If you’re going to be serious about your sports betting then you must keep track of your bets.  To do this you must record them in a way that allows for a meaningful review from time to time.  Most bettors convince themselves that they will just remember their bets, or that the only thing that matters is profit and loss – something their account balance will track for them effortlessly.  This is just an excuse, and a sign of a bettor who is lazy, deluded or afraid to know the real truth.  No one’s mind is that reliable.  You must record your bets to understand your long term trends.

Spreadsheet software is very popular, and we strongly recommend using one.  Betting on sports on the internet already has you at your computer, so opening that spreadsheet is very convenient.  You can use a notebook and pen, but it will greatly complicate and inhibit your ability to sort and review your data to find meaningful trends in your betting.

There are numerous spreadsheet options available, with MS EXCEL and Google Documents (Spreadsheets) being among the most popular.  A full-featured variant like EXCEL may prove more useful in the long run, as it provides more tools for analyzing your data.  Learning to use those analytic tools takes some time, so opting for the free and universal availability of Google Spreadsheets is a very reasonable choice.  What really matters is that you use your spreadsheet, so whatever works for you is going to be the best option.

What to Record on Your Betting Spreadsheet

Not only do you have to be meticulous in recording every bet, but you should also be very detailed with the elements of betting data you record.  At a minimum you should record the following:

·         Date

·         Sport

·         Sportsbook

·         Type of bet (Spread, moneyline, total, halftime, teaser, etc.)

·         Betting line

·         Amount (as a percentage of total bankroll)

·         Result

If you’re a steam bettor or playing line moves, you’ll also want to capture:

·         Opening Line

·         Closing Line

It seems like a lot, but once you are in the habit of logging all your bets, it will become second nature and not as time-consuming as it may at first appear.

Once you have started recording your betting data you can easily begin tracking your results.  Just be aware that you need hundreds of bets before you have enough data to be statistically meaningful.  In other words, don’t get too excited (or dejected) over winning (or losing) your first 10 bets.  It will take years to develop a reliable baseline of data for all sports and all betting types.

Use Your Spreadsheet to Analyze Your Betting Results

Once you have that baseline built, however, you will have a formidable tool in your quest to beat the bookies.  You will easily be able to see which sports and bet types you are beating and which are causing you to bleed money.  Without the record you might not realize that even though you are up overall, you are a long term loser at halftime betting.  By eliminating halftime bets from your portfolio your profits will climb.

One final thought: if you think keeping accurate records of your betting in a spreadsheet isn’t important to being profitable, then ask yourself this – “Why don’t the sportsbooks provide this service for you?”