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On a daily basis, there are millions of players placing bets on games, through bookmakers, who offer thousands of sports betting markets. While there is no denying that betting on sports events can be profitable and exciting, like any other form of gambling or investing, it comes with inherent risks and is not easy. The question then becomes: what are the strategies and skills needed to succeed? To answer this, Mr Green has put together a useful, practical betting guide to enhance your sports betting skills.
Arguably, the difference between a sports bettor with a successful track record and one who has an unsuccessful one is their level of discipline. An undisciplined sports bettor is at a distinct disadvantage before even starting, putting the odds of success over time at almost zero.
Self-discipline is the foundation upon which strategies for betting are constructed. The importance of discipline is easily explained. It allows control over how and when you bet, helps to methodically identify the right bets, and allows you to adhere to your bankroll and betting constraints, which will enable you to execute your strategy while taking the emotions out of your betting.
A bettor without the required self-discipline may be fortunate over the short run, but this is unlikely to last in the long run. This is because the motivation becomes betting rather than profiting. A profit motivation will cause a bettor to treat each wager as a business transaction. Emotion, left unchecked, will lead a bettor down the riskier path of impulsiveness, thrill-seeking or greed leading to losses.
An easy self-test that you can perform to see whether you have the necessary self-discipline is to abstain from betting for two weeks. During this time away, you should keep on studying the form, monitor events and improving your knowledge while identifying betting opportunities without putting any money down. Achieving this is an act of self-discipline that will also improve your betting technique. All bettors should carry this out once in a while, regardless of their prior level of success.
If a sports bettor has one advantage over a bookmaker, it is that that bettor does not to be an expert on all sporting events. This means that you can pick and choose from the many thousands of events available or not bet altogether. The choice is yours! You get to pick where to make your bets and for how much.
So, where do you place your bet? The most obvious answer would be that you should bet on what you know. This means sticking to markets and sports that you are familiar with, knowing the market mechanics and knowing how to identify good value. This is not to suggest that you need to choose sports that you’ve followed for years, but you should know it well.
Although the temptation may be there, avoid betting in sports or markets outside of your knowledge strength. Stay with what you are familiar with and has historically worked for you. This could be identifying undervalued favourites on a horse race or being behind the top scorer on cricket games. With a good base, you can go on to work on and improve your wagering technique.
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If you want to be a serious bettor, then you’ll want to keep records. While the details of your records will vary, the more information you retain, concerning losses and wins, the better. Remember, we previously suggested treating your betting like a business. What would happen to your business if you never kept a record of your profit and losses? How would you know what your income was? What is making money? What is losing money? Such a business would not last very long.
It is easy to lose the forest for the trees and lose track of the medium to long term picture after some short term wins or losses. Using a yardstick of a week (or more), month or year will present a clearer insight into your wins and losses. It can tell you how you’re doing and whether a corrective course of action is necessary.
By keeping details on your wins and losses, which might include the sport, type of bet, and event, you develop a sense of your strengths and weaknesses. It will tell you what markets and sports you do well in and which ones you might want to avoid. Focusing your resources on your strengths will allow you to maximize your profit and keep your losses in check. A characteristic of a successful bettor is one that maintains a betting record.
Proper management of your bankroll is critical to success in sports betting. It serves several defensive functions, protecting you from betting excessively after several wins, chasing your losses and having your bank wiped out by a run of bad luck.
Bankroll management strategy happens in stages, the first of which should include determining a budget. A budget is the amount of money that you are ready to set aside, and maybe lose, during betting. Remember that you must be prepared to lose this money, or your emotional reaction may impair your betting judgement. It is essential to keep in mind the cardinal rule of betting: never gamble with money that you can’t afford to lose.
The second stage concerns a staking plan. This plan is used to decide the wager amount on every bet, which reduces the likelihood of being controlled by short term losses and wins. There is more than one staking plan option to consider, which is outside of the scope of this article, but they can be categorized into Variable and Fixed. The difference between the two is that the fixed tend to be more defensive (conservative) while varied tend to be the choice of more aggressive (seasoned) bettors.
A fundamental concept behind betting is value of the odds provided. If you’re a sports bettor, then you’ll need to develop an appreciation for value and how to use it to succeed.
What is a value bet? A value bet is when the true odds of an occurrence event are less than what the bookmaker offers. Finding a value bet is difficult since the bookmakers are experts at pricing up markets. Having said this, it is possible to still find value bets in the dozens on any given day. Long-term profit is reachable if you make sure to bet on opportunities that offer value.
The outcome of a sporting event can be impacted by several factors making it hard to figure out the correct odds. The best way of becoming better is to play the role of a bookmaker by creating prices of your own. Attach a probability estimate or percentage to each outcome. By using one of several free online calculators online, you can then transform estimates into prices. A bookmaker who offers odds that are greater than your estimate may represent a value bet. Your first few tries will likely be wide off the mark, but with practice, you can develop the skills necessary to recognize a value bet when you see one.
The difference between playing a sport and betting on a sport is minimal. Your success depends on a dedication to practising your technique. Keep records, remain disciplined, stick to what you know, recognize value and practice bankroll management are all good practices to follow.