The fairer sex may have an unfair advantage in terms of sports betting.

A new study shows women sports bettors outperform men in several measurements of the activity.

Money Management/Bankroll Management. When you are betting on sports you should always set. The study found that illegal sports betting is driven largely by confusion about online operators. More than half (55%) of consumers who placed most of their wagers with illegal operators believed they bet. Solid betting research should always form the foundation of any serious sports betting system. Academic Research Papers on Sports Betting. A sizable body of literature examining the “efficiencies of the sports betting marketplace” already exists. We examined some of the better known works in hopes of educating sports.

Surprised?

888 Holdings, the company behind 888 Casino, 888 Sportsbook and 888 Poker in New Jersey, completed a study of individual sports betting results in the state.

Breaking those results down along gender lines reveals some interesting information and trends.

The significance of the study depends on perspective, but there are some takeaways that are appropriate regardless of one’s gender.

At 888 Sportsbook, women win more, men typically lose

The bottom line of the study is that based on NJ sports betting data 888 pulled since January, women see a return on investment of 19.79% on their placed bets.

Their male counterparts, however, saw an average loss of 4.6%.

That’s a significant difference.

Not only are women recouping their amount wagered plus seeing a return of nearly 20%, but men are typically losing their bets.

It’s immaterial to mention any physiological difference giving women an advantage, so the only other possibilities are cultural, psychological, or strategical differences.

The first possibility likely plays a part but doesn’t provide a complete explanation. For that, we need to dig a bit deeper.

The trick? Betting with the head instead of the heart

How boys and girls are socialized in US society may actually give women an advantage when it comes to sports betting.

Among girls, making an emotional connection to professional sports franchises isn’t considered as much of a norm. Of course, it is not necessarily impossible for women to be emotionally invested in a sport. But most don’t connect on any visceral level.

Because of that, those girls are more likely to grow into women who don’t have as strong an attachment to certain teams.

That means, when money is on the line, women make decisions with their heads and not their hearts.

For smart bettors, any money placed on a sports bet is expendable income.

Socialization of girls in our society teaches them to value other things above participating in sports betting. So they could more regularly make choices to spend most of that expendable income on other things besides a sports bet.

That decreased amount of money to invest in sports betting could force women to be more selective about what bets they take.

But the 888 study shows that younger women are actually better than their aunts, older sisters, and mothers at sports betting.

Here’s a closer look at the data from 888:

Average ROI for sports betting

Right in the sweet spot of the age breakdown

Breaking down the results of the 888 study by both age and gender creates a new narrative. The best sports bettors in the sample were women who were born in the 1970s and 1980s.

Women between the ages of 35 and 44 claimed the highest return on investment at 129.6%. Women aged 25-34 weren’t far off at 127.06%.

Interestingly enough, the next age bracket for women ranked the worst. Women aged 45-54 saw a loss of 61.72% on their placed bets.

Conversely, that was the best-performing age group for men. The return on investment for men ages 45-54 was 16.9%.

It’s hard to pinpoint why women born in those decades outperform others by such a high margin. Other data strengthens the narrative, however.

Women perhaps more than just superior sports bettors

888’s study also analyzed the numbers from NJ online casino games. Unsurprisingly, women againoutperformed men in general in those games and online poker.

On average, women saw losses of 24% in online casino games and 36% in online poker. Men registered at 47% and 41.6% on average in the same.

How To Do Research For Sports Betting

Average ROI for online casino

Average ROI for online poker

There is a bit of variation when it comes to the age breakdown, however. Women aged 18-24 performed the best in online casino games. Women 55-64 lost the least in online poker.

For the men’s side, the 25-34 group was best at casino games and the same 55-64 group was best at online poker.

Too soon to say women are better than gambling

For as much as the 888 study suggests women are better gamblers, at least in this sample, there are important things to remember.

The data reveals trends in one group of people at one time in one geographic region. It isn’t sufficient to make a blanket statement like women are better at gambling than men.

