The main aspect of successful sports betting is knowledge. Knowledge is certainly power, and the more you've got, the more bets you will win. The main element to winning bets is feeling at ease with your betting decision. The only way to feel confident is always to conduct a little shopping around, learn about the teams, players and coaches, make your decision.
After you have done some research, you will have concrete reasons why you are betting in this manner. This is much smarter than betting together with your gut instinct. Your gut feeling might win you a bet in some places, but in the future, you will surely wind up losing more bets than shipped to you.
The best way to know if you have done enough studies to explain your reasoning for making that particular bet. When the argument you're making for one team over another is weak and never backed up by much evidence, this is simply not a bet you should place. However, if your argument is powerful and persuasive, you ought to feel very confident in placing that bet. The greater bets you add when you are confident, the more bets you'll win.