1. Unless you are just betting on your favorite team, do a little research. This can range from checking some overall trends to a position by position evaluation of the projected starters and backups. Serious sports bettors spend hours researching a single game. That may not be necessary unless you are that serious - but checking the compatibulities of the offenses vs defenses can go a long way.

2. Without looking at the spread or moneyline, evaluate each game you are interested in betting. Determine whether or not you see any advantages and assign a pointspread or moneyline for yourself.

3. If the pointspread seems way too high to bet the favorite, that must mean the underdog is a good bet! Too many bettors ignore the underdog because the imagine them getting blown out too frequently.

4. Offense wins games... Defense wins championships

5. For some reason, team histories playing on grass and turf tend to hold up from year to year. Just like how southern teams often struggle playing in the North (outdoor stadiums) in the winter. Add up a bunch of these minor stats and you can have a game changing factor. This is especially useful for finding that upset which typically happens at least once per week!

6. Evaluate your betting history and see if you can make any improvements. Group your bets by favorite and underdog bets, home and away bets. Are any of these performing especially well for you? Any you should start to avoid at all costs?

7. Home field advantage is reflected in the spread - usually about 3 points. But some teams are GREAT at home, others are not. For example, Miami is awesome in September and October at home. The Packers (excluding 2005!) are practically unbeatable at home.

8. Respect the injury reports! There are 50 plus guys on a football team, but losing the star running back or other playmaker can affect morale as well as creating hole in the offense or defense. In the narrow-thin margin of opportunity, every pro coach knows how to exploit a weakness.

9. Bet favorites early in the week, underdogs later in the week. Since you lock in odds when you place your bet, you want the best odds possible. Quite often, the best odds on the favorite are soon after lines open and they move in favor of the underdog as more money is put on one side or the other.

10. Pay attention to weather reports. Weather can affect scoring. Wind speed, temperature, and precipitation are the biggest factors.

11. A Bonus tip! HAVE FUN! If you want to be a professional handicapper, that is another story... But if you are just looking for a little extra action on Sunday, dont forget to enjoy the thrill of bet - and hopefully proving your skill to be superior!

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