Truly amazing. Unbelievable. When you stop to think about it, the amount of money wagered annually on football picks during the pigskin season would boggle your mind. Millions of dollars laid down by tens of thousands of bettors, excited to distraction by the irresistible attraction of that ever-elusive quarry, the point spread winner. “If the three college football picks win, and I pop on my 2 nfl picks, Ill take home this much, and then I will buy this, that or the other thing for the wife. Or maybe I’ll pad the bankroll and up the ante a little next week, or maybe…” There is only one ‘maybe’ that never seems to be considered: “Maybe I’ll lose”, especially if I’m wagering on free football picks. Post-game symptoms, however, cannot be denied. The lump in the throat, the nausea, the nervousness, anxiety and depression, wondering where you’re going to get the bread to feed your man. It’s never easy to face reality of a dream, which has been shattered, of the money, which has been lost. Sound familiar? All of us have endured that kind of disappointment at one time or another. As you sat there watching the ncaa scores or nfl scores to see if your ncaa football picks and pro football picks covered the spread, how many have learned from the bitter experience? How many have used it to help build a better “sports betting foundation?” Losses should at least win experience for us. We need to question ourselves when we lose. Ask ourselves not how did I lose, but why did I lose. Rather than worry about the fumble at the inopportune moment or the blown call by the zebra or the lack of instant replay, which might have “cost us the game,” we need to concern ourselves with what led us to choose that particular game in the first place. The answer for the average sports gambler can usually be attributed to a deficiency in one or more of three critical areas: Knowledge, Preparation Time, or Expertise.

The A-B-C’s of Winning Football Picks

What constitutes adequate knowledge? How many hours is sufficient preparation time? Who can measure expertise? These are tough questions. And you can’t get the answers in any school…except the College of Hard Knocks. Fortunately, that happens to be my alma mater. I’ve done more than a few rocky semesters at that tough little university. Perhaps the insight I have gained can help you to avoid some of the pitfalls of handicapping. Over the course of a pigskin season it is almost impossible for the unknowledgeable to win. That unbelievable set of numbers they call the Las Vegas line is tough to figure - and tougher to beat - even for the knowledgeable hard working, dedicated handicapper. To help you acquire the necessary knowledge, I have devised a set of 11 handicapping guidelines. Read them, and digest them. Cling to them like a diabetic to his insulin. Consider them preventative medicine, a vaccination against the kind of handicapping diseases mentioned above. Close adherence to these guidelines can be the kind of prescription, which causes those sicknesses to remit completely, never to return. And remember, I don’t speak from a pulpit or a pedestal. I know whereof I speak for one reason and one reason only - because I’ve been there. And I won’t con you. Understand from the start that the guidelines will not guarantee a winning season. What they’ll do is establish discipline, understanding, and a proven methodology. There’s a right way and a wrong way to tackle a running back, and the situation is much the same in sports betting. It is of the utmost importance to know and to abide by the right way.

