Las Vegas Sports Betting Tips & 2019 Sports Predictions

Person Researching Sports Betting Predictions on Phone

Among the rows and rows of chairs, you’ll notice avid sports lovers studying the spread and analyzing brackets. We’re smack-dab in the middle of football, NBA, and hockey season – so while you’re watching each game closely, it’s the perfect time to start making your sports predictions for how the seasons will end.

Making your sports betting predictions takes time, research, and a thorough know-how on the sports betting scene works. Your first instinct might be to bet with your heart or put all your money on your favorite team, but that’s a risky move and could end up costing you a hefty sum come the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, or the NBA Finals. The best way to go is to bet with your brain, no matter how loyal you are to your favorite team.

To review, here are some basic things to remember when placing your bets and making your predictions:

 

Las Vegas Sports Betting Tips: The Basics

  • Point Spread: The point spread represents the margin of points in which the favored team must win by to cover the spread. You’re wagering on a team winning or losing by a certain number of points set by the sports book.
  • Money Line: The money line is a bet on the odds of a team winning the game as opposed to a point spread that is based on the scoring outcome. A money line is a simple wager on which team will win.
  • Parlay: A parlay is a single bet that links two or more wagers. To win the bet, the player must win all the wagers in the parlay. Parlays are very popular because you can take a wager as small as $2 or $5 and turn it into hundreds and thousands of dollars.

 

Sports Betting Slip with Game Predictions and Results

 

  • Futures: As the name implies, a futures bet is a wager placed on an event further into the future. For a futures bet, you may be wagering on who will go to the Super Bowl next year.
  • Propositions (Prop Bet): Prop bets are fun to wager on, especially if you’re not as experienced with sports betting. These are bets like “who will be the first to start a brawl on the ice” or “which team will score the first touchdown”. Prop bets are just added wagers to keep the games entertaining.
  • Total (Over/Under): You’re betting on whether the total points, runs, or goals scored by both teams is over or under the total provided by the sports book.

It’s helpful to pick up the daily sheets at any sportsbook to find out their wagering options. On each sheet, you’ll find numbers associated with the different teams or players that correlate with what is shown on the digital display board. Using the sheets are a great way to understand what is available for sports betting that day along with favorites and underdogs.

 

Friends Watching Football Together

 

Sports Betting Predictions for 2019

With an NFL season full of injuries and surprise losses, it’s still up in the air on who will make it all the way to the 53rd Super Bowl. For now, it’s safe to say the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles have a fighting chance this season. The Chargers are also a possibility with having a lot of easy home games coming their way and being the second-best scoring defense in the league right now. However, the golden child of the NFL, the New England Patriots, are yet again the top choice for betters, predicting they will be the team holding the Lombardi Trophy in February.

As far as the NHL goes, there are no predictions for last season’s winners, the Washington Capitals, to win the Stanley Cup this year, nor Sin City’s heroes, the Vegas Golden Knights. This season, the Nashville Predators are sucking up the majority of the predictions with their strong line of defense and well-balanced roster. The Winnipeg Jets and the Pittsburgh Penguins are possible contenders, as well.

The “New England Patriots” of the NBA, the Golden Gate Warriors, are predicted to rule the hardwoods yet again this season. The Warriors are an unstoppable force with a highly talented team and dire competitiveness, and wagering against their championship not recommended. The only team who might actually give them a run for their money this season is the Boston Celtics, being the best team in the Eastern Conference at the moment.

Every year, thousands of sports enthusiasts flock to Las Vegas to place their sports bets and closely watch their teams with dollar signs in their eyes. Will this be the year your predictions pay off or will you be spending your off-season studying the spread lines?