Making that statement would require a much larger study, done across decades and accounting for a number of factors.

It’s not that the data in this study is useless; it’s just that it’s not sufficient to make such judgments.

Based on the study, however, there’s no reason women should approach sports betting with any less confidence than men.

And on the flip side, it can’t hurt men to ask women their opinions before placing bets. It might just save you a few bucks.

To most sports gamblers, a professional bettor seems to have a perfect life. They wager on sports for a living, make their own hours, and earn serious profits.

That said, professional sports gambling may seem like a glorious career. However, it actually involves a long and slow climb to the top.

This guide discusses the realistic points of the path towards becoming a success when betting on sports. It also covers the small edges and long hours that gamblers must put it into turning pro.

Professional Sports Bettors Deal With Small Edges

When the general population envisions an expert sports bettor, they think of somebody who makes thousands of dollars with every wager.

They probably also picture a gambler who just can’t seem to lose night after night. The reality, though, is much different than this.

Instead, they have a small edge that they exploit through large bets.

Many sports gamblers consider themselves successful if they win 50% of their wagers at -110 odds. Of course, gamblers can win more far more bets against the sportsbooks if they back heavy favorites (e.g. -300 or better).

But -110 is a nice measuring stick for how successful you are in terms of win-loss percentage. Even if you win 50% of the time at these odds, though, you still won’t be making profits.

After all, you need to take the juice into account. A bookmaker takes 10% from the losing side in a -110 wager, meaning a 50% win rate won’t get it done.

Some handicappers claim they correctly guess over 60% of their sports betting picks. However, no handicapper or professional sustains such a win rate in the long run.

At best, one can only expect to be successful on 55% of their bets long term. This win rate certainly isn’t the 80% mark that many would envision for a pro.

You Can’t Expect to Win Big With a Small Bankroll

You won’t get very far if you have a 53% to 55% win rate and are only placing $10 bets. You can’t even earn a dollar profit from each wager at this rate.

You need to exploit your long-term edge with big bets in order to make serious profits.

Here’s an example on how much you might win as a lower-level pro:

• You place $2,000,000 worth of bets throughout the year.
• You win 54% of your wagers at -110 odds.
• 2,000,000 x 0.54 = $1,080,000 in winnings
• 2,000,000 x 0.46 = $920,000 in base losses
• 920,000 x 0.1 (juice) = $92,000 in juice paid
• 920,000 + 92,000 = $1,012,000 in total losses
• 1,080,000 – 1,012,000 = $68,000 profit on the year.

Unless you strictly bet point spreads, most profitable opportunities that you find aren’t going to be at exactly -110 odds. But I keep referring to these odds because they make for the simplest examples.

You also need to capitalize with large wagers as well. You can only place these big bets if you have the bankroll to do so.

You Must Build Your Skills & Bankroll

Sports gambling definitely isn’t something that you jump right into and immediately conquer. Instead, it requires you to put long hours into the matter.

You’re most likely not going to win right away. Therefore, you want to study general sports betting strategy while slowly increasing your bankroll at the same time.

You also need to work on your handicapping skills.

This way, you won’t lose too much money if your betting skills aren’t yet up to par.

All the while, you should also be slowly adding to your bankroll. This process involves saving money and using it to build your gambling funds.

You probably don’t have $50,000 or $100,000 just sitting around for gambling purposes. But you can build up to this amount through a combination of steady investments and improving your skills.

Eventually, You Need to Increase Your Bet Sizes

I highly advise that you don’t jump into sports gambling and start placing $1,000 wagers right away. Eventually, though, you want to up your bet sizes to make more money.

With a large enough bankroll, you may even theoretically earn thousands of dollars per wager.

Of course, you want that bankroll to back up those huge bets.

How Does Sports Betting Work

Otherwise, the volatility could ruin your betting career.

