Having won the Super Bowl 6 times and going there an impressive 8 times, the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t exactly that team the faithful cling to in hopes they’ll one day get over the hump, like the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions. The Steelers have been to the dance multiple times, have owned their competition by and large, and continue to threaten to get back every season. All Steelers fans know that speaking about what might have been in previous seasons is just pointless, but if we flash back to only last year’s playoffs, Pittsburgh actually gave Denver, the eventually champions, more on-field issues than anyone. If not for a late-game fumble, Pittsburgh would have beaten Denver, and beaten them rather easily. So to say that the Steelers have a legitimate shot at going to the Super Bowl this season isn’t some fan-filled fictional fantasy; it’s objective reality.
Big Ben Roethlisberger is a top-10 QB talent, and Antionio Brown may be the best wide-out in all of football. They’re going to have a strong running game, at least once game 5 hits and Le’Veon comes back after serving a 4 game suspension for missing a drug test. And the defensive product Pittsburgh puts onto the field is perennially one of the best. So when it comes to the Steelers, they’re a great team to root for. They’re also a great team to bet on. If you’re thinking about betting on the Steelers, here’s some stuff you’ll need to know.
The Legalities of Betting on Football in America
You might not know it from the confusing rhetoric elsewhere online, and all of those different advertisements posting as legitimate search results, but gambling in the United States is a pretty straightforward topic. So we’re not going to complicate things for you here. Be sure that the act of gambling on football and placing a bet on the Steelers is 100% legal in the United States of America. And while that might sound counter-intuitive to the laws you know are on the books, like the ones that keep online gambling illegal in most states, it’s simply a matter of business vs. personal. You see, a gambling business that’s accepting money for gambling wagers is what the government considers to be illegal. However, if you’re simply placing a bet on a venue that accepts you, the government treats this the same way they treat purchasing a lottery ticket or walking into a legal Las Vegas casino. In other words, the government doesn’t have any rules or laws that seek to prohibit your freedom to gamble. Their laws are strictly in place to keep people from creating gambling businesses, and to punish those that do create businesses.
But how do you know if you’re gambling with a legitimate sportsbook vs. one that’s illegal and that might be busted up by the government? This is what a service like ours is for here on Total Steelers. We’re going to point you in the direction of those offshore sportsbooks with which you can gamble legally. An offshore site is one that’s based outside of the United States, and thus is not subject to any sort of laws from the US. So as long as that sportsbook you’re betting with is located outside of US jurisdiction, there’s nothing that can happen to you legally for betting there. You’re allowed to bet there as often as you want.
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Will the Steelers Actually Win?
Nobody wants to bet on a team that doesn’t win, even if it’s their favorite team. So when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers and their odds of winning, the good news is they are poised to have a great season, especially if Bell can stay healthy. For instance, let’s say you were a gambler who put down a modest $10 on every Steelers game for a straight win. Not for a spread; not for an over-under; just for a straight win. Now, for the sake of argument (and easy math), let’s just assume that all of those straight bets were 1:1. Not going to happen, of course, but let’s just say they were. So, in total you bet $160, and the Steelers won 11 games. In total, you bet $160, yet you won $220, so that’s a profit of $60, or 27%. Not too shabby! Now, just imagine that those bets were $20 a piece, or $50. You’d be looking at some serious cash at the end of the season, and all because Pittsburgh is a team that typically wins more than it loses.
Of course, most people are going to bet on point spreads or on O/U lines. If you were betting on the spread, you would have still won some money, as the Steelers went 10/6 against the spread (ATS), and so that means they’re a very reliable bet. Some teams do much better, like the Panthers last year at 15-1, but some teams are abysmal ATS, like the Titans at 3-13. The Steelers are a little better than average. For the sake of argument again, let’s say you’re a high-rolling gambler who put down $100 on each game instead of $10. Knock off one loss from above, and add a zero, and you’re looking at $500 profit for the football season by just taking the Steelers to cover.
Which Sort of Bets do the Steelers Win for Gamblers?
So, if you do want to bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers, what sort of bet should it be? Obviously things are going to vary game by game. For instance, when the Steelers are playing the Bengals in Ohio, that’s a much different bet than if the Browns are visiting the Steel City. You know that; everyone knows that; but let’s just be clear that this stuff isn’t a lock. You should always look on a game by game basis. However, when we get a general overview of the Steelers, what we see is that they’re a solid 10-win team, at a minimum, and have only been worse than that one year of the past dozen with Big Ben at the helm. So, the smart money says that finding good odds on a Steelers’ straight win will pay off. But then you have to understand that the better the Steelers do, the more you’re going to find lines like Pittsburgh -330 and -280, where you’ll have to bet a lot of money just to win a little.
