Every gambler plays the odds, and when you are betting on sports, you want to know what is going to affect your chances of winning the bet you have placed. Which team you bet on may depend on a number of factors, and today I want to talk about how the home team advantage affects the way a team plays and their chances of winning.
Fans on Their Side
Morale plays a big role in determining how motivated a team is and how well they play. If they are being booed by the crowd, they might play poorly and they might take losses hard. They may be inspired by those boos to play harder and stronger, but it will be tough for them to keep a positive attitude.
The home team, on the other hand, is likely to get a lot of cheers from the stands. Being cheered on by their adoring fans who didn’t have to travel far to see them will definitely help team morale, and it can help to pull them out of a tough spot where they would normally stay discouraged. That’s probably one of the biggest factors contributing to what is commonly known as a home team advantage.
The Home Court
Whether you are placing a bet on a football, basketball, cricket or some other sport, the home court is the home court. It may be a stadium instead, but it is still the home team’s domain. Before you put down sports bets (called Judi bola in some places), you should consider how well the home team does on their home turf.
They know the little imperfections in the arena. They know what to look for and what kind of space they have to work with. A lot of their strategies are developed in their own arena on ground that is familiar to them, so they are going to play better when they are there.
It isn’t just the familiarity that helps them. They also feel at home there, meaning they are more comfortable in their home arena. That comfort translates to better playing. How well do they do in their home turf? According to NBA statistics, teams win about 60% of the time on their home courts. In football, the stats are not quite as impressive but still weigh in favor of the home team. They win 49% of the time there, with losses accounting for 28% of the games played and draws for the remaining games. There is still an advantage to that home field that cannot be dismissed easily by someone trying to play the odds.
The Energy Crisis
You might not have thought about the jetlag and travel time that are experienced by the visiting teams. They may not perform as well on the field because of the effort and time they had to put in to getting to the play area. That is significant in some cases, especially for games that take place at a national or international level.
If there is a lot of travel time involved, then that can be tiring on the players that are visiting. The home team will tend to be more rested because they didn’t have to travel anywhere. This is a significant part of the home team advantage in some cases, especially when there are days of travel involved or the game takes place early in the day and travel might have occurred late at night. That could disrupt sleep patterns and leave the visiting players tired for the next day.
Don’t Forget…
The home team can also be overconfident, and this is a trend you need to watch for by looking at the team’s history. You can see how well they do against a visiting team and how well that visiting team does when they go on the offensive.
Each game is unique and each team is unique, so you definitely want to spend some time examining patterns, play styles and home team advantages before you place your bets. Don’t always bet on the home team, because not everyone does well at home. Just know that a tested and researched advantage does exist there, and that should factor into your betting decision.