When you become serious about making a profit in sports betting, there are numerous factors you should be aware of. Solid handicapping and research are a given, as is a simple grasp of discipline and bankroll management.

Most bettors are aware of the pitfalls of poor bankroll management; that's, they know that betting a high number of their bankroll on one particular game, or chasing losses with larger bets on the next game just isn't a prudent thing to do.

Even as such, there are lots of sports bettors, even folks that might qualify as advanced in most areas of skill, who take for granted the significance of the "juice," or vigorish, in the sports betting business.

The juice will be the fee the sports book charges that essentially puts the odds in their favor against the gamblers. The common fee is 10% or -110; in other words, you have to bet $110 as a way to win $100. If you win, the fee is returned in addition to the original wager and the sum of the win for an overall total of $210.

So what's the problem, you ask? Most novice bettors, after they become familiar with this concept, usually not give it much serious thought. They figure since they intend on winning anyway, what's the big deal about the fee they have to pay up front whenever they intend on getting it back?

The truth is, the juice makes a lot bigger difference over the long haul than you could expect. Within the short run, the juice serves as a sort of coverage policy for the sports books that ensures them a profit irrespective of the outcome of each game.

Imagine, by way of example, that you walk up to the counter and place a $110 bet to win $100 on Team A. The customer behind you in line bets $110 to win $100 on Team B. The sports book has now taken $220 worth of wagers on the game and can only have to pay out $210 irrespective of which team wins, guaranteeing the business a $10 profit.

Many bettors mistakenly believe that guy this profit margin alone is exactly what keeps sports books in business. This is not entirely true; even though the point spread as well as other odds are set with the hope of drawing "two-way action," or bets on both teams, the juice is essentially a default position for the sports book.

Put simply, should they receive exactly 50-50 action on each game both in volumes of wagers and amount wagered, the books will gladly accept the 10% profit that comes with this situation.

In contrast, this scenario is far from a common occurrence. More often not, the books are unbalanced on each game, meaning they have taken more bets on one side than the other. In essence, they may be gambling against the bettors, since they will lose money whenever they side on which they're heavy wins the game. The sports books stay in business while they win more frequently than they lose in these situations.

So as the juice only accounts for a portion of the profit for a sports book, it really is an important obstacle that stands between you and long-term success with sports betting.

This is because beating the point spread on a consistent basis is difficult, and simply breaking even is a losing proposition. By way of example, if you bet $110 to win $100 on six different games and went 3-3, you could think you broke even for the day.

Think again. Whenever you placed your bets, you gave the sports book an overall of $660 and, despite winning half of them, you are now only picking up $630 whenever you cash your tickets.

Over the long haul, these $30 losses add up and, the better you bet, the better juice you shall pay. This forces you to win at a larger rate than 50% to be able to show a profit.

The break-even point for sports bettors whenever you element in the juice becomes 52.5%.

Again, the 2.5% edge the house gets from the juice might not seem like much, but let's compare this to other gambling games.

A blackjack player who uses correct basic strategy on every hand can expect to break even against the house in the long term. A sophisticated card counter can expect to achieve a 1-2 percent edge over the house. This seemingly slight edge is sufficient to get card counters banned from the casino as soon as management catches on to them.

So if you bet 100 games against the point spread, you need to hit 53 of them in order to just break even. This really is the equal of the sports book taking a three-game lead on you before you bet the next 97.

The goal you need to shoot for is no less than 55 percent, with the hopes of hitting 57 percent or higher over the long haul. With good handicapping and discipline this really is possible, but you must always keep the juice element in mind.

You must count the juice as part of your wager and factor it in as a percentage against your bankroll. As an example, if you bet $110 to win $100 as well as your bankroll is $1,000, you are betting 11 percent of it, not ten percent. Due to this, it is very important to understand your bankroll.

Some sports books, particularly of the on-line variety, might give a weekly special by which the juice is -105 on a particular day or event. This really is something you should take advantage of, as you are receiving a product that's worth $110 for $105.

Additionally, if sports books are heavy on one side of a game, they might change the juice on each side to generate more action. By way of example, if a 4-point favorite is heavily bet, they might charge -120 for the favorite and let you take the underdog for even money. If the underdog is the side you liked to begin with, this really is a situation you must make use of.