Betting on sports must be older than recorded history. We know that the Romans were fanatical about sports betting even though the loser probably wouldn't or couldn't show up for the next game.

World wide the total amount of cash bet on sports must be absolutely phenomenal some one some ware must be making a whole lot of money all I know is it certainly was not me.

Like the majority of people betting on sports was all about fun for me I never thought of making serious money from it.

Although I did start to realise that a little thought and common sense could save me a whole lot of dough and maybe even make me some money. As an example blindly betting on a team that you support just isn't the answer. It is important to stand back be analytical and detached with no personal involvement.

If you are a true sports fan that maybe easier said than done so pick a sport that you don't follow and then you just don't care who wins or looses. I find team sports to be the most effective as games like golf just has too many variables as well as favourites play a great deal more tournaments than they win. Tennis I do not know enough about and can not judge. Look if you feel confident with these sports don't let me talk you out of it.

Alright so you've got picked your sport or sports then what.

Well a friend and I sat down some time ago and put together a list or group of rules that we thought may help improve our chances they are.

Do not pick the most obvious favourite as the returns for a win are too small and the risk of a loss to great.

At the exact same time don't pick the under dog. Sure they can get up and make you a good football return but the chances are they won't and you may have lost your hard earned money.

Look-at middle ranking situations alright it may seem difficult to separate them but by doing your investigation you shall find you can. As an example does one side travel better than the other? What will be the history between the 2 sides? This is not just the teams but coaches also.

Are key players available? This is vital and may also throw off rules 12&3 straight away.

What are this Sports Writers and Journalists saying and read more than one of their predictions as on there own also they can be notoriously inaccurate. However should the majority pick the exact same result then the odds are which will be the correct one. If they can't make up their mind move on to another game as this one could be too close.

Limit the range of bets you make if you bet on every one you will inevitable lose.

Finally control the amount that you bet we had a fund and 5% of it was the limit on any one bet.

All of this made us a small profit but certainly not enough to boast about but we did enjoy ourselves.