Every week, we will look at some insights that were a result of the weekend games. These insights will be New Rules as we look back and forward from the previous week. The new rules will hopefully help us in our future betting endeavors. With that in mind, here are the New Rules for the week.

New Rule: Never parlay College Football

College Football is unpredictable, especially for the casual fan. Even the teams you think you know can cover a bet can be vulnerable to an upset or inability to cover the spread. Clemson was a prime example when they were favored by 5.5 points and lost in overtime to Notre Dame this week. If you are going to bet on the College Football games, choose two or three that you have the best sense about and place your bets on those games wisely.

New Rule: Don’t take a double-digit favorite on the road

This week, we the Pittsburgh Steelers enter Dallas as 14.5 point favorites. Naturally, the Steelers played down to the Cowboys and while they won, they didn’t even come close to covering the spread. Likewise, the Patriots entered Monday night’s game as 10-point favorites against the winless Jets in MetLife Stadium. The Patriots came back in the game to win by a field goal but didn’t cover the spread. It’s rare to find a double-digit favorite in the NFL and while home-field advantage has diminished this season, there is still reason to avoid taking these types of bets.

New Rule: Be wary of Player Props

Player props are always a tricky avenue to bet on. The popular player props tend to be anytime touchdown scorer and total yards by a specific player. It’s always exciting to place a bet on an individual player but the bets must be placed with caution. When placing these bets, you have to account for the situation of the game and play the game out in your head beforehand. It’s also important to look at the lines in comparison to other players to understand if the totals are high or low.

Finally, New Rule: If you are going to make a Bet, have fun with it

In all likelihood, you will go .500 in your bets (unless you have some undiscovered wisdom). If you are going to bet on football, you should place a bet which you know for a fact that you will have a good time after making the bet. For some people, this means betting on the Over or the Underdog all the time, for others, it could mean betting on an alternate spread. The bottom line is, you should place a bet and watch the outcome after placing the bet (or else it becomes no better than a stock market game). Even if you lose, you should assure that you weren’t miserable in the process of the bet.

Be sure to check out Belly Up Fantasy for more betting and fantasy insights!