line for your favorite teams whenever they are playing. And if you are like me, you can't help but talk your way into convincing yourself that your team is not only going to win, but is going to cover as well. And that is exactly why you should not bet on your favorite team. That, and the nightmare scenario happens more often than not.

Betting on college sports is an art, not a science. The last thing you need is something like team loyalty clouding your judgment. And what inevitably happens when you bet on your team is disappointment and heartbreak. When you bet on your college sports team and they are a favorite, invariably three things can happen: (1) they can win and cover the spread; (2) they can win and not cover the spread; and (3) they can lose (and not cover the spread). In this scenario, only one result actually allows you to feel good about your team, even if they win. And trust me on this, if they win and don't cover the spread, it is not the same as if they win and do cover the spread.

The other scenario happens if your team is the underdog. Three things can happen here: (1) they can lose and not cover the spread; (2) they can lose and cover the spread; and (3) they can win (and cover the spread). Would you really feel good if your team lost and covered the spread, winning you a little cash? Imagine at the end of the game getting pissed at a missed field goal that results in your team losing by 23 instead of 20. It's a dirty dirty feeling.

So just stay away. There are plenty of great opportunities with the college basketball lines and college football lines to find great odds without betting on your favorite college team. The only situation I could see betting on my own team is if they are an underdog and I picked them to win. But even then I harbor a little bit of resentment if they don't produce a winning bet. The magic and fun of the game itself is lost.

Now that you've been exposed to another successful sports betting rule, I'll give you my picks of the day. Yesterday I went 1-2, and probably shouldn't have bet on the games I did (another rule I have is that it is okay to bet if there are no good bets out there). That puts my college basketball sports betting picks record to 10-9-2. Not bad. Still cash flow positive, which is nice.

Here are my college basketball picks of the day, although the pickings are slim:

Georgetown vs. St. Johns (+7) - my pick is Georgetown for one unit. This is the first round of the Big East tournament and Georgetown is by far the better team. Hopefully they show it today.

Rutgers vs. Notre Dame (-10) - my pick is Notre Dame for one unit. Again, first round of Big East college men's basketball tournament. Again Notre Dame is by far the better team. They should cover relatively easily.

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Successful College Sports Betting | Picks of the Day

Day three of my college basketball sports betting odyssey turned out to be a little better than the first two days. A couple of breaks finally went my way (although one free throw would have made it a great day) and for whatever reason I finally won some games. I'd like to think it was my astute reasoning and ability to see sports lines that were off. But it was probably a little of that and a little bit of luck (no matter what anyone says, it always is).

For the year, I'm now up to 9-7-2 on the year, and 1-2 on my parlays. Isn't it crazy that out of the 18 picks I've made so far that two have been exactly on the number? That is how good these handicappers actually can be. Beating sports handicappers is really difficult. The key is making smart sports picks and not falling victim to the sucker sports bets.

On to my picks of the day. These are all conference tournament picks, based in large part on overall and conference records, and the locations of the conference tournaments (Tennessee-Chattanooga, for example, is playing in Chattanooga, giving them, in my eyes, a pretty significant advantage, particularly when an NCAA men's basketball tournament berth is on the line).

Here are my NCAA men's basketball games picks of the day:

South Alabama vs. ARKANSAS LITTLE-ROCK (-2) - my pick is Ark. L-R for one unit. I think they are just a little better and the game is in Arkansas.

St. Mary's vs. GONZAGA (-7.5) - my pick is St. Mary's to cover for one unit. This is the West Coast Conference Championship game, being played in Las Vegas. These two teams are by far the two best teams in the conference, and the rivalry as of late has blossomed. St. Mary's lost both games to Gonzaga earlier in the year, and needs to win this game to participate in March Madness. St. Mary's will leave everything on the court.

College of Charleston vs. TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA (+125) - my pick is Tenn-Chatt to win outright (they are a two point underdog). Although C of C has the better record, Tenn-Chatt is essentially playing at home for a chance to go to the NCAA tournament, a tough task for C of C to overcome.

Good luck tonight, and look back later this week for a new successful sports bettor rule for success.

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NCAA College Basketball Sports Bets Picks of the Day

So, my day yesterday wasn't great. I finished 2-2-1, with one of my wins being a money line pick, giving a slightly better payout (+110 vs. -110). For the year, this puts me at 6-7-1 on the season, slightly under .500, but very close to being positive with cash for the season.

Yesterday turned out worse than it should have because I forgot to take into account a very important factor in college basketball, which is also one of my sports betting rules, home court advantage in college basketball is a huge factor in sports betting. Sure, road teams win all the time, but I think the percentage is much lower with road teams that actually cover. In my case, I took several road teams that were over 5 point favorites, putting my chances of victory much lower. Take into account the additional factor of senior day, and home court is tough this week.

