For teams in the sports betting world, losing streaks are criticized and hated 99% of the time, with the remaining one percent being acceptable only when teams are all but done with competitive play in the season and are looking to improve their draft stocks for high-position picks that can improve their future squads. For sportsbetting enthusiasts, any streak—good or bad—is a chance to get paid, depending on how the bettors decide to play in the betting lines. Here’s a brief look at some ways in which you can optimally bet on teams that are on a losing streak.
Optimal Strategy To Bet Teams On A Losing Skid
Understanding Losing Streaks
No team is immune to losing a number of games in a short period of time; that’s a reality and not hearsay. In sports such as ice hockey and baseball where the season is filled with back-to-back games and crowded schedules, the losing skids are even worse and they happen even to the best of teams. Besides tough schedules, skids can come as a result of several other factors, including poor team spirit, bad coaching, lack of talented players, injuries, suspensions and so on. Fortunately, you can patiently be on the lookout for signs that a losing skid is about to come to an end and profit from that team, as is briefly highlighted below.
Signs that a Losing Streak is About to End
Some of the signs that point towards the end of a losing skid include:
Roster returns to normal: This refers to the return of key players from injuries and suspensions, offering the team depth to compete formidably. The same goes for teams that sign new players that bring a new lease of life to a squad, often leading to the end of a skid sooner or later.
Return from the end of a long road trip: Playing on the road, especially on back-to-back nights far away from home, can be very draining to players. Coming back to a friendly crowd at home after such draining games can thus work as remedy, offering the players a chance to play better and end a losing skid. For some teams, the opposite of this is true; playing at home is more pressuring to them hence leading to bad results, so going on the road at the end of a homestand can be the “I-got-nothing-to-lose” motivation needed for them to end a skid.
Change in Coaching Personnel: Certain teams, either because they have run out of ideas or are tired of a given coach, lose games time and time and again; but as soon as the coaching personnel are changed, the winning fortunes change. A perfect example of this is the Chelsea FC team in England and its much-documented losing skid under coach Jose Mourinho in the 2015-2016 season, but as soon as the Portuguese coach was fired and interim coach Guus Hiddink stepped in, Chelsea started winning games, going as many as 11 games without a loss in the EPL.
Betting on the End of a Losing Streaks
If a team has been on a winning streak but the signs are that it is due a loss, then you can opt to take the opposing team in the next game at a good price that will result in solid profits. Similarly, if a team has been on a losing skid but the signs point towards the end of that extended losing run, then chances are that the price on that team after a long losing streak could huge because the public will mostly be betting against them, hence offering you a chance to bet and cash in a big way from that team that is due to end the skid.
The ATS Betting Angle in Losing Skid
Outside the strategy of betting on the end of a losing skid, teams that are on an extended winless run can offer other alternative winning options. One of such alternatives is betting against the spread. Some teams, in spite of not winning straight up (SU betting), are often quite good at keeping games close and covering the spread in sports such as American football and basketball. Having the knowledge about such teams can be extremely important for you, particularly if you are a fan of alternative betting strategies such as point spreads, parlays and teasers that don’t necessarily rely on winning games straight up.
Final Remarks: Good teams in any league will eventually lose just in the same way bad teams will string together some wins and make people believe in them again. It’s the natural cycle of sports betting and the reason why sports odds remain exhilaratingly thrilling and unpredictable with every passing season. By keeping that in mind, and with some patience, you can easily turn even the worst of losing skids into the most profitable ventures.
