Can you win on sports you dont watch?

[Squirrel]

Was having a debate with a few English punting guys i talk to earlier today about what the best sports to punt on are. They argued you can only win on sports you watch and have really good knowledge of, I argued you can do better on sports you know nothing about if you play the numbers and have a keen eye for stats.

Baseball and Football (the REAL one, not armoured wankball) are the only 2 sports I would say I watch with a lot of interest, and over the past I have done very well punting on both of them. However, I checked back through my books and bet histories for giggles and found that my strike rates and ROI were better on sports like College Hoops and things like Rugby League - of which I know nothing about other than reading the stats.

So, in your opinions can you just play the stats and win long term? Or do you need knowledge of the sports on a non-stat level too? Interested to hear opinions.

Fire away

[durito]

I have my highest hold on sports I've never seen one second of. I don't watch any sport for anything other than fun. My wagering has nothing to do with it.

[Dark Horse]

If you don't watch sports you can still go by the numbers and you don't get emotionally involved (clouds judgment).

But if you don't watch sports, you'll also miss out on important reads of the game that may carry over to future games of the same team.

So there is something to say for both. It's not necessary to watch sports, but if you do it, you have to do it right. And if you do it right, it will make you a better bettor. (it will also cost you a lot more time).

A case where having watched the team every game during the regular season payed off in the playoffs for me was the Arizona Cardinals last NFL season. Because I had seen their strengths and weaknesses, many times, I knew I had an edge over the general public in the post season. But I hadn't watched them as a fan..., which could have the exact opposite result.

[G's pks]

I usually try to bet on games I cannot watch... I go by the numbers...

[Matt Rain]

I watch scoreboards more than sports.

[MonkeyF0cker]

It certainly helps to have a fundamental understanding of the sport but you could simply run numbers and figure out which stats are predictive and go from there...

[jjgold]

You will be more successful if you watch lots of games , looking at stats does not tell the whole story of a past game.

[Mudcat]

It certainly helps to have a fundamental understanding of the sport but you could simply run numbers and figure out which stats are predictive and go from there...

ditto.

[Nicky Santoro]

i agree with durito here. watching games DOES NOT help you the least bit.. IF pinny has an african soccer game in EGYPT and EL hassan is -160/+148 over EL Amira... and some 2nd tier book has -185/+165.. who are you going to bet? i have NOT seen 1 soccer game there in my life and can't even name you their star player, but pls give me EL amira +165 for the limit. thank you..

no need to watch any games here..

[pavyracer]

I won money betting on Thailand badminton. I don't know the rules.

[Matt Rain]

I won money betting on Thailand badminton. I don't know the rules.

Glorified bug-swatting. With an accent.

[Regul8er]

I bet on the most interesting man in the worlds Jai Ali team at +145, and won a cool five hundo!

[pdx107]

I watch scoreboards more than sports.

exactly
i bet a bunch on CFL football, but never watch it

[Nicky Santoro]

[Justin7]

Do you think anyone actually watches WNBA?

[Chi_archie]

oh yeah

[seaborneq]

In my life, I have never watched more than 5 minutes of hockey. I took the Penguins to win the cup at +126. Had to find out I won by looking at espn.com the next day. So yes, it is very possible.

[Afrot69]

I never watch soccer and I take advice from other people and win all the time