Sports Betting Guide: Tips, Strategies, and Advice to Keep in Mind
While online sports betting has existed for decades, it has always had a checkered past in most jurisdictions.
Fortunately, many states are moving to legalize the activity in a bid to increase their tax baskets. As a result, soccer betting odds are of great interest and betting companies are investing heavily in this popular pastime to continue entertaining fans worldwide. Unfortunately for some sport fans, winning wagers isn’t as easy as placing them.
Here are a few strategies and tips to help you avoid being among the 60% of sports punters who always lose their wagers.
Best Sports Betting Strategies to Keep In Mind
There are hundreds of betting lines in different sports, making it hard to know the right decision, especially for beginners. Here are a few useful tips for those who understand how betting markets work.
Focus on a single league/ sport
While it might be tempting to include judo, baseball, cricket, and football in your betting portfolio, you might not be very successful revenue-wise. That’s because betting on sports depends on data and its interpretation, which calls for a lot of research and personal knowledge instead of luck. Betting on different sports or leagues might also make you miss out on valuable lines involving your favorite teams.
Only wager on 1-2% of the entire bankroll
Most sports bettors who stake low make the mistake of wagering a considerable amount of their bankroll in every bet. That’s because they don’t make large wagers, and hence they’re not worried about losing money. However, those who want their sports betting skills to go to the next level should limit their spending on each bet because sports betting is a fragile activity. Additionally, even adept punters go through long losing streaks.
Be Selective
The number of options offered by sports betting is tremendous and very engaging to sports fans. However, sports punters must be selective, as placing too many bets can be as damaging as wagering too much money in a single bet. Considering that most punters lose the wagers they place, it means you’ll lose your bankroll quickly.
Even for experienced punters, it’s hard to make winning selections consistently. That’s why it makes more sense to hold your bankroll until you find value bets in the games that you’re most confident with.
Understand the concept of value
Value is a common term in sports betting, although many punters don’t fully understand it. Fortunately, the concept is straightforward, as it measures the relationship between an outcome’s probability of happening compared to the given odds. When the given odds appear to be higher than they should be, then there’s a positive value in that outcome.
Successful betting in sports is all about identifying outcomes with a positive value and betting on those highly likely to happen based on other data. That way, you’ll remain profitable in the long run.
Record your bets
Very few punters go through the pain of maintaining a record of their bets. That’s a huge mistake as it makes it hard for you to track the bets and the amount of cash you’ve spent. Keep in mind that punters need to stay within their budget when betting to avoid problem gambling. Additionally, record keeping helps you study your records periodically and seek ways to improve.