Like many on the BCSlots team, I have long had an affinity for slots. The same couldn’t be said for Sports Betting. While some of us watched sports or would see matches in person, none of us had ever specifically placed a sports bet before.
When I recently flew back home to visit family and friends in New England, I had a unique opportunity ahead of the launch of Flip The Switch to go back to my old stomping ground casinos and try out sports betting for the first time. Having spent time working on our Sports Betting guide and other content for the site, it was a good chance to see how well I was picking up the information myself.
I ultimately made six bets, two at each of the three casinos I visited while in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Here’s a few things that I learned while making my first bets.
Mind Your +s and -s
One thing I found myself messing up at first was the difference between a + and a – on the numbers. I found the – meaning a favorite and the + meaning an underdog a bit counterintuitive at first, and struggled to realize what that meant when placing a bet.
Of course, a couple of tries and it began to make more sense, and I felt more confident.
Bet On What You Know, or Love
I found myself more interested in the bets where I was betting on a team, or game, I was already a bit into.
The first round of bets I simply opted to bet on games for teams each of my parents loved; my memories of attending those teams’ games growing up made it a fun little exercise, for instance, when my travels put me a bit out of touch of what was going on with those teams at the time.
Then, as I did a bit more homework about the upcoming matches, I began betting on the team I thought would win.
I ultimately won three bets and lost three bets – perfectly 50/50.
Close Games Can Be That Much More Exciting
I can’t say I’m generally a big watch sports on TV guy, but there’s been moments in my life where I’ve been watching a match in progress and found myself captivated by a back and forth, or a close game.
One of the games I happened to bet on ended up being really close, and I found myself sucked into what was going on, watching in the sportsbook with a bunch of other people. I can’t say I ever felt that sort of energy outside of attending a match in a stadium, and it was sort of fun to feel that energy in a casino.
When you play a game like slots, you tend to have these moments by yourself. Even playing Blackjack, since everyone has their own hand, you don’t get those crowd feelings too often, although a particularly good dealer bust can get there. Craps is probably the closest to that feeling I’ve had at a casino, and it’s a game I love to play precisely for those moments.
So having that with sports betting was a nice touch.
Fun For the Right Moments
Sports Betting, like other types of gaming, will depend on the person – are you into sports, follow the ins and outs, have a team you favor? Some people will be able to lean into it accordingly.
For me, a more casual sports fan, sports betting was a fun process to get to know, and I think I’ll partake periodically, when interesting moments pop up. After getting my feet wet, I finally feel less intimidated by those walls of numbers at the casino sports books, and would absolutely wager again when in the right moment.
