How to start betting?
How to bet on sports
A novice player should first of all understand the basic concepts, and then be interested in ‘money’ issues. Yes, it is possible to win in sports betting, but the right goals and the right knowledge are important. A proper start pretty much defines the rest of your betting journey!
What is sports betting
Sports betting is an intellectual wager between a player and a bookmaker: the player makes his prediction on a sporting event and bets money that this prediction will turn out to be correct. In case of a correct bet, he returns the money with a profit, in case of a lost bet, respectively, he loses it.
The bookmaker assigns a coefficient to each bet, which estimates the probability of this event. European bookmakers use European odds, which are displayed as decimal fractions. If the bet turns out to be successful (the player’s forecast is correct), the bet amount is multiplied by the odds offered by the bookmaker – this is the size of the payout for a successful bet.
The size of the bet multiplied by its odds – this is the amount the bookmaker pays to the player, if his bet has won. The net win is only the amount of profit: the amount of the bet made is deducted from the payout.
Bookmaker’s odds can change both under the influence of the number and size of bets placed on this event, and due to the reduction/increase of its probability. Experienced punters also call the odds the ‘price’ of the offered event: everyone can either choose to bet at the offered price, or refuse if they consider it incorrect.
Is it possible to win in sports betting?
Of course, it is possible to win at sports betting. No guarantees: even a good knowledge of sports does not mean you will be winning constantly. Nevertheless, the game can be successful if several main conditions are met.
Rule One: the right perception
Betting should bring pleasure, and this is the main thing that should be learnt by someone who reads all about sports betting for beginners. They can (and will) lose, and you need to be prepared for that.
Seeing betting as a game and as a hobby has several significant advantages at once:
it allows you not to lose your mind and not to risk large sums of money (by the way, reason is very necessary in this game);
it helps develop skills of forecasting rather than skills of searching for bookmaker’s mistakes (as opposed to fixation on money issues);
it gives you what betting should give you: more drive, healthier excitement and more emotion when watching a match.
Rule Two: control the bankroll (gambling budget)
For a beginner, the rule of thumb is simple: you can bet only the amount that you can afford losing. Betting twice as much after a successful bet is a bad start. Trying to win back after a loss is even worse. Experienced players know how our brain works: one win of a beginner (especially if it turned out to be large) can ‘overshadow’ a lot of previous and subsequent losses. If you have made up your mind to master the art of betting, start keeping a record of all bets made, as well as every win and every loss.
Rule Three: analyze information
The ability to work with information, bring facts together and get relevant data timely are key when choosing a bet. Blind faith in your favourite team is never enough: it is crucial to understand what form the players are in right now, how good their motivation is, how balanced the team is, who is injured, etc.
Pay attention to the entire schedule of team’s fixtures. For instance, if a team has a crucial game after the match you bet on, the manager can decide to field fringe players and reserves which can very well affect the result. Such things are quite often when it comes to domestic cups: big clubs tend to play their youngsters instead of key men, and more often than not, smaller teams upset the favourites.
Sports betting education
Before placing a bet, take time to learn the basic terms and concepts of sports betting. Bookmakers usually offer a lot more than just placing a wager on a win, draw, loss or a total number of goals.
It’s vital to learn how handicaps work and what the difference between Asian and European handicaps is. Another potential trap is odds based on stats: different bookmakers use different sources to calculate such bets.
Betting on sports: how it works
Determine for yourself how much money you are ready to allocate per month for betting, and stick to the plan. Even if you feel you have the bet of a lifetime in front of you, don’t increase the size of it. Even if the bet lands in the end, don’t regret that you could have put more at stake.
Decide what to bet on, then pick the sports, tournaments and types of bets you are interested in, and finally, choose a bookmaker. Most people start their punter careers with betting on their favourite teams and athletes. This is a huge mistake that haunts many experienced players throughout the game. After all, it is not analytics that prevails in these bets, but emotions, which is a noticeable problem in the game.
So, if you have already decided to try your hand at betting, we hope that this article will help you not to get disappointed. Good luck!