Are you someone who likes to engage in some regular sports betting? You find yourself placing a wager or two every Sunday in football season, for instance, or betting on your favorite baseball team once in every four games. If that describes you, or your general habits on the subject of wagering on sports bookie, odds are that eventually you have thought about making some real money placing bets.

The problem with betting on sports is the fact that just as with any sort of gambling, it requires a certain amount of risk. A knowledgeable sports fan has an even better shot at winning money than someone playing the slots at a casino, but there are still enough variables to make regular wagering on sports a risky business. In order to minimize losses and maximize wins, most of the people use what are described as sports betting systems.

A betting system is any method you use regularly when you are placing money down upon an event. It does not matter whether we have been discussing wagering on Blackjack or on the Cowboys' game, as well as if it works or will not, a system is any group of rules you use consistently when placing bets.

In sports betting, systems generally follow rules that are dictated by statistics. An example of a betting system in sports is someone who always bets on the home team to win. Coming to a decision on who to bet on, through a system, is referred to as "handicapping".

Even as we mentioned previously, you can lose consistently using one group of rules when betting, and it could still be described as a system. What you need to do is locate a "good" system.

What exactly is a great system? Well, in sports betting, it means finding a set of rules to live by that cause you winning the bets you place more than 50% of the time. Quite simply, if the rules you use in your system mean that you win 51% of the time, it's a winning system and therefore good. 51% may not appear like a great deal on paper, but it means that you are coming out ahead at the end of each season, more than most sports bettors can say.

As always, finding a good system to use when betting on sports is a bit tricky. As usual, the sports books will be just as enthusiastic about statistics and numbers as an average sports fan is. That suggests they're probably aware of a whole lot of the systems being used out there (the home game situation is yet another good example). To be able to even the action and ensure their take, they adjust lines accordingly.

That implies that the most effective system to use when you bet on sports is one that you come up with yourself. It might involve a whole bunch of distinct rules; you only bet on teams playing at home, outside of their division, once they have lost as favorites, for example.

The main thing to remember is that as long as your system is working for you, and is determined by numbers and also on common sense, it's the best system. Still, if you begin to lose more often than you win (and that can happen eventually with any system) it is time for you to re-adjust so that you are winning again.

One thing that commonly happens with sports betting is that those wagering confuse a "trend" with a system. A team has won five in a row, and so they attract more attention from the betting public. The problem with a trend is the fact that it can end instantly; the truth is, the odds claim that the end of a trend is a mathematic certainty. The more individuals who bet on trends, the greater it is for the sports books. Eventually, all losses will be recouped as the odds go up and up until finally the pattern ends one night to the sound of individuals pouring money out of their wallets!

Consequently, keep away from trends whenever you are making your sports betting system. The bookmakers, and worse the public, are just as aware of them while you are. Stick to your own system and avoid these bad value bets!