Football is Back!

If you still think that baseball is our national pastime it's time to get your Model T tuned up. Football has captured not only the interest of sports fans with a fervor, but sports bettors with an opinion and the cash to back it up.

A word to the wise…Lem Banker, a good friend and the world's best known sports bettor always comes on my first radio show of the season. He warns the football bettor that it's a long season and likens it to a marathon run. In other words, don't start out sprinting! Feel it out, pace yourself. Don't go broke before Thanksgiving!

Another thing worth remembering is that sports betting is tough to beat. Some people win, and win big, but they put in the time and effort and have the resiliency to go through the ups and downs that inevitably come their way.

Betting a game here and there because it's on TV is fine for it's entertainment value, but do yourselves a favor and learn more about the nuances of the exercise before you indulge yourself into getting in too deep.

Beware of people that offer the impossible. There are NO sure things when it comes to betting football. You'll see advertisements in local and national newspapers that GUARANTEE PICKS!!! These ads don't whisper, they shout their claims. Nothing could be further from the truth. Also you'll see TV shows that have touts on that say they went 8-0 last week, EVERY week! I speak with sports book directors every day on my radio show and I have asked them on many occasions if they would accept the wagers of these would be perfect prognosticators. They all laugh and are in agreement that their claims are beyond ridiculous.

It's sort of like the guys in the 1800's that would sell elixir out of their covered wagons. They would travel around the country and tout that their sugar water would cure everything from gout to yellow fever. These guys were shady opportunists. See the comparison?

But it's a two way street. If the public wasn't looking for something for nothing then they wouldn't allow themselves to get taken. Just because someone guarantees something doesn't make it so. There are some advantages that the sports bettor have over the sportsbook. One is that you can be selective in the games that you bet on. The sportsbook will put up a truckload of college games on Saturdays and a full slate of NFL games on Sunday. The bettor can pick and choose their spots. You are better off betting fewer games than betting the board. The 11 to 10 advantage the sportsbook has built in is tough to overcome.

Also you have the advantage of betting more or less as you wish. Always bet more when you are winning, less when you are losing. If you find yourself each Monday night trying to get even, you are doing something wrong. Re-evaluate your game plan. Just because you are a fan doesn't mean that you'll be a good sports bettor. There are lots of books that will help you this season. Look into it. If someone guarantees winning, you are looking in the wrong place!

As Always…Good Luck!