Test Your Sports Betting I.Q.
How Much Do You Know About Professional-Level Sports
Betting?
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There are very profound differences between average sports bettors and genuine
pros. Here are ten questions that less than 1 in 100 sports bettors will answer correctly.
Try this test on your know-it-all friend...If he doesn't score well on this quiz he is NOT
really a professional-level gambler.
1. When laying 11
to win 10, approximately how much vigorish is paid by losing bettors:
A: 4.5%
B: 5%
C: 10%
D: None of the above
2. Against
money lines, bookmakers make...
A. ...slightly more when a favorite wins
B. ...slightly more when an underdog wins
C. ...the same, whether the favorite or the underdog wins
D. ...None of the above
3. A 3-bet
parlay paying 6-to-1 has vigorish costs...
A. ...much higher than 3 individual bets risking 11 to win ten.
B. ...much lower than 3 individual bets risking 11 to win ten.
C. ...slightly higher than 3 individual bets risking 11 to win ten.
D. ...slightly lower than 3 individual bets risking 11 to win ten.
4.
Professional-level sports bettors expect to win...
A. ...70%-75% of their bets.
B. ...65%-70% of their bets.
C. ...60%-65% of their bets.
D. ...55%-60% of their bets.
5. On any
single bet, professional-level sports bettors rarely risk more than...
A. ...15% of their bankroll.
B. ...10% of their bankroll.
C. ...5% of their bankroll.
D. ...None of the above.
6. When
laying 12 to win 10, ("Six-to-five"), winnings are shorted by approximately...
A. ...6.5%
B. ...8.5%
C. ...10%
D. ...17%
7. With
a 60% winning expectation-per-single-bet, the odds against going 4-0 are...
A. ...about 3-to-one
B. ...about 4-to-one
C. ...about 5-to-one
D. ...about 7-to-one
8. In
football, that stat which best parallels a team's won-lost record is...
A. ...total yards gained/allowed.
B. ...penalties.
C. ...passing yards gained/allowed.
D. ...rushing yards gained/allowed.
9.
Generally, the most significant football injury to a pro gambler happens to the...
A. ...quarterback
B. ...running back
C. ...wide receiver
D. ...center
10. The
money management system most widely used by professional gamblers is:
A. The Kelly criterion
B. One-star, two-star, three-star system
C. A set percentage of their present bankroll
D. None of the above
ANSWERS
Scoring the test is simple. Give yourself 10 points for every 'D' answer, 0 for
anything else. Trouble is, any score less than 100 is a failing score. A
professional-level sports bettor must know the answer to all the questions or sooner or
later he'll be out of business.
QUESTION
1: When laying 11 to win 10, approximately how much vigorish
is paid by losing bettors?
The answer is
D...It's a loaded question. Losers don't pay any vigorish at all. Vigorish is always
deducted from winnings.
Here's a brief explanation: If two bettors were to
bet $110 against one another without using the services of a bookmaker, the winner would
walk away with $220. The loser would lose whatever he put at risk. (After all, he lost
the bet.) Using a bookmaker, the winner walks away with only $210...The winner was
charged 9.1 percent of his winnings by the bookmaker. (Casino games such as
craps, roulette, blackjack, slots, etc., work the same way. Winners receive less than the
"fair" amount.) Check our article, A Crash
Course In Vigorish - And It's Not 4.55%
QUESTION
2: Against money lines, bookmakers make...
The answer is
D...Against money lines, bookmakers make nothing at all when favorites win. They make a
profit only when underdogs win.
Here's a brief explanation: If a favorite-bettor lays $150 to
win $100 and a dog-bettor lays $100 to win $140 on the same proposition, the bookmaker
receives a total of $250 from the two bettors. If the favorite wins, the bookmaker returns
the $150 risked by the favorite-bettor plus the $100 won...The bookmaker keeps nothing of
the $250. If the underdog wins, the bookmaker returns the $100 risked by the dog-bettor
plus the $140 won...The bookmaker keeps $10 of the $250 risked by the two bettors. Bookmakers
are usually cheering for the underdog.
