Betting strategies: Best approaches, guidelines for sports bettors April 2026

As sports betting continues to gain popularity across the country with more and more states legalizing the activity, aspiring bettors have a wealth of information available to them when it comes to the best approaches to sports betting strategies. We'll take a look at some general betting strategies, sport-specific approaches and guidelines for different types of wagers.

A sports betting strategy is any approach to sports betting, whether it's maintaining a particular wager amount, betting on a particular sport or avoiding certain markets. While these strategies may not provide you with an eye-catching payout and get you featured on social media channels, they are more likely to lead to long-term success and ensure responsible gaming. Sign up for DraftKings Sportsbook and put your betting strategies to work:

What are some general betting strategies?

The first and most important strategy is to make sure you know what you're betting on. This may seem obvious, but even the best handicappers can get tripped up. A good example of this is when wagering on soccer. Bettors will often be presented with three options: Team A to win, Team B to win or a draw. These bets are for regular time only, and sportsbooks will specify this in the bet slip. This is especially important to note in competitions with knockout games, as a team winning in extra time in a knockout match will not count towards a wager on that team to win the match on the three-way money line. There are additional soccer betting markets where bettors can account for this, so be sure to know what you're betting on.

A secondary component here is to know the sport you are betting on, especially because there are so many sports globally you can make wagers on. For example, if you've never watched cricket, it would not be wise to bet on cricket matches. That doesn't mean you can't get lucky and win some wagers, but it's generally not advised.

Managing your bankroll is important in order to game responsibly. Do not wager more than you are willing to lose, and do not chase your losses. Sometimes, you may feel more confident about a particular wager and bet more than your usual amount. This can work from time to time, but in general it's best to use the same wager amount for each bet to ensure long-term success.

Line shopping is another important strategy. While most top sportsbooks offer similar odds, there can occasionally be some discrepancies from platform to platform. This won't matter for one or two bets, but over the long haul, it could lead to a sizable difference in winnings. If you're going to make a wager, you might as well get the best possible payout.

A secondary component of this betting strategy is to monitor line movement. For example, if you want to bet on the Eagles to win against the Cowboys at DraftKings Sportsbook at -325 in the morning and the line moves to Eagles -150 two hours before kickoff, make sure to see why the line has shifted and whether you would still like to keep your bet at -325 or cash out if your sportsbook offers this option. If the line movement is that sizable, there's likely injury news or a lineup change which could materially impact the result of the contest.

Fading the public is a popular strategy, but how can bettors actually do that? There are websites which can tell you where the majority of bets are going for a particular market, and sportsbooks have started providing that information as well. Sometimes, there's a lot of momentum with one team which isn't actually merited by statistical evidence. This is particularly true in college basketball during the NCAA Tournament, where upsets are common. You can fade big-time programs in a variety of ways, often going against the betting public, and get rewarded for it.

Hedging is when you place a wager on both sides of an outcome, effectively protecting yourself from a major loss. It's a way to give yourself some protection against some of your bets not hitting. This can be applicable to all markets. For example, let's say you bet Eagles -7.5 against the Cowboys before the game and Philadelphia has a 14-0 lead at halftime. The live line at halftime is Eagles -10.5. You can bet the Cowboys side of the spread here to cover yourself in case Dallas comes back. There's a possibility you win both bets if the Eagles win by 8-10 points, but you've already got Eagles -7.5 in the bank if Philadelphia goes on to blow out the Cowboys. Betting Dallas on the live line hedges your original bet and while you eat into your potential profit, you also minimize the potential loss.

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Do specific strategies work for specific sports?

NFL betting strategies

Finding a strategy that works for you is important. but there are some general guidelines when it comes to specific sports for betting. In NFL betting, it's usually wise to back the home team in some fashion. Home teams tend to win more than road teams, even if the talent gap is substantial. Betting on the home team against the spread or on the money line is generally a good way to stay profitable, even if it takes many wagers to see decent returns.

College football betting strategies

When it comes to college football betting, slightly modifying the NFL betting approach can be successful. Betting on home underdogs in college football might not pay off every week, but there are enough upsets over the course of the season where this tends to even out the wins and losses. There are certain weeks where there may not seem like an obvious upset pick but this is the ultimate chaos sport. Those massive upsets can make up for your misses. The same goes for college basketball, where home teams often feed off the crowd to a greater extent than in other sports and can pull off stunning victories.

NBA betting strategies

In NBA betting, player props are the most popular types of wagers. Because basketball players tend to play every few days, it's more likely for positive or negative form to carry over across multiple games. For example, Nikola Jokic had a stretch of five straight triple-doubles in 2025. If you wagered on Jokic to record a triple-double in each of those contests, you'd make a decent profit even if you also bet on the sixth triple-double, which did not occur.

MLB betting strategies

Player props are available in every league, but they are riskier in MLB betting and NHL betting. In baseball, hitters usually get three to four plate appearances in a game. Even the best hitters can have off days and the randomness of three or four individual matchups is usually not worth pursuing. There are plenty of MLB player props available outside of hitting props and the odds account for the limited number of chances a player gets, but there's still a greater amount of risk compared to player props in other sports.

