2021 NCAA Betting Strategy: A Beginners Guide on Winning Your First Bet
Last year’s cancellation of the NCAA Tournament due to the Covid-19 pandemic made bettors anticipate this year’s March Madness. One of the most fun aspects of the NCAA Division 1 All Men’s Basketball Tournament is that before the tournament begins, we can also watch and keep track of all conference tournaments.
From 32 conferences with Ivy League not playing, only 31 will be holding conference tournaments this year due to the pandemic. The conference tournaments will keep on progressing until Selection Sunday, which is scheduled on March 14.
Beginner or not, bettors need guidance to catch a sure win when betting. The following information will help you in making your betting strategy when betting on the March Madness Games.
Knowing Different Betting Options
Before you start formulating your strategy, you need to know what you’re dealing with. You need to know the basics of sports betting. One of these basics is the Betting Options. There are six betting options to consider before you start wagering on the March Madness games. There’s Money Line, Point Spread, Totals, Futures, Parlays, Props, & Live Betting.
Money Line
A money line is a traditional way of betting where you will be choosing only one team to bet for. An example of this is if the Illinois Fighting Illini is facing off against West Virginia Mountaineers, you will have to choose one team over the other to win.
Point Spread
Point Spread allows you to bet on how much a team will win or lose by unlike other betting options where you have to pick one team to win over the other. The favorite in a matchup will be indicated with a (-) minus sign and (+) plus sign for the underdog in the spread odds.
Totals
Totals or OVER/UNDER betting is a betting option where you have to correctly predict both teams’ combined scores. When betting on totals, you will have to first see or know the total score set by the oddsmaker, and then you can pick whether the actual total score of both teams in the game is lower (UNDER) or higher (OVER) than the number set by the oddsmaker.
Futures
From the word itself, “Futures,” it is a betting option where you have to predict the game’s future winner. To bet on futures, you will have to consider the futures odds set by oddsmakers. Futures betting usually takes months before you can grade your bet.
Parlays
A Parlay bet is another way of sports betting where you can place multiple straight bet wager in one ticket, and you can also place multiple versions of the same bet as long as it’s on different games. This betting option is one of the most popular forms of betting because it offers a larger payout. But you also need to be careful as this form is tricky, and you might end up losing big time if you don’t do your research well.
Props
Unlike other bets where you have to bet for the winning team, props, short for “proposition,” is another form of sports betting where you will be betting on occurrences or non-occurrences during the event. An example of this is betting on how many minutes or assists a player will play or have. You can also bet if the game will go into overtime or not. You get the idea.
Live Betting
Live betting, from the word itself; you can bet while the game progresses. Watching March Madness at the same time wagering on your favorite teams is a fun way of enjoying March Madness and betting simultaneously. Odds are released before every quarter starts. That is why you need to grab odds in your favor before it disappears.
Make Preparations
To be an effective sports bettor, you need to be diligent in researching and making preparations before placing a bet. Another thing to consider when making a bet is finding a betting site to start with.
Keep Records
Keeping records is a great habit to become a consistently profitable sports bettor. Keeping records will help you filter good from bad information and help you keep yourself accountable. It is a great tool in your decision-making when formulating a strategy and when placing bets.
Make a Plan
After making preparations and keeping records, now you can start making a plan to formulate your strategy when wagering on the March Madness odds. Knowing what teams to bet for and what betting options you will be using is a great way to organize your betting system. A wise bettor makes a plan. If you plan on making a bet today, as I know you would start making a plan now.
Takeaway
I want to keep on stressing this – keep on doing your research. It is the most important thing to gamble wisely. The information above is to guide you on your sports betting journey. You can add the following information to your research to help you win your bets.
