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wide array of wagering options.

Especially for a beginning bettor, you will quickly find wagering with a local bet-taker frustrating. Although a few are now setting up their own websites at some risk to themselves, most still take their business over the telephone. You will soon find yourself frustrated at the limited availability of betting lines, the inability to wager any time you please and the necessity to possibly exchange monies in person on a regular basis. And, for the most part, the least you will be able to wager on a given game is $50 - not a problem if you have money to burn, but well above a beginner's betting stake. Also, you will soon find that on-line, you can "buy points" and "move lines," neither of which is typically available through a local "bookie" - more on that below also.

BETTING APPROACHES: You may note that the actual wagering on games is the third item on this list - without proper money management and the correct choice of betting outlet, you will not have enough funds to worry about your actual wagers for any length of time, hence the intended priority in discussion.

The first thing to note is that to win more than you lose, with ALL WAGERS BEING FOR EQUAL AMOUNTS, you must select your games at a winning percentage of 52.38%. This accounts for the typical "charge," "vigorish," or "vig" that the "bookie" or the online merchant charges you for accepting the wager. A typical wager requires $11 wagered to win $10 - so, all winning wagers net you $10, all losing wagers cost you $11, thus the percentage above 50% necessary to show a profit. From lengthy experience, the best way to start is to make all wagers for the same amount - you will quickly learn that it is difficult enough to win a single game, let alone approximate which games of several should be wagered on at greater or lesser amounts. The other point to burn into your mind is that "a losing wager not made is worth more than a winning wager made" - that is, once you get to the point of looking at which wagers appear attractive, you must return to them and poke holes in your intent with your best "devil's advocate" approach and only continue if the pros far outweigh the cons in each instance.

Find a sport that you enjoy and follow, where you do enjoy following the teams and watching the games. We will use College Basketball as an example given the approach of the Madness of March. The old saw of "jack of all trades, master of none" is especially appropriate here: DO NOT attempt

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