Sports Betting

Helpful Tips on how to improve your betting

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Mr Green’s General T&Cs Apply. This offer is open to all Canadians 18+ years of age. You may not make Sportsbook bets using bonus bets, risk-free bets, odds boost, profit boost or bonus funds correlated or opposite. It is a breach of terms to hedge your bets through correlated outcomes to guarantee a profit using the above.

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.

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Mr Green: A new way to bet on sports online

If you’re new to sports betting online, we’ve put together an easy five-step process to wagering on your favorite sports with Mr Green:

  • Choose the sport you wish to bet on. You can do so via the search bar at the top of the homepage or via the left-hand navigation menu.
  • Select the tournament, match, race, or event you wish to wager on.
  • Explore all available betting markets for your chosen event. The range of markets will vary depending on the popularity of the event.
  • Click your chosen bet and add it to your Mr Green betslip. Be sure to check the terms and conditions so you’re aware of what needs to happen for your bet to win.
  • Set your stake size and hit that all-important “Place bet” button!

A huge choice of sports betting markets

At Mr Green, we cover all the biggest sports events around the world. At the time of writing, you can bet on 32 different sports on our online sportsbook. This includes the biggest sports with a global appeal like soccer,
tennis, basketball, and golf, as well as more niche sports like table tennis, volleyball, and even the fast-emerging esports scene.

The importance of staying disciplined

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 theodds 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.

betting discipline

Bet on what you know

If a sports bettor has one advantage over a bookmaker, it is that the bettor does not need to be an expert on all sporting events. This means that you can pick and choose from the many thousands of events available, be it baseball, ice-hockey or soccer. 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.

betting knowledge

Bet on sports at Mr Green

Bet with Mr Green

Record Keeping

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.

betting records

Bankroll Management

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.

betting budget management

The Importance of Value

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.

European Handicap Football Betting

Master the concept of sportsbook odds and payouts

When you choose to bet on sports at Mr Green, you’ll get the choice of three different odds formats – fractional, decimal, and American odds.

Fractional odds

These sports betting odds are, unsurprisingly, displayed as fractions. You’ll see them expressed in the following way:

England: 1/1
Draw: 9/4
USA: 5/1

If you were to wager on England to win at $10, successful bets would win you $10 (plus your $10 stake back).
If you were to wager on the Draw at $10, successful bets would win you (10/4) x 9) + 10 = $32.50 ($22.50 profit + $10 stake).
If you were to wager on the USA to win at $10, successful bets would win you $50 (plus your $10 stake back).

American odds

American odds are, unsurprisingly, used in North American sportsbooks. You’ll see them expressed in the following way:

England: +100
Draw: +225
USA: +500

Ultimately, American odds display your potential return from a $100 bet. If you stick with a $10 wager on England, the Draw, or the USA, just divide the odds displayed by ten ($100/10 = $10) to calculate the potential return.

Decimal odds

Decimal odds are most popular among European sports bettors. You’ll see them expressed in the following way:
England: 2.0
Draw: 3.25
USA: 6.0

Decimal odds display the potential return from a single unit staked. If your single unit is $10, you can calculate the following potential payouts:

England 2.0 ($10 x 2.0 = $20, inclusive of your stake)
Draw 3.25 ($10 x 3.25 = $32.50, inclusive of your stake)
USA 6.0 ($10 x 6.0 = $60, inclusive of your stake)

Payouts

When it comes to payouts on your sports bets, you’ll always get your stake back on winning wagers. That’s right, you’ll not only receive the winnings from your bet but your initial bet will be returned to your available balance too. If you were to bet $50 on a team to win that would pay out $200, if it’s successful, you’ll receive $250 back into your Mr Green balance – $50 stake + $200 winnings.

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How does pre-game sports betting compare with in-play sports betting?

The difference between online and in-play sports betting revolves around when you place your wagers. Online sports betting relates to pre-game sports wagers, placed before a ball or puck has been kicked, hit, or thrown.
The pre-game odds have a habit of fluctuating in the days leading up to a big game. That’s because selection issues for teams such as injuries and suspensions can pose headaches for coaches, potentially weakening a team before the match has even begun. In this scenario, the odds of the teams affected are more likely to rise as the implied probability of them winning has fallen.
Once a sports event has begun, you’ll then have the ability to place live wagers in play. This gives you the flexibility to bet with your eyes. What’s the live-action showing you? Is the pre-game favorite living up to their billing or is the underdog playing above their average form?
You can also be dynamic with your bets if things happen mid-game. If a team gets a player sent off or loses a key player to injury, you may choose to wager on their opponents. If a player already has a yellow card in a soccer match, are they at risk of picking up a second yellow and a subsequent red card? If so, you could be agile and bet on them to be sent off. Live sports betting is teeming with prop betting markets that you can use to find clever angles on the action.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make sure my sports bets always win?

In short, you can’t. Even the most successful sports bettors encounter losing streaks sometimes. No matter how much research you do, there’ll always be anomalies when it comes to sports betting. The best advice we can give is to manage your bet sizes responsibly, stick to the sports and markets you know best and you’ll hopefully win more bets than you lose!

Is it easy to submit a sports bet?

Set up your preferred deposit method within the Mr Green cashier section. Complete the deposit and set how much you wish to transfer into your Mr Green balance. Once your balance is funded, head over to the sports events and betting markets set your stake size and click that all-important “Place Bet” button.

What happens if I lose a sports bet?

If you happen to lose a sports bet, the amount you staked will remain deducted from your available betting balance. If you still have funds left in your Mr Green account, you can always place a new wager. If you don’t have any funds remaining, you’ll need to make another deposit using your preferred payment method. Always be sure never to chase losses and try to win back your stake on a whim. If you’re tempted to do this, you’re clearly staking too much money in the first place!