A fool and his money are soon parted. So don’t be a fool! Learn how to avoid some of the biggest mistakes in sports betting.
Is sports betting an art or a gamble? Well, if you’re any good it’s more of the former and less of the latter. A person who studies a given sport well can often have pretty good outcomes over time when they’re placing wagers. But there are some pitfalls even long-time gamblers find themself falling into.
Whether you’re a sports betting newbie or a seasoned veteran, it’s never too late (or too early) to figure out what not to do. To make it a bit easier for you, we have settled on the top four mistakes to avoid when you’re placing a bet. If you break any of these cardinal rules do so at your own peril! Or just at your own loss, you’re not actually in any type of mortal danger, here, it is just having a simple bet, after all.
Mistake #1. Play favorites with your team
Now, when it comes to your favorite sport, there will be no doubt that you have a favorite team or player, or even a whole contingent of favorites in different leagues across the world. While that’s great from a fan and fun perspective, what you don’t want to do is bring that favoritism into your wagering. It’s very hard to make decisions based on sheer facts when we have an emotional investment there. Could it be that you are betting with your team or player simply because you know how awesome they are?
Rather than trying to be cold and logical to bets involving your favorite team or player, and/or having to undergo the personal torture of betting against them, get strategic. Many people avoid placing bets on any outcome that involves their favorites, instead only betting on games played among their competitors. This can be a clever way to remove any bias you might have.
Mistake #2. Bet more than you’d care to lose
Like the brewing of a fight, a relationship that’s gone sour, or that third helping of ice cream, you need to know when to just walk away when you’re betting. But when is too much just too much? Many people have gone down some pretty serious holes thanks to losing more than they wanted to when they were gambling – whether it was on the horses at the track or spinning up a storm at the roulette table. Don’t let yourself fall into the same trap.
When you’re betting, consider the money as good as gone the second you place a bet. That way, if you win, it’ll be a fantastic surprise, but if you lose you can be happy with yourself anyway. Set match, daily, weekly and monthly limits for how much you are willing to spend. Budgeting your gambling is the smart way to do things and betting providers offer tools to help you do it with minimal effort.
Mistake #3. Choose The Wrong Betting Sites
Sure, this one may be a bit too on the nose… but you’d be surprised how many punters out there fail to do proper research and pick their sportsbook provider haphazardly. There are many great operators out there, some better than others. But to be on the safe side, picking one that’s been in the sector for a while would be your best bet (excuse the pun!).
That’s why we’d recommend Betfair App, because apart from countless casino bonuses on offer, its great sportsbook service ranks amongst the best around. Not to mention the fact that it’s got over a decade and a half worth of experience speaks volumes too.
Reputation, time in the game, and a strong user base are good indicators of a sportsbook that won’t do you dirty or drive you up the wall with frustration when it comes time to cash out your winnings.
Mistake #4. Think like a data analyst
Some tennis players win more on clay than on the hard court. Some football teams do surprisingly well in the wet. If you put an NHL player into a celebrity boxing match in Dubai they might not do so well. Taking a look at the physical environment and its history and combining that with the history of the physical performance and health of a team or athlete in those types of environments can really make a difference.
When you think about all the different data points that go into guessing the outcome of a game or match, then you can start to come to some conclusions. Put it this way: you are up against some of the world’s best statisticians who calculate sports betting odds and have worked to perfect decades-long algorithms.
Have a read of the story of Bill Benter: The Gambler Who Cracked the Horse-Racing Code to learn a little more about how to think like a data analyst.