With that being said, on to my NCAA college basketball sports bets of the day:

Virginia Tech vs. FLORIDA STATE (-6) - my pick is Fl. St. for one unit. They are pretty hot team right now, playing on senior day to improve their NCAA tournament status.

Arkansas vs. VANDERBILT (-8) - my pick is Vandy for one unit. No one here is going to the tournament. Vandy is playing senior day, is the better team, and has a pretty good home court advantage at their place.

Duke vs. UNC (-8) - my pick is UNC for one unit. This is a huge rivalry game, but UNC is loaded with seniors on senior day and is by far the better team. I almost put two units on this game. This is traditionally a good game, but UNC won't be afraid to run it up on Duke.

Santa Clara vs. GONZAGA (-13.5) - my pick is Gonzaga for one unit. The Zags are a good team and are willing to blow out any WAC team they come up against. It is also their senior night with a bunch of good seniors. They should be pretty fired up to play this game.

I also parlayed UNC, Gonzaga, and Fl. St. for one unit. Parlays are terrible for your bankroll, but I think they are super fun. So long as you aren't expecting to win on them much, it's okay to have a guilty pleasure.

Have any questions are comments about college sports betting? Please leave a comment and we can discuss.

NCAA College Basketball Sports Bets Picks of the Day

Sorry, but no lessons today, although my rule on how bad parlays are is still holding true for me. And, what's even worse is that I lost the first game of the parlay yesterday. Oh well, though, that is just another lesson learned in becoming a successful NCAA college basketball sports bettor.

Enough talk. Here are my picks for the day. I was 2-2 yesterday, making me 4-5 on the sports bets so far. And I missed out on the parlay, so I'm 0-2 on those. Here are my bets for today:

Kentucky vs. FLORIDA (-5.5) - my pick is Florida for 1 unit. This is basically a play in game for the NCAA college basketball tournament. And Florida is playing much better right now. If you can stop Meeks for Kentucky, you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Missouri vs. TEXAS A&M (+2) - my pick is Missouri for 1 unit. Missouri is going to just overwhelm A&M with their defense. I have a rule against taking road chalk (road favorites), but you'll see here sometimes rules were made to be broken.

Cal vs. ARIZONA ST. (-7) - my pick is Cal for 1 unit. Don't have a lot behind this game except that Cal is playing so much better than ASU.

Louisville vs. WEST VIRGINIA (+110) - my pick is for Louisville to win straight up (they are 2 point underdogs). Louisville is hot right now, is trying to win the Big East outright, and is playing with a lot of confidence. Again, against one of my rules.

App. St. vs. Davidson (-16) - my pick is Davidson for 1 unit. This is round 2 of the Southern Conference Tournament. Davidson is much better than App. St. and is not afraid to blow someone out. Let's just hope Stephen Curry is shooting lights out today.

That's all for my bets. This is the last day of the regular season for most of college basketball. Next comes the college basketball conference tournaments, where the real fun begins.

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Successfull Sports Betting | Avoid Parlays

Believe it or not, one of the easiest ways to become a successful sports bettor is to avoid some of the traps and pitfalls that many amateur bettors routinely fall into. This includes many things which will be discussed later, including: following the crowd; betting on your favorite college sports teams; and betting only on television games. Today I'm going to talk about one of the primary ways to save your bankroll and actually make money betting on sports - avoiding sucker sports bets.

There are really two true sucker sports bets out there. And when I say sucker bets I'm not talking about proposition bets, which you should know immediately are sucker bets. Proposition bets are betting on things that are completely random and involve no critical analysis, like the coin toss, who is going to score a touchdown first, who the high scorer in a basketball game is going to be, and even what the score will be at the end of the first quarter, half, etc. Clearly these bets are not good for your bankroll. They are fun to do, and sometimes fun is all you are looking for, but don't expect to actually make any money doing them.

Now on to the real stinkers - parlays and teasers. A parlay is a sports bet in which you pick two or more teams, all of which must win for you to win. In other words, if you have a four team parlay and one team doesn't cover the spread, you lose. What is the draw for these bets, then? Well, the payoff is much much higher than that of a single bet. Traditionally, two team parlays pay off about 6/1, three team parlays pay off 10/1 and up and up and up. This is the draw.

A teaser, on the other hand, is very similar to a parlay, except that you get points that you can use to alter the spreads in any direction you want. Teasers span from 2 points to 8 points, seemingly making a parlay much more likely to win. What is the draw here? Like parlays, the odds are greater for winning a teaser (though not nearly as high as true parlays). For many amateur sports bettors, these appear to be goldmines just waiting to be cleaned out.

