Sports betting is a very common pastime in many parts of the world. From soccer to American football, baseball to ice hockey, tennis and horse racing, it is an industry which generates lots of money globally. For players, sports betting is not only something fun to do in their spare time but also gives them a way to make money. To really profit from sports betting though, you need to know what you are doing. There are some common mistakes people make when gambling on sports and knowing what they are can help you miss them out. But what are the ten most common things to avoid when betting on sports?
10 – Not Doing Your Research
One classic mistake many people make with sports betting is failing to do their research. It does not matter which sport you like to bet on – this is a big blunder. It is almost impossible to tell who will win any game or finish first in a race or competition without prior research. If you decide to simply make your choice without any background information to guide you, you are taking a huge risk and will probably not succeed in the long term. Horse racing is a classic example of why research is so key.
Simply looking at the list of horses in a race and picking one because of its name or where it lies in the betting is very risky. It is much better to do your research into the race first to look at the form of each horse, the type of ground, whether the yard is in good form, whether the horse has ran that course before and a host oft other variables. Armed with this sort of information, you stand a much better chance of making a winning selection.
09 – Betting On Your Favourite Team or Player
For many people, it is very tempting to simply back the team they follow in a certain sport or a player they like. Tennis fans for example may choose to back Roger Federer in a game, just because they like him lots. On the other hand, you may follow Barcelona in soccer and put money on them to win because they are your team. This is another classic mistake though. Just because you like a specific team or player, it does not mean they will win! You instead need to look at their chances in the context of the specific game or match to make an informed choice.
08 – Not Using a Staking Plan
Successful sports betting is not just about what you bet on. Thinking about protecting your betting bank is also key so you can cover any losses. A mistake you see many new sports bettors make is not working out a sensible staking plan before they begin wagering. This sees them bet too much on each game or risk most of their bank on a ‘sure thing’ coming in. Rather than deciding how much to stake per bet off the cuff each time, try to use a sensible staking plan per bet instead. For most gamblers, this is a small percentage of their overall betting bank (i.e. 5% at most)
07 – Not Having A Betting Plan or System
We have already talked about having a proper staking plan above but this is only worthwhile if you can find a way of discovering winning selections. You can have the best staking plan in the world but your money will soon run out if you never win an of your bets! For this reason, it is essential to formulate a betting plan or system for sports gambling. This is basically a set of rules which help you pick out teams, players or horses to bet on. If you know enough, you could come up with your own system (such as backing a certain trainers horses at a certain racecourse if they always do well there). Most people though save time and effort by picking up system to try out online.
06 – Not Being Able to Accept Losses
However good your criteria for choosing sports bet is and however much research you do, you will lose some bets. This is inevitable and cannot be avoided by anyone who engages in sports betting. This should not bother you though as it is just part and parcel of the industry. How many top level football teams do you know who never lose? How many boxers finish with no losses on their record?
In the same way, there are no sports bettors who have never lost a bet. The key thing is to not let losses bother you and to not deviate from following a rational approach still. Another good tip on the same subject is to not chase losses. This basically means do not get so upset by losing a bet that you instantly jump back into the market to win your money back. Usually, this sees you taking on a bad bet with very little research behind it!
05 – Only Using ‘Win’ Markets
Not many people know this but there are far more markets to bet on in sports than ‘Win’ only. Most punters stick to backing teams, players or horses to win but this is severely limiting your ability to generate profits. Soccer for example has a whole host of other markets which can be easier to make money off than predicting the winner of a game. From ‘Both Teams to Score’ to ‘Double Chance’ and ‘Goals Over/Under’, there are many other markets you should consider. Many of them can often be easier to get right than picking one team to win and see you earn more money in the long haul.
04 – Betting On Sports You Don’t Know
Doing your research is key as we have already mentioned but this isn’t enough if you do not really know about the sport you will bet on. Having a good overall knowledge of the basics in any sport is a must for betting on it. This allows you to use your intuition after doing your research to pick out sensible bets. If you spot a sport to bet on which you know nothing about, it is usually best to steer clear. Very often in sports betting it is the fine details from following a sport which matter. Without these in place, you can often make bad bets which on the face of it looked decent.
03 – Taking Too Much Information On-Board
Although you need to get a handle on the key pieces of information before making a bet, you need to be careful of taking too much on-board also. In basketball for example, you will want to know if a side is missing their best 3 players but don’t need to cram in details about what they had for breakfast yesterday or what brand of ball they plan to use in game. Taking on too much information can actually make it tougher when needing to make betting decisions. Try to stick to the really important factors and eliminate anything that is background noise.
02 – Blindly Following Tipsters
Since online betting has gotten so big, internet tipsters are everywhere. From social media to tipster websites, more people than ever can tell you where to put your money now. This is very tempting for those who are new to sports betting or do not have time to put the research in pre-bet. Be careful to only follow tipsters who have a proven history of returning profits though. Anyone can claim to have a winning system and a be a top tipster after all! Do not blindly start risking real money with any tipster advice unless you can see they are worth it. This is especially true if you will be paying for membership of their tipster service.
01 – Accas / Multiples
One very tempting type of bet for many are Accumulators or Multiples. These basically see a number of individual bets lumped together and give better returns if they win. Sounds great right? Unfortunately, the reality is not so good. Accumulators for example need every bet on them to come off – this is not so easy when you have multiple selections on there. Just 1 last minute goal in the final Acca match can see you lose it all. Multiples (like doubles or trixies) do not always need every selection to win but are still hard to profit with overall. If they weren’t, the bookies would not offer them! It is much better to make properly researched single bets and give Acca’s or multiples a miss.
Whether you a casual sports bettor or are looking to bet on sports professionally, knowing what mistakes to avoid is key. Taking the time to learn more about what factors can harm your progress is wise and can actually help you to win more money. For the ten most classic sports betting mistakes to avoid, the above list is hard to beat.