How many times have you placed a sports bet and then realised that you have made the wrong selection. Perhaps you’ve not staked the bet particularly well or maybe you have simply cashed out too early or too late.
This article is designed to help you avoid those all-too familiar betting traps which can often lead to regret and we would always urge punters to gamble responsibly and only part with cash which they are comfortable losing.
- Never Chase Your Losses
It’s easy to think that you’re “due a win” after a string of losers, although having a few losses doesn’t equate to giving you any increased chance of winning with your sports bets. Indeed, it might be a sign that you’re doing something wrong and it’s always worth a regular review of your monthly staking.
- Betting on the Wrong Markets
If you’re expecting to make a long-term profit from scorecast betting, then you might be very much mistaken. Alternatively, you might favour a market such as Full-Time Result but are unable to correctly predict the winner of a match.
It’s therefore imperative that you make a note of where you have been profitable in the past to avoid choosing sports or markets where you have not been particularly successful.
- Don’t Go For an Ambitious Accumulator
Punters who win regularly on football accumulators don’t tend to load up their multiple bets with lots of selections. So it might look really attractive to have a ten-fold on the Premier League although there’s a reason why the bookies offer 100/1 about an acca winning.
- Consider Each-Way Bets as Opposed to Win Only
Some people think that each-way betting isn’t particularly advantageous considering that you are placing half your stake on the win part and half your stake on the place.
However, if your selection places and you are able to get a return, that is clearly more of a bonus than losing your entire stake, with punters always looking for some kind of return on their investment.
- Don’t Cash Out and Short Change Yourself
If you’ve placed a really good bet, then you might find that a betting site dangles the carrot of landing Cash Out along the way, although it sometimes pays to avoid taking this option and stay in for the long haul.
Cash Out wasn’t invented for customers to make more money and is actually a way for the bookies to avoid a big pay-out, so think very carefully before taking the money and running.
- Don’t Just Stick With One Bookmaker
You might find that you have a favourite bookmaker although it doesn’t mean that you should exclusively place your bets with this firm. The bottom line is that every bookie has different odds and you should always compare the prices to make sure you get the best one.
- Choosing High-Margin Betting Markets
We often like to go for a bet on the Asian Handicap where you can see the bookie margins are really tight, although that is not always the case and some punters will bet on a market where the two choices might both be 5/6.
The problem here is that the bookies are making these outcomes 50-50 but only prepared to give you 83% profit on your stake rather than the 100% that the matches imply.
- Choose Your Head Over Heart
Just because you want a certain football team to win their match and think they’re really great, it doesn’t mean you should grab the betting odds about them winning their next match.
You need to be objective when it comes to betting and it pays to avoid wagering on games involving the teams that you support.
- Choose Quality Over Quantity
Some customers choose the scattergun approach and place lots of bets during the course of the day although you should really be selective about how you place your wagers.
It’s better to place one winning bet and come away with a tidy profit than get on a rollercoaster ride which has more lows than highs as far as betting is concerned.
- Betting For the Sake Of It
It’s easy enough to just bet on a football match and it’s true that it adds a bit of interest to the whole affair, although we would really limit your stakes when it comes to games where you don’t have a strong opinion.
The best play has to be only betting in bigger stake size when it comes to matches where you hold the strongest opinions and that will be your best way forward.