QUESTION
3: A 3-bet parlay paying 6-to-1 has vigorish costs...
The answer is D...Vigorish costs for a 3-bet parlay
that pays 6-to-1 are slightly lower than the cost of three individual bets wherein the
bettor lays 11 to win ten.
Here's a brief explanation: If a bettor risks $100 to win
$90.90 on a single bet, and wins, he then has $190.90 ...If he risks the whole $190.90 to
win $173.50 on a second bet, and wins, he then has $364.40...If he risks the whole $364.40
to win $331.30 on a third bet, and wins, he ends up with $695.70. If he risked
the same original $100 on a 3-bet parlay at 6-to-1, and wins all three bets, he ends up
with $700. The vigorish cost is actually about 4.35 percent, rather than the 4.55% cost of
laying 11 to win ten. (But that's NOT why bookmakers don't advertise parlay
bets. For one thing, parlay betting can protect your downside risk, and it is not in the bookmaker's best
interest for you to protect your downside risk. See our article,
Parlays & Profit.)
QUESTION
4: Professional-level sports bettors expect to win...
The answer is
D...Full time gamblers expect to win fewer than 60% of those bets wherein they lay 11 to
win ten. (In fact, a long term winning percentage of 60% or more is
actually too high!)... Check our article, Winning Percentages, for a fuller
explanation.)
QUESTION
5: On any single bet, professional-level sports bettors rarely risk more than...
The answer is D...Professional-level bettors rarely
risk more than 2% of their bankroll; usually much less. Professionalism demands that
sports betting be regarded as a business, NOT a heart-stopping thrill ride.
QUESTION
6: When laying 12 to win 10, winnings are shorted by approximately...
The answer is D...When laying 12 to win 10, winnings
are shorted by 16.67 percent.
Here's a brief explanation: If two bettors risked $120 against one
another without using the services of a bookmaker, the winner would walk away with
$240; - the $120 he put at risk, plus the $120 he won. Laying $120 to win $100, the winner
walks away with only $220...The $120 he 'should' have won was shorted by $20...(16.67
percent).
QUESTION
7: With a 60% winning expectation-per-bet, the odds against going
4-0 are...
The answer is D....0.6 x 0.6 x 0.6 x 0.6 =
0.1296 (6.7-to-one).
QUESTION
8: In football, that stat which best parallels a team's won-lost record is...
The answer is D...In football, that stat which
correlates best with a team's won-lost record is the stat concerning rushing yards.
QUESTION
9: Generally, the most significant football injury to a pro gambler
happens to the...
The answer is D...The most significant football
injury to a professional handicapper is to the center. The center is a key part of the
offense, but his injury rarely effects the pointspread. Pointspreads tend to compensate
for the other listed injuries.
QUESTION
10: The money management system most widely used by professional gamblers
is...
The answer is D...Genuine experts understand that
progressive betting schemes are strictly for suckers. The size of your bets cannot be used
as a pry-bar to earn more than you deserve. In fact, professional-level sports bettors
strive to keep their bets at the same size. Having a slight advantage on every bet, the
goal is to wear down your opponent. Note that varying the size of your bets against
roulette and craps gives you your best chance of winning against those games because
the odds are against you! The opposite is true against sports betting - so long as
you've done your homework! How could the same tactic work in both scenarios? Blackjack
players often espouse using different-sized bets against sports, but that's wrong. Note
that against blackjack they ALWAYS advise using the SAME size bet against a PARTICULAR
positive count. When the deck is giving them more than a 4 percent advantage, you can bet
they ALWAYS advise risking the maximum bet. Against sports, we presume to ALWAYS have at
least a 4 percent advantage, therefore our bet size never changes. Unlike blackjack, the
"deck" is never against us, so we don't have to worry about betting a
"minimum" bet; - when the odds are against you in sports you don't have to bet
at all!
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