If you are a casual bettor and do not mind losing your money to the man every wekk then this article is not for you. If you are looking at sports handicapping as a way to make money then this article is for you and should be regarded as your first lesson to successful sports handicapping.

The most common mistake that the lay bettor makes when analyzing a game is that they tend to bet favorites no matter the spread. The theory is that "Team A should beat Team B" so winning by X number of points is very likely. What you must realize is that the favorites are not looking at the spread when trying to win the game. How many times does a team have you bet on a favorite and seen them clearly winning the game only to lose against the spread at the last moment.

Clearly an equal number of favorites and underdogs win. The first thing you ought to do as a bettor would be to circle the underdogs that beat the spread and win outright for a couple of weeks and analyze them. Try to find patterns and situations that are common among all of them.

Once you start knowing when to fade favorites and bet on underdogs, the sooner you will begin to start winning. Check out our other lessons on sports handicapping tips.