With March Madness, one of the most heavily bet sporting events in the United States, around the corner, it's time to hedge your bets and get some tips from YouWager.com’s expert oddsmaker on how to maximize your chances of hitting it big on game day.

1. Bet the line, not the team: Gamblers bet with their heads, fans bet with their hearts.  There is no loyalty in gambling.

2. Bet with a reputable sportsbook. It doesn’t matter how good of a bettor you are if you’re not getting paid.

3. Bet early. The line for games usually moves and you can often get more favorable odds before game day.

4. Take advantage of the different bets. Besides betting the game, you can bet the different halves, the moneyline (who will win the game regardless of the spread) and the over/under (the total number of points scored in the game no matter who wins).

5. Keep a level head. If you're losing, take a timeout. The worst thing you can do is to try to recoup a string of manageable losses with one risky jumbo wager.

6. Bet with more than one sportsbook. The betting lines can vary from site to site, and a smart bettor will take advantage of whichever site is offering the best odds.

7. For March Madness, bet the underdog in the first round, the favorite in the second. It’s common for an unheralded team to play its heart out against a much better first-round opponent and lose the game but beat the spread. In the second round, the favorites often come in more pumped up than they were in the first round.

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8. Timing is crucial: For under bets, place your wager as close to game time as possible. For overs, bet early. More people bet overs rather than unders, so the number of total points that are predicted to be scored rises as you get closer to game time. 

9. Check past performance. How have these teams played against each other or in similar situations in the past? Sports betting is a lot like trading stocks; try to identify trends.

10. Don’t expect to win every bet. The most successful pro gamblers only win 60 percent of the time.

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