1. Quality Statistics
Make sure your statistical source is trustworthy, current, and up to date. This is the most vital step in successful sports betting. Incorrect data is completely worthless. Generally the best way to obtain this information is by visiting the official league websites.
MLB:
https://www.mlb.com/stats/team
https://www.fangraphs.com/
NHL:
https://www.nhl.com/stats/teams
2. Format Your Data
Putting the data into a readable format, also known as "cleaning" or "parsing" data is the next step in ensuring you are only viewing the most important metrics that go into in formulating a decision on which team is most likely to win. The most common and free way to do this is by using "Google Sheets". I will be showing how to do this in my educational series!
Use Google Sheets Here:
https://www.google.com/sheets/about/
3. outside factors
After calculating statistic discrepancies, it is time to move on to checking non-numerical factors. Some of these include weather, umpires, referees, lineups and injuries. To do this you can simply google a stadium's weather, or use a website that shows wind direction, injuries, etc.
MLB:
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/daily-lineups.php
https://rotogrinders.com/weather/mlb
NHL:
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/starting-goalies/
https://www.rotowire.com/hockey/nhl-lineups.php
4. Specialty positions
Understanding specialty positions such as pitching or goaltending can truly make a difference in a win or a loss for a team. This is absolutely worthwhile checking into. A great offensive team can lose due to a poor defense. Offensive stats are not the only thing a sports bettor should check. Please reference Box 1 & Box 3 for links to find starters and general stats for these players!
5. Advanced Stats
To gain an even further edge than just "surface stats" it is required that a bettor look under the hood at advanced stats. The trick here is to know exactly which stats to look for. There are a million stats out there, but we need to boil it down to the ones that are the most meaningful and impactful to the outcome of a game. To get you started in the right direction, here are a couple of the websites I use to do this!
MLB:
https://swishanalytics.com/optimus/mlb/batter-vs-pitcher-stats
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/statcast
https://www.fangraphs.com/
NHL:
http://www.naturalstattrick.com/
6. distribution, movement, & EV.
For very cheap, you can purchase money distribution from the major sports books and use this to see the ticket percentage (# of people) vs. the money percentage. (# of dollars) Furthermore, you can use this information to track the difference between the opening line and current line and quickly find out which book has the best current odds. Finding the best odds available is absolutely essential to a sports bettor's bankroll because each point of vigorish represents a percentage of win rate you need to achieve to break even.
Money Distribution:
https://www.actionnetwork.com/
MLB LINKS:
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/daily-lineups.php
https://swishanalytics.com/optimus/mlb/batter-vs-pitcher-stats
https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/trends/win_trends/
Umpire Information:
https://twitter.com/UmpScorecards
NHL LINKS:
https://www.rotowire.com/hockey/nhl-lineups.php
http://www.naturalstattrick.com/
Early NBA Injury & Lineup Information:
https://twitter.com/Underdog__NBA
Money Distributions:
https://www.actionnetwork.com/
https://www.sportsinsights.com/
Calculate Implied Probabilities:
https://www.actionnetwork.com/betting-calculators/betting-odds-calculator
SQL System Building: