What is the one thing you've done over the past year to improve your handicapping?

[buddy]

In college football, I kept handwritten records and recorded opening lines, closing lines, team roles and final scores. Also kept some team notes.

(Jack, feel free to move this to another forum.)

 

[pacerfan]

Honestly...zilch! Nada! Nothing!

I have been extremely lazy and lucky I guess...lucky that I am only down a few units on the year.

Good cappin' takes time...and time is something that I just don't have a lot of...

To me w/ regards to cappin'...Time=Money...the more time you put in, the better your chances are of making money....

 

[Stewy]

I have become selective, practice better mm, and looked for gains in the long run instead of short term. I look at it as how much can I gain this year instead of can i hit the big one tonight.

 

[buddy]

Stewy,

The only ones who make it in this risky business are those who practice sound money management principles.

Handicapping is important, but not nearly as important as understanding the principles of money management.

I also applaud your attempt to become more selective.

 

[flag]

Better Money Management def.

 

[Howie's Hot]

ditto...my biggest flaw was going for the kill...I no longer do that and am happy with small winnings and not getting greedy...also really started looking at common opponents more closely..friar got me going on that with college fball..

 

[TORONTO-VIGILANTE]

narrowing down selections.....

worked well for me in baseball the last two season....

 

[djv]

I stopped playing parlays. Never put much money on them anyway. But when you hit 1 out of 15 and thats about right for a 4 teamer. Said enough. I did not want it to influence any streight plays. You keep getting 2 out of 4 and even many times 3 out of 4. You say dam these were my throw away games and look them suckers come in. I added them to my streigth plays and gained a few bucks. Was I haveing as much fun. NO! Nothing like the fealing when you hit a 4 or 5 teamer. Another thing I did was pay very close attention to 1837 with his Formula 1 and Cart plays.. I made more doe the last two years doing those sports then any other sport. I know of no one else here that can say they hit 60% or better in two sports two years in a row. 1837 never brages or looks for a lot of thanks. But buddy your get your a?? into this action next year.

 

[Scooter]

More selective I also would get ahead and try to break it off in his a----.A little at a time is better than that real high and that real low.Would like to eventually just pick two teams and only bet on them.

 

[UT-Longhorn]

Stopped chasing, and stopped wagering on games just because they are televised or big ticket games...........

 

[johnnyonthespot]

Started coming to madjacks

 

[Pujo21]

I agree withthe LONGHORN

I agree withthe LONGHORN

STOP STOP playing games because they are televised or it's the only game of the nite.

I was wondering..How many people here ( and don't laugh ) LOL
use the smell a rat theory on a game. What I mean is that your gut tells you something is wrong and you either stay away from the game or you bet against " The too good to be true spreads"?

 

[freelancc]

only "pound/play" games and teams that i know a lot about... not just betting a game because it is on the board...

 

[hello there]

Bet Half my account instead of the entire thing, so I'll have atleast another day to play if I lose.

 

[JEFF]

Bet Half my account instead of the entire thing, so I'll have atleast another day to play if I lose.

:thumb: Now you're in it for the long haul!


Anyways, I guess mine would be the same as most others here -- been more selective about games, not bet on so many every day, and faded the ridiculously huge public consensus faves (Cowboys +3.5 vs. Titans and UF +6 vs. UTcome to mind).

Oh, and I also bet on Northern Idaho when buddy tells me his ATS bible says they have covered against the spread as road dogs by at least 14 points for the past 6 games. and the line is a set-up.

 

[buddy]

Jeff,

Go to the head of the class!

LOL!

 

[Nickelback]

Ok, I'll chime in:

Things I've improved on with my capping:

Taking more dogs than I used to (the key to winning in the long run IMO)
Recognizing public moves vs. steam moves
Resisting the urge to pull the trigger huge on one single game in order to make up for losses.
Taking more home dogs than road favorites
Using a variety of methods to cap games instead of only one or two indicators which is never enough unless you have very solid information

Things I still need to improve on:

Playing more games than I should
Playing extra games when I am down for the night (not one single game, but multiple) because I figure the law of the averages will catch up (have to be honest, it has worked well for me in the past, but I realize it is very very dangerous)
Money management (I'll admit it. . . on big days such as Saturday or Sunday, up to half my money will be on the line which anyone who knows what they're doing will tell you that it'll bite you in the ass in the long run). It is important to note though that I do not handle my bankroll like others do. . . I never put a huge sum of money in my account and play that for the entire year. Rather, I make deposits when I have to. I still play games for the same amount of units, but I will often include games when I am on a roll instead of selecting those which I would play normally.
Recognize that I am much better at capping basketball than football so my units played should be greater on basketball and certainly not the same as the amount of units I play in football.

 

[treynolds]

Always bet the opposite of what i though just kidding but it would have worked alot better for me to play like that last year.

Last year was my first year of capping and it was always trying to make a grand everyday. As we all know it just doesnt work that way.

With football i always watch the early line movement that seems to be very important. See what the real wise guys are betting. I've noticed a majority of the time it seems to be right. Say the line opens at -3 and then moves to -5 the next day alot of the time the -5 gets covered.

Also i now play way more dogs and only played about 5 fav's that were over 30 points all football season. Mostly Kansas St games and games against baylor and miami.

I now pay alot more attention to the key numbers also.

Last year at this time i went bust and called it quits for good but this year i spend hours a week here at this site visit most of the teams webpages looking at stats, and checking wheather reports.

It's paid off im up a total of $7000 on the season

GL

Tyler