NHL betting strategies

A similar phenomenon occurs in hockey, where the best players only tend to play for 45-50 seconds at a time before getting a breather. This doesn't mean you can't find great information on specific matchups in baseball betting, or target a team's most important player in hockey betting. It just means you are leaving things more to chance compared to a game result. However, the points prop market for hockey is potentially more favorable because of the way players record points. Up to two assists can be awarded on every hockey goal, which means as many as three players can record a point on every goal scored. That helps your chances when betting on a player points prop in hockey betting.

Soccer betting strategies

Soccer betting offers goal-scorer props but these carry the same risk as player props in MLB betting and NHL betting. Bettors are more likely to get good results wagering on team results. One market in soccer betting which can be favorable is the double chance, which gives users multiple outcomes to bet on in a single slip. This tends to work well when backing a home underdog to either win or draw, and there's usually still a solid payout associated with this type of wager.

Golf betting strategies

Wagering on a winner for a tournament in golf betting, even when there's a clear favorite, can be a futile exercise given how many competitors there are in the field. Markets for top-5 and top-10 finishes are usually more favorable, even if the payout is lower. You can also wait for a few days to make wagers, as golf tournaments usually take place across multiple days. If a player you are targeting makes it past the cut for the first few rounds, you can likely still get a decent price to back him even on the later days of the competition.

MMA betting strategies

MMA betting and UFC betting have gained popularity over the last few years with the sport generating substantial buzz internationally. One of the most crucial things to check when betting on MMA and UFC is fighter statistics. You can find out how many bouts a certain fighter has won and which method they've won with. There are markets where you can wager on the method of victory and in most cases, fighters do not change their style from bout to bout. If they are winning a large majority of their fights in a particular way, they are likely to keep that style moving forward.

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Do different bet types require different strategies?

There's no consensus approach to betting point spreads, run lines and puck lines but it's generally better to back the favorite. Favorites win a majority of the time and sportsbooks offer strong payouts on run lines and puck lines for favorites. There's a wealth of information on how teams perform against the spread in each situation, and you can find this information quite easily before placing a wager. In certain sports, like college football, NBA and college basketball, it makes sense to back the underdog on the spread in certain cases, particularly if the underdog is at home. You might not want to back the upset with a money line wager, so you can give yourself some breathing room with a spread bet.

The same goes for totals and player props. Most sportsbooks now give you the opportunity to bet alternate lines at different odds, so you can modify spreads, totals and prop lines to your liking. Even if you sacrifice a bit with the odds, you can lower the thresholds which need to be crossed in order to have more success.

Futures betting can be tricky, especially if you're banking on a team making certain improvements which haven't materialized yet on the field. However, betting on a team with sustained success can be more profitable here. For example, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had 22 consecutive non-losing seasons. While that alone doesn't guarantee anything for the 2026-27 NFL season, what's most likely to occur? The Steelers are +450 (wager $100 to win $450) to win the AFC North in 2026-27.

Parlay betting and same-game parlays have become wildly popular, and it can be tempting to try to hit a massive 10-leg parlay when you see bettors being featured on sportsbook social media accounts for turning $10 wagers into thousands of dollars thanks to parlays. However, it is generally advised to avoid parlaying. This is because not only do you need every outcome of the bet to be correct to win (even one wrong result in 5-6 legs can ruin the entire bet), but sportsbooks often do not give you correct odds relative to your chances to win.

For example, the implied win probability of parlaying two legs at -110 odds each is 25%, as you've got a 50% chance of hitting each part of the wager correctly (0.5x0.5 = 0.25). The associated odds with this would be +300, but sportsbooks typically offer around +264 or +265 for this wager. So not only are you increasing your risk of losing, but you're also curtailing your payout slightly when compared to what the probability says the odds should be. If you do bet parlays, it's advised not to go beyond four legs. While there are larger payouts for each added leg, this is not sustainable over the long haul and can lead to irresponsible gaming habits like chasing losses.

If you do want to bet parlays, the best strategy would be to have four or fewer legs and back big favorites in each leg. Even if you do not get substantial odds, you will have a greater chance at long-term success with parlay betting if you minimize the opportunities to get things wrong.

Are there any strategies that should be avoided for sports betting?

Most of these have been mentioned in the article and fall under the umbrella of responsible gaming.

• Make sure you know what you're making a wager on.
• Make sure you understand the sport you are wagering on.
• Do not chase losses and only bet what you are willing to lose.
• Make sure to shop across sportsbooks for the best lines for a particular wager.
• In general, try to avoid betting on parlays or keep the number of legs to four or fewer.

FAQ

What are sports betting handicapping strategies?

Sports betting handicapping strategies are tactics used by gamblers to try to get the most value for their bets. These can range from general tips like wagering the same amount on each bet or only betting one particular market, to sport-specific guidelines like wagering primarily on NBA player props or betting on home teams in the NFL.

What is the most successful sports betting strategy?

There's no such thing as a "most successful" sports betting strategy, but there are general approaches which work well for most bettors. Keep in mind, the vast majority of those engaging in sports betting are losing money. Otherwise, sportsbooks wouldn't be operating. If you enter sports betting with the mindset of getting rich quick, you're likely to be disappointed. If you go in with a disciplined approach hoping to make money over a long-term horizon, you're more likely to have success. If you're looking for guidance on which bets to make or who to follow, check out our SportsLine experts.