When you convince yourself that there is some right way,smart way or safer way to gamble this is first wrong step in my opinion. I have been in gambling for over 10 years and can say on based of my experience gambling is taking risk straight where you can win or loose in any type of gambling. Sports betting is not safer or smart way either as you may loose on any strong team.
Two centuries ago, people would never fly in machines made of metal for their whole life and would have told you that it is impossible to do so.
There are techniques that can help you play better at sportsbetting. It gets mathematical quite quickly but if you stick to the basic principles (like the ones I exposed), it is not that difficult and could make a difference in your winnings: you might not be able to be profitable, but you will surely lose less money.