NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In sports, there is no such thing as a guarantee.  Just ask Jeremy Stojakovich.  

“That’s sports man," Stojakovich said. "That’s the beauty of it." 

Stojakovich has lived in Nashville for seven years, but he’s been a sports fan his entire life. 

“I’m more of a definite follower — enthusiastic," Stojakovich

He likes to put his money where his mouth is. Sports betting is part of his game plan every Sunday.

“There’s a lot of preseason bets you can put on if you have a really good, strong feeling about a team’s win-loss record," Stojakovich said of the NFL right now.

Stojakovich spends hours researching odds and trends with the goal of winning big. 

“Because I feel pretty confident about it, I might put 25. I might put 50," Stojakovich said.

He’s just one of many contributing to the more than $5 billion handle in Tennessee, which represents a 23% increase from the previous year. 

“People like to gamble, and people love sports in the south," Stojakovich said. "You put those two together, you’re going to get a lot of laymen’s people — people that normally don’t bet that often — that will just dabble. Then you get people who run kind of weekly spreadsheets and track their winnings.” 

Football season is betting season for Stojakovich, but more important than the numbers in the box score are the numbers in his budget.  

“I go in with a deposit that I feel comfortable with at the beginning of the season, and I never touch it," Stojakovich says.

However, responsible gambling is a slippery slope. 

“Week one, I hold myself to 10- to 15% of that initial lump sum as being the most I can bet that week," Stojakovich says.

Betting big isn’t always in the cards. Many of his bets are small money parlays, which are single wagers that combine two or more individual bets for an increased payout. 

For Stojakovich, it’s about low risks and high rewards.

“Some weeks, I’m only winning like $20 to $50," Stojakovich said. "One week, I pulled in $3,000."

The only sure bet is that the sports betting craze isn’t slowing down any time soon. The handle in Tennessee is projected to exceed $5 billion this year. 

“[It] makes every field goal or missed field goal or opportunity become a little bit enhanced in how you approach the game," Stojakovich said.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/special-reports/sports-bettors-game-plan-beat-odds/