As you become serious about making a profit in sports betting, there are numerous factors you should always remember. Solid handicapping and research are a given, as is a basic grasp of discipline and bankroll management.

Most bettors are aware of the pitfalls of poor bankroll management; that's, they realize 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 for this reason, there are various sports bettors, even individuals that might qualify as advanced for most areas of skill, who take for granted the significance of the "juice," or vigorish, within 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 conventional fee is ten percent or -110; to put it differently, you will need to bet $110 in order to win $100. If you win, the fee is returned as well as the original wager as well as the sum of the win for an overall of $210.

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

The fact is, the juice makes a significantly bigger difference over the long haul than you might expect. Within the short-run, the juice serves as a sort of insurance coverage policy for the sports books that guarantees them a profit irrespective of the outcome of each game.

Imagine, one example is 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 will only have to pay out $210 regardless of which team wins, guaranteeing the business a $10 profit.

Many bettors mistakenly believe that this profit margin alone is exactly what keeps sports books in business. This isn't entirely true; although the point spread and 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.

Quite simply, whenever 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 took more bets on one side than the other. In essence, they're fantastic online gambling agency against the bettors, because they will lose money should they side on which they can be heavy wins the game. The sports books stay in business since they win more often than they lose in these situations.

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

This is only because beating the point spread on a consistent basis is difficult, and simply breaking even is a losing proposition. For instance, 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 a total 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 more you bet, the more juice you will pay. This forces you to win at a higher rate than fifty percent to be able to show a profit.

The break-even point for sports bettors whenever you factor in the juice becomes 52.five percent.

Again, the 2.five percent 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 may anticipate to break even against the home within the long haul. A sophisticated card counter may anticipate to achieve a 1-2 percent edge over the home. This seemingly slight edge is enough 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 must hit 53 of them in order to just break even. This is the equal of the sports book going for a three-game lead on you before you bet the next 97.

The goal you need to shoot for is a minimum of 55 percent, with the hopes of hitting 57 percent or higher over the long haul. With good handicapping and discipline this 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 portion 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. Because of this, it is essential to understand your bankroll.

Some sports books, particularly of the on-line variety, might give a weekly special through which the juice is -105 on a particular day or event. This is something you should make use of, as you are receiving a product which is worth $110 for $105.

Furthermore, if sports books are heavy on one side of a game, they might change the juice on each side to generate more action. As an 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 will be the side you liked to start with, this is a situation you must take advantage of.