While you become serious about making a profit in sports betting, there are various factors you should keep in mind. Solid handicapping and research are a given, as is an elementary grasp of discipline and bankroll management.

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

Even as such, there are several sports bettors, even folks who might qualify as advanced for 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 percent or -110; to put it differently, it's important to bet $110 so that you can 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 total of $210.

So what is 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 is the big killer deal about the fee they will pay up front if they intend on getting it back?

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

Imagine, as an 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 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; 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.

Quite 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.

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

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

It 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 a total of $660 and, despite winning half of them, you are now only picking up $630 when you cash your tickets.

Over the long haul, these $30 losses add up and, the more you bet, the more juice you are going to pay. This forces you to win at a higher rate than 50% so that you can show a profit.

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

Again, the 2.5 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 expect to break even against the house within the long run. A sophisticated card counter may expect 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 need to hit 53 of them as a way to just break even. This is the equivalent of the sports book taking a three-game lead on you before you decide to 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 share against your bankroll. For example, if you bet $110 to win $100 and also your bankroll is $1,000, you are betting 11 percent of it, not 10 percent. Due to this, it is necessary to understand your bankroll.

Some sports books, particularly of the internet variety, might provide a weekly special through which the juice is -105 on a particular day or event. This is something you should make use of, while you are receiving a product that's 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. For 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. In the event the underdog will be the side you liked to start with, this really is a situation you need to make use of.