So what makes these sucker bets? The odds of winning are not nearly high enough to justify the payoff. I would try to explain why on here, but it takes a math whiz, which I am not. You are just going to have to trust me on this. Or you can Google it and there are plenty of explanations out there. In case you want to big picture it, just imagine how hard it is to pick three random events correctly, for example. It is difficult. This is why parlays are bad bets for sports gamblers.

But that is not to say you should never play them. In fact, if you look at my last post, where I discuss managing your bankroll to be a successful sports bettor, you will see in my sports bets of the day that I parlayed all the bets together. It would be nice to win, but I pretty much do it just for the fun of it. In other words, I expect to lose going in. If you make a bunch of parlay bets, you should expect the same thing.

That is it for Rule number 1. Many more rules and words of insight will follow. And hopefully they will help you become the successful sports gambler you've always dreamed of.

Now, on to my sports bets of the day.

If you are checking up on me, you will see that I didn't have a great night last night, going 2-3 against the spread and losing my five team parlay, for an 0-1 parlay record. You can't win them all, though, so let's move on to today!

If you didn't know, Friday nights are notoriously slow in the college basketball world. They just need one night where there isn't a lot going on. So I don't have many picks tonight. I don't know anything about the small conference games, so I am probably going to try to stay away from them for the most part. Additionally, most of the small school teams are in their conference tournaments, playing at neutral courts (although that does pit some stinkers against some decent teams). So, here we go.

Indiana St. vs. Northern Iowa (-7) - my pick is NIU for 1 unit. Not much to go on except conference record, they are in their conference tournament, and NIU needs a couple more victories to get into the NCAA tournament.

UNC Wilmington vs. Hofstra (-7.5) - my pick is Hofstra for 1 unit. Same reasons for NIU except Hofstra needs to win out to get into the tournament. UNC Wilmington is not having a great year.

St. Johns vs. NOTRE DAME (-11.5) - my pick is the Fighting Irish for 1 unit. I think they are the better team and still have NCAA aspirations, however remote they might be.

Wichita St. vs. Creighton (-7.5) - my pick is Creighton for 1 unit. Same reasons as NIU and Hofstra.

I also parlayed NIU, Hofstra, and Notre Dame for one unit to pay off 6.5/1.

Let's hope the good guys win!

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Becoming a Successful College Sports Bettor | Disclaimer

While this site is for entertainment purposes, I do have a few links to online sports books and casinos here. I also talk (pretty much entirely) about online gambling. For that purpose, I think that it was important that I added a disclaimer to this site. Please see below:

This website does not accept bets and will not be responsible for any losses sustained at any site mentioned here.

Gambling online maybe be illegal in your area. Please check with your local law enforcement before you sign up for an online gambling account.

Gambling under a certain age many also be restricted by your local government. Please consider your local gambling laws to determine whether you are the proper age to gamble.

If you or a love one has a problem with gambling, it is never too late to get help. There are many dedicated organizations that help problem gamblers. Please visit these sites for more information:

National Council on Problem Gambling - http://www.ncpgambling.org/
Gamblers Anonymous - http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/

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Startup Money for Successful College Sports Betting | Picks of the Day

In case you weren't aware, the first thing you need if you want to be a successful sports bettor, whether it is on college sports or not, is money. No one is going to take your bet unless you have some money to bet with. And the question most often asked is, "how much money do I need to start with?" My answer is usually, "how quick to you expect to begin winning?" That was a joke, by the way. The actual answer differs depending on several factors.

The primary rule of thumb is that you want to have enough money lined up to make anywhere from 20 to 50 bets before you have to refill your stash. The reason for this is simple: it is possible, no matter how great you are at handicapping or winning sports bets, at some point in time you are going to have a losing streak with your sports betting. Sports betting is a fickle thing because there are no absolutes. Players can get injured, weather conditions can change quickly and dramatically, and goofy things can happen.

I have two great examples demonstrating the razor thin margin that often exists between winning and losing. It involves my buddy, who is a University of Washington Huskies fan, and often bets on his team (I have a rule against betting on your favorite sports team, which will be addressed at a later time). Recently he ran into two circumstances that I found rather enlightening in the world of sports betting.

The first occurred I think in the UW vs. UCLA game that took place in Los Angeles. UCLA was a favorite, let's say for purposes of this post, by 5 points, meaning if you took UCLA to cover, they had to win by 6 or more for you to win your bet (5 points gets your money back, 4 or less and you lose). The game was winding down and UW was getting beat. My buddy took UW to cover (they would lose by 4 or less). As time was winding down, UCLA had a comfortable 7 point lead, and time was winding down. With less than 5 seconds in the game, a UW player drove it down the court, heaved up an off balance three pointer, and made it. Now, as far as the game was concerned, the shot was meaningless - UCLA won. But for the sports betting world it was a huge shot, because it took a winning bet out of the hands of those that bet on UCLA and handed it over to those who bet on UW. Such is the nature of the sports betting beast.

