If you are new to the science and art of sports betting and you came across this article then you are well on your way. Whether you have never placed a bet before or have only placed bets occasionally and are trying to speed up a bit, it is important to understand some of the basics.
Read more: How to Make Money Betting on Sports
Inexperienced bettors tend to do things that lower their overall returns, and learning from these mistakes can help you avoid making your situation worse. Even the most experienced bettors can fall victim to them from time to time, so remember them, stay disciplined and you will increase your chances of success.
Having unrealistic expectations
Let’s start by talking about expectations. Sports betting makes a lot of money. This is because most games are not rated, but money is placed on all sides of the wagers on each game. For this reason, it’s time to see if the vast majority of people will lose more money than they win at sports betting. Yet so many people go into it, thinking that they are going to break the book.
However, it is not so. Remember that even the most experienced sports bettors only try to win around 55% of their tips against the spread and feel really good about it. So if you plan on spending more time betting on sports, keep your personal hype in check and you’ll have a clearer head to make better decisions.
Bet too much
It has to do with these unrealistic expectations. If you try to use sports betting as a get-rich-quick scheme, chances are you’ll lose it all fast. I mean, I repeat, don’t put more money into your bankroll than you are willing and financially comfortable to lose. If you need money from your bankroll to pay bills, this is a good indication that you shouldn’t be playing with that money.
Remember that sports betting is still a game of chance and if you risk more than you should and lose, you can really hurt yourself in the real world. Sports betting is a long term investment, if you are diligent and disciplined you can make money from betting but it doesn’t happen overnight.
Chasing losses
There is an old saying that after a bad period a man “deserves” something good. It is a way of thinking based on superstition as opposed to reality. Chasing losers can happen to anyone at some point in the history of sports betting, but avoiding it as much as possible will save you a lot of heartache.
Everyone will have a bad time, I know I had some myself and this scary place. You can see your bankroll is slowly going down which can annoy you. A lot of people think something like, “Yes, no, huh, I wouldn’t pursue my losses,” but when people go to work they start to justify why their situation is different and what is happening today, they will definitely get their money back.
Sure, for a handful of people this day will actually be the day they turn it around, but for many others it will be another day off, but now they’ve lost money twice as fast. Again, sports betting is a long-term investment in terms of profitability. You have to be willing to learn from losing streaks to return to big winning streaks.
Neglecting bankroll management
This could be one of the most important things to avoid. Even the best sports tipsters can lose money because they don’t know the order and composition. I won’t go over the different bankroll management systems here as there are other great articles that cover them in more detail. Whichever system you choose, the most important thing is to be disciplined. This discipline limits some of the variables that can affect your return on investment and keeps you from draining your bankroll and keeping you in the game.
Blame luck
Of course, luck plays a role in sports betting. This is only part of the sport in general, something extremely unlikely will happen from time to time that could cause you to win or lose your bet. However, this is part of our natural tendency to take responsibility for negative effects. However, this is a dangerous game when it comes to your own hard money.
Blaming luck for losing picks and taking all credit for winning picks creates a feedback loop that makes it difficult for you to progress as a player. It is important to look closely at losing bets and understand what went wrong and if you missed anything while analyzing this particular game.
Additionally, by tracking your wins and losses, you can go back and see if there are specific negative trends that you can correct. Do you overestimate certain types of players, underestimate the defense system, or forget to fully consider injuries? There are countless variables that influence game analysis, but it’s important to learn from your mistakes so don’t blame bad luck for everything.
Bet on every game
Some may think of betting on each match to reduce variance. They may think they are good enough to win 55% of the tips in relation to the spread and they will make a lot of money from it. However, this is not so. Value is king in sports betting and when you bet every game you never know which games will have value.
In most games, the line is fixed at a point where there is no value on either side. Sure, you can have a really good season and make money from it, but that’s not skill, it’s just luck.
The flip side of this is that a bad week can completely destroy your bankroll, so instead of making 16 bets a week, find the two or three that are the most valuable and stick to them. In the long run, this discipline will keep your bankroll intact.
Wagering on value winners
The best sports bettors find the games that offer the most value and are not afraid to bet on the team they think may lose. It’s a hard way of thinking. They like to side with the winning team, so the crowd is more likely to bet the favorites against the spread. But this error shows up even more when you bet on the money line.
Why bet on a team you think will lose? Because it’s about value. For example, you could pick a team that should easily win and set the odds high to -250, but to break out of zero you need to win 71.43% of the time. Again, it all comes down to breaking up, so even if you get close to reaching those odds 73% of the time, you’re still making a small profit.
On the other hand, you can bet on a team you think will only win 40% of the time, but if your odds are +170 you still get a decent return even if you pick the team you think will win the win will lose.
Be short-sighted
It’s easy to get caught up in the old saying, “What have you done for me lately?” It’s a dangerous thought process in sports betting, especially in soccer. Good teams have weeks off, so don’t be put off by a team that has a week or two off, especially if they’ve already proven themselves to be a competitive team for a year.
No buy lines / limits
If you don’t go through at least a few sports bets before placing your bet, you are literally leaving money on the table. While most bookmakers have very similar odds and lines, they tend to be different. I’ve seen some bookmakers increase their bonus on their favorite money lines, but when they do, the underdogs also benefit.
So if you like the underdog at +120 on your main sports betting page, but can get +130 elsewhere, it’s time to place that bet elsewhere, otherwise you’re just throwing silver. You will also come across scenarios where you may have ended up with The Ravens +3.5 against the Steelers, but you may be able to get the +4 line at another bookmaker.
If The Ravens lost 28-24, you could get your bet back instead of losing it. Keep at least a few sports bets available and place your winnings where you can get the best odds or line.
Betting under the influence of BUI
When I first started my adventure with sports betting, I read a lot of articles about the dos and don’ts of sports betting like this one. The first time I saw him, I laughed to myself and thought “of course.” But I read on, and the same advice kept coming up. All in all, I just have to admit that this is a problem for many beginners. It makes sense why do you think casinos offer free spirits at slot machines and card tables?
They know that with the alcohol in you you are making bad decisions, and they will get a lot more out of those bad decisions than they would give you an invoice for your drinks. This means that you should make all your analyzes, decisions and bets sober. Take part in mind-altering substances after placing winning bets!
Finally
You can follow all these tips and still not be a profitable sports player. There are so many things to do to beat sports betting that you must always be perfect at analysis and forecasting. However, if you regularly fall victim to one of these, you will almost certainly fail, no matter how good your other skills are.
