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A winning sports betting system is one that considers many different known and unknown handicapping variables when making selections. You must understand and be aware of all possible variables that play a part in each game.

When handicapping sports, it is crucial that you follow a sports betting system. Ask anyone who wins with their sports betting and they will tell you that they follow a system. It probably is no surprise that the average person who wagers on sports loses money. Many will bet on their favorite teams or against the teams that are rivals of their favorite teams with no betting strategy in place. If they do win chances are due to poor money management the cash will soon be lost.

Understand when it comes to sports handicapping there is more than just the game that is played to be aware of. They are many contributing factors that will influence the outcome of the game. Such factors as home field advantage, revenge, scheduling traps and emotions. These are the variables that a power rating system will not be able to factor in. Sometimes something that may appear to be insignificant to us can actually create great difficulty in a teams play.

First let’s start with home field advantage. When the odds maker sets the line they alter the number some to account for the home field advantage. In NFL football the line usually accounts 3 points for the home team. I say not all teams have the same home field advantage. Some teams play is affected greatly by this and some have no change. Always check the team’s records against the spread when at home and on the road.

The revenge factor is huge is sports handicapping. Now just don’t go bet on a team because last time they played the same opponent they were dominated by that team. You need to be able to determine if the revenge factor is valid here. It could be that this team is put together so that is to create favorable match ups in all the positions. A good example of a revenge factor is Team A travels to play team B. Team A’s starting QB is out and they are going with a first time starter. Team B dominates this young QB and not only wins the games but appears to run up the score. Come press time Team B shows little respect for team A. Now in the next meeting team B has to come play at team A’s field. Team A has their normal starting QB back. Team A has the revenge and motivational factor heavily on their side. This scenario is common in college sports much more than professional sports.

At last I want to mention the scheduling trap situation. Here is when a stronger team is to play a weaker opponent but because they are meeting between two important and difficult games within the schedule the stronger team overlooks the weaker team and plays with little emotion. They may still win the game but their play is poor. We see this all the time in college sports. As a winning sports handicapper you need to be aware of these things. Many times the best team does not cover the bet.

The NFL preseason can be very profitable to wager on. However many betters have no clue how to wager a NFL preseason football game. Many times football betters treat the preseason like the regular season and lose. Betting preseason football is entirely different than betting on a regular season game.

The NFL is truly the most popular sport in the United States. There are many reasons for this but that is not what is important. What is important because the NFL is so popular and tempting to wager on that many fans will not wait till opening day in September to start their football betting. Many fans will start betting in NFL games as soon as the NFL preseason starts. It is important preseason or not that you follow a football betting system.

Now if you are one those who loves the NFL so much that you will probably start betting in the preseason then there are a few tings you need to understand. Betting NFL preseason is very different than betting regular season games. We all know these are exhibition games where many unknown players are getting large amounts of play so the coaching staff can decide the fate of the player. This scares some people away from betting because they are not familiar with the unknown players. You can still make money on the preseason games but you must change your handicapping approach.

In the regular season the philosophy is that the best team shall win the games. This may not apply in preseason ball. When making football picks you need to research and discover which teams put more emphasis on winning and which teams traditionally fail to win preseason games. Let me give you an example.

Coach Jack Del Rio of the Jacksonville Jaguars is 18-10 straight up and 17-11 against the spread in preseason. Unfortunately last year in 2009, the Jags were just 1-3 straight up but only lost by a total combined 5 points in those 3 losses. Since Del Rio has been coaching the Jaguars they have always played well and usually win their preseason games. As a dog in the preseason the Jaguars are nearly perfect. Factor in that the Jaguars lost and failed to cover the last 4 games of the 2009 regular season makes them an interesting team to look at when the 2010 preseason starts.

To some coaches the preseason is about starting a winning streak and creating a winning atmosphere. Other coaches will lose the game simply because they are determined in playing weak unknown talent rather then make a few simple player adjustments to win the game. It comes down to just how important is it for a certain coaching staff to win a preseason game or to play their unknown players regardless if they can win or not.

New team coaches usually are eager to get that first win. Many times a new coach will make the first preseason game a priority to win in order to start a winning mentality. We have 3 teams with new coaches this coming 2010 season. The Washington Redskins with Mike Shanahan, the Seattle Seahawks with Pete Carroll and at last the Buffalo Bills with Chan Gailey. Look for these new coaches to make winning that first preseason a priority over everything else.

When asked what is the worst to NFL when it comes to football betting most people probably can help but think of the Detroit Lions. True they almost always have the worst record in the league but that doesn’t mean they don’t cover the spread from time to time. It is also true the Lions went winless in 2008 as they only covered 2 of 16 games last season against the spread. Despite all this the Jacksonville Jaguars over the last two seasons have the worst team to wager on.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were a playoff wining team back in 2007 but since then there has not been much to cheer about. Detroit may hold the honors for the team with the most straight up losses over the last two seasons but if you are betting on the Jaguars to cover point spreads then you are probably losing your money.

Over the last two NFL seasons the Jaguars are 12-20 straight up and 9-23 against the spread. The last two seasons the Jaguars have the worst record against the spread. That 9-23 mark means they only cover 2 out 5 games or 39%. The NFL average last season was 49.8% and the medium at 50%. The Jaguars are no where near that average number. In today’s NFL where parity is common with most teams around the 500 mark it is hard to imagine that a team talented as the Jaguars, fail to cover the spread so often.

What really make this so strange is that over the last two seasons the Jaguars were only outscored by an average of 4.8 points. Compare that to Detroit Lions who over the last two seasons were outscored by an average of 15.1 points per game. The Jaguars have taking some heavy beatings over the last two seasons losing many games by more than 15 points. When they win it usually is a close game. The Jaguars also lost the last four games straight up and against the spread last season.

It is safe to imagine the Jaguars are in a critical point right now. Another season like 2009 and you probably see a coaching change and several player transactions. Way things look it’s a risky move to bet on the Jaguars come September. The pressure they will face to get off to a respectable start is great. I would imagine if they experience a few close losses early that the whole season could fall apart.

The Jaguars are on team that will not be part of my September football picks as I plan on just observing for the first month of play to see just how they adjust to the situation. When it comes to my football betting system certain teams that I feel are in a desperate situation I will usually avoid