Funny thing about games though, is they have a way of paying you back. A couple of games later, UW was playing one of the Arizona schools at home. UW was a 3 1/2 point favorite, and my buddy took them. As time was winding down, we're talking about less than 4 seconds in the game, UW was up 2. The Arizona school fouled, and the same player who made the great shot a few games ago went to the line with the opportunity to cover the spread. At this point there were less than 2 seconds left I think. What happens? The player gets up, makes one of two, time runs out, and my buddy loses his bet by 1/2 of a point. Devastating. But that is how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Moral of the story: to become a successful college sports bettor, you have to be able to weather the freak losses to play again.

The other reason you need to have a little bit of cash on hand is because at some time you will go through a losing streak that will cause you to question your ability to pick sports games correctly. It happens to everyone. It even happened to Matthew McConaughey in "Two for the Money" (I know, a cheesy reference, but a decent movie about sports betting). Some of you will have to weather the losing streak in the beginning (assuming you are not just a bad sports bettor - I know some people like that). If you have enough money in your Sportsbook betting account, you are less likely to give up if you lose a couple in a row.

So, as you begin on your sports betting odyssey, start with enough money to weather a storm if one hits you early.

Now, calculating what you need is easy - just decide what you want your average bet to be. On this site, my bets will be made by simple stating 1 unit, 2 units, or 3 units. Obviously, the more I bet, the more confident I am in the game. But having said that, 1 unit will be my average bet, meaning I only place more if I for some reason am uber-confident in that game. Your average bet can be as little as $5 a bet, or it can be as much as $100. It really depends on your finances and your tolerance for risk. Either way, try to give yourself at least 20 bets starting out.

Okay, now on to the fun part - my college sports bets of the day. I am going to place all of my bets on here, even the stupid ones, so take them for what you will. The single bets I would say are always worth taking a look at. The parlays (groups of teams picked that all have to win in order for the bet to win) are stupid bets and should probably be looked at with a bit of caution. And, by the way, I know they are stupid, but I can't help but throw one together every once in a while. With that being said, here you go, my sports bets for March 5, 2009.

As far as following my exact bets goes, I'd say doing so will probably make you a successful college sports bettor, but will make you even better is following the tips and strategies for successful sports betting discussed here and then betting based on your own knowledge of specific teams and leagues.

Home team in caps, spread related to home team (if a minus sign, home team must win by more than that number to cover, if a plus sign, home team must lose by that number or less to cover, or win). Over under means both teams combined must score either over or under the number (whichever you choose) to win the bet.

Stanford vs. ARIZONA ST. (-10) - my pick is ASU for 1 unit. ASU needs another win to keep increasing their NCAA tournament seeding, is coming off being swept by the Washington schools, and is looking to smoke a team.

Illinois vs. PENN ST. (over/under 117) - my pick is the under for 1 unit. This is a pick made solely based on the history of this season. Earlier these two teams combined for 60-some points for the entire game. Penn St. plays at a very slow pace, plays a zone, and is very stingy. This score will probably end up in the fifties.

Oregon vs. USC (-13) - my pick is USC for 1 unit. USC is fighting for their NCAA tournament lives and gets a chance to pick up an easy win over a terrible Oregon school that has nothing to play for. Given the fact that they are at home and I think this pushes them over the edge.

Cal vs. ARIZONA (-4.5) - my pick is Arizona for 1 unit. See the ASU reasons above for my reason for this pick.

Fresno St. vs. BOISE ST. (-8) - my pick is Boise St. for 1 unit. I don't know much about these teams except that Fresno St.'s record and conference record is terrible and they are on the road against what looks on paper to be a decent team (winning conference record). Those are usually two bad signs for a bad team.

And last, but not least, I parlayed all those teams together for one unit that pays off 25/1. So my 1 unit bet will pay off 25 times. Good luck tonight, and check back in tomorrow for some new information nuggets and some more picks.

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Have any questions are comments about college sports betting? Please leave a comment and we can discuss.

Welcome to How to Become a Successful College Sports Bettor

Welcome to How to Become a Successful College Sports Bettor, a site devoted to helping you become great at sports betting and to help me chronicle my success and failure as a sports bettor (hopefully there is much more success than failure, although to make money betting on sports you only need to win 52.4% of the time). Please keep checking in to get some insight and tips on sports betting as well as to monitor my success wagering on college sports.

Have any questions are comments about college sports betting? Please leave a comment and we can discuss.