As you become seriously interested in making a profit in sports betting, there are lots of factors you should always remember. 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 portion of their bankroll on one particular game, or chasing losses with larger bets on the next game is not a prudent thing to do.

Even as such, there are numerous sports bettors, even those who might qualify as advanced for most areas of skill, who take for granted the importance of the “juice,” or vigorish, in the sports betting business.

The juice is the fee the sports book charges that essentially puts the odds in their favor against the gamblers. The conventional fee is 10% or -110; to paraphrase, you will need to bet $110 in order to win $100. If you win, the fee is returned together with the original wager as well as the sum of the win for a total of $210.

So what’s 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 deal about the fee they will pay up front whenever 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. Within the short run, the juice serves as a sort of insurance policy for the sports books that ensures them a profit in spite of the outcome of each game.

Imagine, for instance, 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 also 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 what keeps sports books in business. This is not entirely true; even though 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.

Put 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 ten percent profit that comes with this situation.

On the other hand, 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 may be gambling against the bettors, while they will lose money should they side on which they can be heavy wins the game. The sports books stay in business while 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’s a major obstacle that stands between you and long-term success with sports betting.

The reason being 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 whenever you cash your tickets.

Over the long haul, these $30 losses add up and, the better you bet, the better juice you are going to pay. This forces you to win at a larger rate than fifty percent to be able to show a profit.

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

Again, the 2.5% edge the home 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 can expect to break even against the home 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 sufficient 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 to be able to just break even. This is the equal of the sports book going for 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 need to always keep the juice aspect in mind.

You need to count the juice as part of your wager and factor it in as a percentage against your bankroll. By way of example, if you bet $110 to win $100 and your bankroll is $1,000, you are betting 11 percent of it, not ten percent. As a result of this, it is necessary to understand your bankroll.

Some sports books, particularly of the safe online football gambling site variety, might offer a weekly special in which the juice is -105 on a particular day or event. This really is something you should make use of, when you are receiving a product that is worth $110 for $105.

Additionally, if sports books are heavy on one side of a game, they might change the juice on each side to generate more action. For instance, 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 begin with, this really is a situation you must take advantage of.