11 Handicapping Guidelines To Improve Your Football Handicapping

1. Understand Your Opponent - You’re the underdog. You’re the one who’s laying 11 to 10 to your friendly bookmaker. This initially gives you a negative expectancy of 5%. It’s a substantial challenge. The vigorish, or juice, can indeed be overcome, but it is not to be taken lightly. 
2. Knowledge - Study and understand the game, don’t just watch it. This will provide a necessary basis for insights into determining trends and developments in a team’s performance level.
3. Preparation - Long-term success can be attributed to hard work and working smart. There is no way you can neglect the preseason preparation and season long update. The lure of “easy money” should be recognized as a mirage. If you think it’s easy, you really don’t know enough about it. Read all the pertinent information that may help you choose your college football picks and nfl football picks; know each team’s personnel, strengths and weaknesses. This involves reading newspapers, periodicals and online information on a regular basis.
4. Be Objective - When you’re watching a game, look at what’s happening-not what you want to see. Being objective will add to your overall knowledge.
5. Money Management - Any successful money management method requires that you bet more when you’re hot and less when you’re not. Do not double up when you are losing. In essence, do not send good money after bad money. Be patient because no one wins every day or week. Accept the fact that good or bad days are part of the game and that winning and losing streaks happen in cycles. If you are utilizing good handicapping methods and are on the right side, you will undoubtedly come out ahead at the end of the season.
6. Be Confident - Have confidence in your selections. If you have an uneasy feeling or negative thoughts after making your selections than I suggest you back off. You should be confident and relaxed.
7. Utilize Discipline - This is probably one of the hardest guidelines for the average gambler to accomplish. You must be selective man. It’s impossible to win if you bet every game on the board or a game just because it is televised. There always seems to be a nucleus of teams with high rankings and TV exposure. Thus the trap is set to catch the unsuspecting bettor wagering on the big name teams, which are overrated because of their reputation. The bookmakers realize these and set exorbitant prices on those big names. It may be more profitable to look for the underdogs anxious to prove that they can be competitive with anyone and this appearance is their “12th man on the field”.
8. Don’t Bet in the Dark - Check player news, weather, injuries and the effect the substitute may have on the team. The public puts too much emphasis on injuries in NFL games and bookmakers are aware of that when they make the opening line.
9. Evaluate Home vs. Away Performance - Remember that a team may have an entirely different personality on the road than at home. You must be able to recognize the difference in home vs. away performance. Over a given period of time a team will form a pattern. College football trends seem to keep right on rolling along even though the characters change, so keep an eye on these throughout the year. NFL trends can be a diamond in the rough or a land mine in the rough, so beware.
10. Shop Around - Use as many bookmakers/sportsbooks as you can. Their odds will vary some and you might as well take advantage of a point or two differences in your favor. You might even catch a middle, a situation in which you’re risking $1 to make $20 or you may side the play and get $10 for your risk of $1. It’s amazing how many games fall near the number, so this definitely warrants a shot. With the introduction of offshore books, the opportunities of middle situations increased and I love it. An offshore book is an excellent place to shop and with the convenience of home. Hey, dynamic line movements from offshore books often open middle opportunities. This will make a substantial difference in your bottom line. Be careful, I have heard many horror stories. You have the same concerns with a Sportsbook as you do with a sports handicapping service.
11. Professional Help - If you’re intelligent enough to realize that you do not possess the knowledge, preparation and expertise to be a smart bettor, then a good, reliable, experienced service that can be a boost to your bankroll. Make certain you will be refunded for unused service if you decide to end your subscription. If the service is unwilling to do this, then back off and find one that prefers to earn their fee. Also, I recommend that you look for a service that has been around for a while and has proven credentials. I was a pioneer (1982) in the “pay after you win” service. Now we “post guaranteed picks selections at kickoff time”. This ensures honesty and integrity and leaves no doubt that we’re professionals. All Gridiron Gold records are open to the public. Performances are documented and monitored by a tough group of watchdogs, otherwise known as our clients. We will always post our selections and results. In fact, I INSIST on it. A service that posts selections opposed to one that does not post selections, hmmm, now who you going to trust? Never ever, never ever, one more time so you don’t forget, never ever allow them to squeeze you! It’s your hard earned money that’s on the line (no pun intended), so take control.

Over 100 years of combined experience. What the critics say about Gridiron Gold.

Rated Nations No. 1 Football Handicapper - “Mister Consistency, Gridiron Gold Football Picks Went 18 for 22, 82% for October”. Experts Magazine. “Quality and Integrity, One of the few “True Professional Football Handicappers” still remaining in our industry”. - Experts Magazine

Rated Nations No. 1 Football Handicapper - Rated Nations No. 1 Football Handicapper - H&H Sporting Times - “The Highest Capital Ever Achieved in an AADSS Football Handicapping Contest, $10,000 Bankroll Turned into $123,000 - An Award Winning Sports Service”. Million$ Magazine

Rated Nations No. 1 Football Handicapper - “65% Football Handicapping Winning Pct. And For the First Time Ever, a Football Handicapping Service Went the Entire Season Picking 4 Games In our National Newspaper Professional Handicapping Contest Without a Single Losing Week”! - Ron Sataloff, President, Sports Features Syndicate Inc.

Rated Nations No. 1 Football Handicapper - “The best football handicapper I have ever had the privilege to monitor. A long time documented handicapping super star”. Director - American Association of Documented Sports Services - Martin Mendelsohn. ”A Genuinely Superlative Record of Consistency & Excellence”. American Association of Documented Sports Services. “One of the Most Outstanding & Successful Football Handicappers Start to Finish”. American Association of Documented Sports Services. “A Documented Football Handicapping Superstar”  Martin Mendelsohn, Director - American Association of Documented Sports Services

That’s what we’re all about, winning football picks