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Every day, millions of players try their luck with sports betting offered by modern bookmakers. There is no doubt that sports betting can be a worthwhile and profitable venture, but as with all investments, success does not come easily. Inevitably, the question arises as to which qualities and strategies you should absolutely know about in order to bet successfully? We provide you with practical instructions with which you can significantly increase your chances of success.
If you want to know the main difference between success and failure in sports betting, there is only one word to remember: self-discipline. Without self-discipline, your chances are very poor even before the first bet is made and in the long run you are guaranteed to be unsuccessful in sports betting.
The reason is self-explanatory. Self-discipline allows you to systematically determine the time and stake size of your bets, only place bets with a good expected value and stick to your bankroll management. The best strategy is worthless if you throw it out the window after a few failures and go back to your gut feeling. Self-discipline is a cornerstone of any successful bettor.
Non-disciplined gamblers can be lucky too, but in the long run you will fail because your motivation to bet is not just based on profits. Those who focus on profits treat their betting transactions like their own business, while emotional gamblers seek the excitement and thrill. The latter never leads to the desired success.
There is an easy way to test your self-discipline. It is best to repeat this exercise periodically, even if you are already a successful player. The test works as follows: Do not place sports bets for two weeks. Keep doing your research, following events and increasing your knowledge, but do not bet any money. If you can take this for two weeks, not only will you have shown self-discipline, but you will have improved your betting techniques as well.
As a bettor, compared to a bookmaker, you have the advantage of not having to deal with all sports and events. You can decide for yourself what you want to bet on and how much.
What should you bet on? To put it simply, only to the things you know best. Bet on sports and betting markets where you not only know everything about the participating players, but also know the various betting options and can determine probabilities. It doesn’t have to be a sport you’ve been involved in for years, but you should be fully aware of everything that’s going on there.
It is extremely important not to bet on sports or leagues that you do not know about. Stick to the things you know best about that have produced good results in the past. Which bets are different from player to player. One has had good experiences with betting on the winner of the Streif, while the other is good at discovering odds on favorites with excellent value. On this basis, you can further refine your betting strategies and steadily increase your results.
All serious gamblers keep a record of their bets. The notes may vary in their level of detail, but knowing your gains and losses is essential. Think of it like a business. How likely is it that a business will survive if the person responsible does not have an overview of income and expenses? Such a business would be very messy, inefficient and would go broke sooner rather than later!
Short-term gains and losses can affect your judgment, but success can only ever be judged in the medium and long term. If you look closely at how much money you win and lose over a week, a month or a year, you can get a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses and find solutions for any weaknesses. Which betting markets do you struggle with and where do you regularly find success? If you limit your resources to the latter and leave out betting markets where you are less successful, you can maximize your profits and contain losses. Keeping a book is a handy tip that will help you become a better player.
Bankroll management is also an important part of successful sports betting. It prevents chasing losses, avoids an emotional high-altitude flight in which you risk too much and enables you to cope with a long dry spell with many failures. You should regularly review your bankroll management and look for ways to optimize it.
The first step towards a promising bankroll strategy is to create a budget for sports betting. This must be a sum that you are willing to lose and that is only available for sports betting. The golden rule for sports betting is: never bet more money than you are willing to lose.
In the second step, a deployment strategy must be determined. Such a strategy determines how much money you wager on individual bets and helps you not to be disturbed by short-term successes and failures. There are many ways to set a schedule. Without wanting to go into detail, these are basically divided into two categories: Fixed and variable strategies. Fixed betting patterns are conservative and are particularly suitable for newbies, while variable patterns are more suitable for experienced players.
The concept of value , best translated as “expected value”, is another cornerstone of successful sports betting. Without knowing the value of individual bets and how you can use them for yourself, you will find it very difficult to celebrate long-term success with sports betting.
A bet with good value, i.e. with a good expected value, is a bet in which the odds offered by the bookmaker are higher than the actual probability. As you can already guess, these bets are not always easy to identify. Bookmakers also do their homework and always try to adapt their odds to actual probabilities. However, with a lot of practice and diligence, you will be able to make bets with good value every day. If you only ever bet on high expected value bets, you will be a successful player in the long run.
Determining the probabilities of individual events is far from easy, and many factors play a role. It is best to first set your own probabilities and odds for a specific game or event and then look at the odds of the bookmakers. You can find many calculators online to help you convert probabilities into odds. If you find a bookmaker with odds higher than what you calculated, you have found a bet with good value. Your first attempts will probably be a little off, but the more often you determine odds yourself, the better you will succeed and the better you can make bets with good value.
Betting on sports is not that different from playing sports. The more practice you have in it and the more you improve your techniques, the more successful you will be. Maintaining discipline, understanding value and managing your betting account well are practical tips and the cornerstone for every successful player.