Sports Betting Guide and Terms - Square

Definition

The term ‘square’ refers to a novice, inexperienced sports gambler. They are usually wrong when it comes to picking the right sides and often lose more plays than they win. A ‘square’ can also be referred to as the public.
Square plays

In the sports betting world, there are sharps (the professional gamblers) and there are squares (the average sports gamblers). For the most part, squares are the sportsbooks’ best friends. They are those who bet the hot, trendy team of the time and usually lose most of their plays on a daily basis. Las Vegas casinos is not built on gamblers’ winnings—in part, it is thanks to these novice players. A square play can be relatively easy to spot. The following is a list of common ‘square plays’ (mostly, these trends work for football and basketball).

Teams that are on a winning streak (often these teams have their lines inflated, and on games on national television, such teams might even lose their game straight up; strongest in the National Football League).

A team that has recently blown-out their opponent (similar to the first angle, teams in this position following a blow-out win often come out lackluster in their next game—thus giving the other team ‘value’).

A good team on a recent loosing streak (the public loves to go against losing teams; in this case, though, backing such teams to bounce-back from a losing streak can be profitable if such a team is also ‘good’).

In general, if there is only one game on the board for the day, the team with the most public support will usually not cover the spread.

The over and the favorite (not surprisingly, the betting public loves to back the favorite and cheer for scoring—blindly betting the underdog and the under has an inherent edge).

Who are these people?

Squares, in general, are the general public. They are those who go to Las Vegas for the weekend, those who bet just because the game is on television, those who just need action to get through the day, etc. Fading such people and their plays will usually result in winning in the long run.

Summary

In closing, a square is a novice, newbie when it comes to sports gambling. If one wants to succeed in sports gambling, the author highly recommends not to bet with the squares. By avoiding the mistakes that squares make, one can hopefully turn the odds around for oneself and win in the long run.