UFC 98 Betting Odds Update

Full card odds and lines have finally been released for one of most important MMA events this year. Headling this speculator card will be the light heavyweight showdown between long time contender Lyoto Machida and TUF 2 winner Rashad Evans. Despite being current undefeated light champion Evans will enter the bout as a relatively big underdog. The odds makers expect Machida put in another flawless performance however at +175 Evans is starting to look like a value bet for some.

Also on the card is the grudge match between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Former welterweight champion Hughes is expected to return to form against fellow veteran Serra. Hughes is currently available at -270 while Serra is priced at +230. Note: Total Rounds betting is available for both the main event and the co-main event at 5Dimes.

The latest UFC 98 betting lines are posted below.

UFC 98 odds

Rashad Evans +175
Lyoto Machida -210

Matt Serra +230
Matt Hughes -270

Andre Gusmao -155
Krzysztof Soszynski +135

Chris Wilson +250
Brock Larson -300

Tim Hague +265
Pat Barry -325

Kyle Bradley +290
Phillipe Nover -350

Brandon Wolff +365
Yoshiyuki Yoshida -460

Dave Kaplan +125
George Roop -145

Chael Sonnen +135
Dan Miller -155

Drew McFedries +160
Xavier Foupa-Pokam -185

MMA Betting Advice: Staying Cool

It’s very ironic that this first post on "MMA betting" coincides with my first major downswing of the year. April 2009 will see my first losing month since September 2008. No prizes for guessing when I’ll be booking my holidays in 2010.

Of course, having a losing run is not the end of the world. I’ve had them before, and no doubt I’ll have them again. While I hate losing money with a passion (the day I stop caring about losses is possibly the day I should go and find something else to do), it’s all good character-building stuff apparently and previous losing experiences have taught me to do certain things when I’m leaking more money than I would like to.

Top on my list is not to chase the losses! Such advice is given out so often that it falls into the category of an over-used cliche, but even now after years of betting, sometimes a little demonic voice whispers inside my head to put a little bit more on the next bet and get back that red figure straight away. Experience and mechanical bet sizing helps resist the temptation but that hasn’t always been the case.

Once I’ve sent that particular devil packing and have my emotions reasonably under control, I’ll set aside a little time to do some evaluation. I have written on a piece of paper near my desk “Good Bets Sometimes Lose and Bad Bets Sometimes Win”. Winning (or losing) money is not necessarily an indicator you are doing things right (or wrong). So if I’m losing money, is it just Lady Luck evening things out or has something slipped into my game that’s causing a leak?

Assessing whether luck is playing a role might require brutal honesty. And to be brutally honest, luck had nothing to do with it. This time around, it didn’t take too long to work out what the problem was. I’m just about to shift house and am moving to a town 100 kilometers away. While I had planned to take some time off this month, unfortunately Rugby Union is one of my main betting sports and the small matter of the Rugby World Cup seduced me into placing bets. Trouble is, I was placing bets without the usual standard of care and preparation thanks to the distraction of moving.

Occasionally losing runs are just the result of being plain unlucky. If that’s not the case, more often than not situational and/or motivational issues will be the cause or at least a contributing factor to a betting slide. Critically look in these areas for possible reasons for a bad run, not just wondering about luck or whether you’ve made a series of bad bets.