It is indeed possible to gamble sensibly as many sports bettors will tell you. Betting on sports events makes game-viewing even more satisfying. Here are some useful tips that can help you get the best value for your money through betting:

1. Study the team/individual’s performance: To start with, there is no substitute for research. To bet correctly, you should ideally know the game properly. Simply looking at past wins is not enough for you to choose a team; you have to see if they have actually performed up-to-the-mark or were plain lucky.

2. Ignore the hype: It is hard to disregard the rate bookies have given but the fact is favorites do not always win. The player most likely to win, because he has hitherto won that event a record number of times, may not win always.

3. Shop around: It is naïve to stick to just one bookie. Brand loyalty is a big thing in betting; since this industry is very competitive, companies will entice you to bet only with them by handing out special offers and loyalty schemes. You, however, should compare multiple bookmakers to see who can give you the best price.

4. Make few selections: Most punters ignore the fact that making fewer selections heightens your winning chances. When you want to earn more money through bets, you need to think small. Ideally, you should focus on a single team; you must never exceed 3 or 4 when placing stakes.

5. Look at less-prominent markets: You should understand the sport well enough to seek higher value in other markets offered by the bookies.

6. Do not get tempted by odds-on prices: This will reduce your chances of winning. For instance, during a tennis Grand Slam event, you may be tempted to bunch all your favorite top players into a multiple to win more since they will all be playing against low-seeded players and therefore likely to win. But tennis is known for offering poor prices on bets and you will probably make very low gains. Rather, you can research to identify an upcoming player with a favorable draw and decide to back him.

7. Know the markets well: When you choose obscure markets, it is advisable to check terms with the betting shop personnel. Many bettors make the half time/full time bet mistake; when you place such a bet, your selection must be in a winning position at half time and go onto win the match also. When you back your team to won both these halves, you must place bets separately. So, your team has to score more than the opponent in both the halves for you to win.

8. Keep emotions aside: Just because you want a team to win badly, you should not be foolish enough to think that it is in a position to win. Home fans make this mistake time and again and bookies make money through this.

9. Choose the right time: Identifying the right time for placing bets may be hard. Bookies tend to increase prices just ahead of an event or for a fixed period. So, unless you monitor it constantly, you can miss out on these opportunities. When an event is very popular, bookies will usually promote it to tempt you.

10. Focus on less-popular sports: Bookies will keep exploring new ways to tempt punters by expanding their list of markets. So, they will invariably include sports which they may not know much about also; learn to take advantage of this.