Therefore, you should put serious consideration into your bankroll size. Here’s an example:

• You want to place $500 bets.
• You also want a bankroll with at least 100 units to survive the volatility.
• You’ll risk 1-3 units on each match, depending upon how confident you are.
• 500 x 100 = 50,000
• You should start with at least $50,000 (100 units at $500 apiece).

Can You Grind From a Low Roller Into a Pro Bettor?

If you’re like most amateur online bettors, you’ll probably start with a $50 or $100 deposit. These amounts give you just enough money to make several bets on the games you watch.

However, you may also have aspirations of turning your small bankroll into a fortune someday.

The odds are definitely against you depositing $100 and eventually becoming a top pro. Then again, though, everybody has to start somewhere.

The reason why most sports bettors feel this way comes down to two aspects:

• They fail to put the work into strategy and handicapping.
• They exercise poor bankroll management.

Sure, everybody who sets out on the road towards professional gambling blames bad luck or external factors for their failures. In reality, though, the average bettor is lazy and impatient.

They don’t want to put an hour into handicapping a single bet. They want to put five minutes into handicapping 12 wagers and pray that they’ll win most of the bets.

Understanding Sports Betting Line

Furthermore, the typical sports gambler doesn’t wish to grind their way up towards larger wagers. They want to quickly increase their bet sizes and take shots at the big time.

Long story short, it’s possible to go from a small initial deposit to becoming a professional gambler. But you also need discipline, patience, and steady investments into your bankroll.

Most gamblers aren’t willing to make these sacrifices. That said, it can sometimes feel impossible grinding up towards pro status.

Tips for Starting on the Path to Becoming a Pro

As discussed throughout this post, you’re not going to become a professional bettor overnight. But you can at least get started on the right path by following the tips below.

Save Up for a Starting Bankroll

A $100 bankroll isn’t going to help you become a professional gambler. Even a $1,000 bankroll won’t do the trick.

You need a sizable bankroll so that you can make large bets and survive potential losing streaks. The amount needed all varies based on how much you want to get out of sports betting.

Of course, you don’t have to put your betting activities on hold just because you don’t have a small fortune.

Instead, you can learn the ropes by making small bets while slowly adding to your bankroll on the side. If you save up enough money, you’ll eventually be able to become a serious pro.

Break Your Bankroll Down Into Units

Most professionals don’t look at their bets in terms of dollars. Instead, they break their bankrolls down into units.

If you normally wager $100 per bet, then your unit size will be $100.

Of course, you’ll likely bet more than $100 when you feel extremely confident about an outcome. Therefore, you might risk 2-3 units in these situations.

In any a case, here’s an example on how to break your bankroll down into units:

• You have a bankroll worth $75,000.
• You want 100 units.
• 75,000 / 100 = 750
• Each unit size will be worth $750.

Narrow Your Focus

You might be tempted to bet on multiple markets. After all, wagering on a variety of sports is more entertaining than just one or two.

But the goal here is mastery. You stand a much better chance of making profits someday if you truly know a market.

Going further, you should also pay attention to a specific division rather than constantly trying to scout an entire league. If you know one division extremely well, then you’ll be an expert on matches involving that division.

Never Stop Studying

Sports betting is fun because you may never truly master it. You could dedicate a lifetime to this pursuit and still get fooled by the bookies sometimes.

That said, you have lots of room to grow with betting. If you truly dream of becoming a professional, you should constantly be studying general strategies and handicapping tips.

As long as you never stop researching advice, you’ll improve over time. Improve enough, and you could very well make a nice living off of sports gambling.

Conclusion

Sports gambling may seem like a quick path to riches for skilled bettors. But in reality, it’s a long journey that involves lots of planning and patience.

You can’t go from zero to 60 and expect to win big right away. Instead, you should grind your way up the ladder while slowly adding money to your bankroll.

How To Bet On Sports Successfully

With this approach, you can improve your handicapping efforts while also building your gambling funds. You should also steadily increase your bet sizes—especially as you develop an advantage.