That means we want to jump over to something like a point spread. In 2015, Pittsburgh went 9 for 15 ATS last season including the post season with 3 pushes, so if you bet them ats every game, you would of had a winning season? However, one of the unfortunate facts about gauging this sort of statistic is that you never really know how well the team will do on average ATS until about the midway point of the season. That’s usually the time a team is either rolling, or bumping along. But by then, there are only 8 or so more games on which to bet. One thing to keep in mind is they were without Bell for several games last year, and he is their best player. So having him healthy should go a long way in them winning even more against the ats in 2016. If you are going to bet on the Steelers in 2016, we recommend treading lightly until Bell returns from his 4 game suspension.
Why Finding a Reputable Sports-Betting Site is Paramount
We’ll get into a little more detail about this below, but suffice to say that the bet you make really is only as good as the site with which you choose to bet. There are a lot of negatives you can experience by going with a shoddy site, and we’re not just talking about a site that’s going to straight-up rob your money. Rarely is the case that you’ll find an outright scam site online. The fact of the matter is that the Internet market is just too competitive and relies too much on parity for a scam artist to get a foothold. They’d be knocked out of the results almost instantly and the only thing you’d find written about them is bad press. However, there are some sites whose lines are set a little too one-sided, in order to induce a certain type of action, and also sites whose lines aren’t updated and/or industry standard along with Vegas and those that set the lines. In other words, some sites will try to fiddle with the lines just enough to get more action on A or B so that they’ll hit a bigger windfall when all the action moves to the desirable locale. Shoddy sites also have sub-par software, not enough banking options, lax support, and no real lucrative bonuses or promotions of which to speak.
A good site, on the flip-side, has great support, solid software, plenty of banking options, accurate, updated betting lines, and tons of sports and different sorts of side bets you can make, such as prop bets or live bets. You’re only going to find these benefits with the best sportsbooks out there. And rather than looking around and putting in your own time for research, we can point these sites out to you and help you along.
Three Quick and Easy Things to Keep in Mind When Betting
1: A Bet is Only as Good as the Site on Which It’s Placed
Yeah, a recap of what you’ve just read above: You want to remember to place your bets only with a solid site. Even if you end up winning on a sub-par site, you might run into some serious hassles when attempting to get your money out. It’s not worth it; let us point you toward a site that you can trust. You don’t need to make this any more complicated than it needs to be.
2: No One Ever Chases and Wins Money
Let’s say you put $20 on the Steelers to win against the Ravens and cover the spread of 6 ½, but the Steelers only win by a field goal. So, you want to make that difference up, so the next time you bet, you’re doubling the bet and even betting on different games and different aspects of games because you feel it’s giving you a better shot to win. All you’re really doing here, however, is giving yourself more opportunities to lose. Yes, it’s possible that you can win all of those bets and end up with some good money. However, it’s more likely the case that you’re just chasing desperately and will inevitably lose that money and be even deeper in the hole. Never chase with your bets. If you lose, suck it up and be thankful that you were smart enough to not bet a lot. Everyone loses in sports betting. There are no guarantees. What you want to do after a loss is the same thing before the loss: Research, take your time, bet responsibly, hope for the odds to pay off in your favor.
3: Fans Have a Tougher Go at It Than Measured Statisticians
A Pittsburgh Steelers site for Pittsburgh Steelers fans, we’re not going to tell you not to bet on the Steelers as a fan. You’re obviously going to do just that. However, we will tell you to be careful not to fall into that fan trap. You know what that trap is. Big Ben’s hurt, Antonio Brown is out, and the Steelers are playing the Patriots. You hate New England, so you convince yourself that Pittsburgh can win, if only X, Y and Z happen! And what happens? X, Y and Z fail, you lose, and if you bet on the game, you’re now out some cash! Never fall into this trap. Even though you’re a fan of Pittsburgh and want to bet on the Steelers, you still want to look at the stats. Maybe you cannot bring yourself to bet against the Steelers as a true fan, and in these cases you need to abstain or bet on another NFL match-up outside of the Steelers. It’s okay to be a fan; just don’t fall into the trap of thinking your team is going to win every single time against every other team. That’s a recipe for a busted account.
Is Sports Betting Legal In Pennsylvania?
There are no laws that make betting on sporting events illegal in PA. The laws in place speak to owning a bookie shop in the US, and how accepting bets would be deemed illegal. But the laws don’t make the act of betting illegal from a players standpoint. So if you find an offshore sportsbook such as those recommended on this page, you are not breaking any laws as long as the sportsbook is legally licensed in a jurisdiction that allow for legal online wagering.