Today we begin our series on how to win money at sports betting, and although we don't expect or claim that what we detail will be an exhaustive series of articles, the one thing they have in their favour is that each of the principles and methods we'll examine have been tested and refined over many years in front line battle with the bookmakers.

Rest assured that nothing here is an intellectual exercise, but was discovered, often painfully, by placing bets over a long period time using real money and standing or falling by the results.

Many of you as experienced bettors will already understand most of the principles involved, but we believe there will be much to be gained by another look at them and a little self-examination.

We liken this to car driving skills. To pass a driving test we do everything by the instruction book, and after passing the test add to this knowledge with experience of real-life driving conditions to make us better drivers.

But, if we're honest with ourselves, we also pick up many bad habits that become part of our technique almost unknowingly. We say 'almost' because we're convinced that most of us are actually aware of our bad habits, but tolerate them in the absence of any major disasters.

Our punting techniques are also subject to the gradual intrusion of bad habits and practices, and once again in the absence of a major wipe-out we tend to generally ignore them, thereby lessening our overall effectiveness as punters.

Even playing roulette needs to be taken seriously as we know to our cost that simply standing at the table being mesmerised by the spin of the wheel without giving some thought to our actions means we ruin our chances of actually enjoying what we're doing, and at the end of the day most people gamble because it is enjoyable ! 

Know Thine Enemy:
For anyone new to sports betting to even consider starting without first knowing how a bookmaker operates, is in our opinion suicidal. To get involved without first knowing the rules is simply crazy, as all eventualities should be weighed up as part of the process of determining the likely success of any particular bet.

Know Thyself:
It's essential to know our own strong points and weaknesses, and brutal honesty is what's required here. The kind of tongue in cheek statement that follows the accusation "you're drunk" with "I only had a couple," when we are clearly rat-arsed, is of no use to us in our quest to plunder the bookmakers.