Sports betting tips for beginners

Intro

Betting on sport isn’t the easiest thing to do when you are just getting started out. There are several pitfalls and hazards that one must avoid in order to have a fun and lucrative betting experience. However, if you stick to the following pieces of advice, you can avoid many of those early mistakes, and hopefully save a whole load of money in the process. 

Here are just some of the most important tips for those of you who are looking to start placing bets on sporting events. These tips will help you when it comes to betting on football, NFL, Cricket, Horse Racing and other sports.

Set up a bankroll

Regardless of how much money you have, or what your immediate goals are, it is essential that you set out with some kind of a budget. When first starting out, it’s far more likely that you’ll be losing money rather than winning it, so you will want to minimise those losses until you get more familiar with the process and industry trends.

You can set a daily budget, a weekly budget, or even an annual budget. In fact, you don’t need to put a timescale on it at all, so long as you stick to your predetermined budget. You should always be setting out to play with disposable income only, rather than gambling with money that you NEED for other things. The consequences of betting with money that you need elsewhere in your life can be dire, so be sure to budget beforehand.

Assess the landscape 

One of the biggest advantages of betting on sports is simply the number of choices you have at your disposal. You can bet on virtually any sport, often in any region of the world (if you really want to). In addition to this, punters have various types of wagers to choose from, with each providing ample opportunities to win big.

However, the range of options can work against you at times, so you must always try to assess the landscape before playing. Be selective, as placing too many wagers in a short period can leave you overstretched. This can even lead to big financial losses, so it is always better to put your time and energy into sounding out good opportunities and openings. 

Don’t let emotional attachment cloud your judgement 

A common mistake made by sports betting newbies is rushing to put money behind the teams they support or want to do well. If you want to win, you need to detach yourself emotionally from the sporting event, as otherwise your judgement will be clouded. Why lose your hard-earned money on your favourite team if they are rank outsiders to win?

Avoid the long odds 

This is somewhat of an extension of the previous tip. Lured by the promise of big wins, some beginner players will come up with the bright idea of backing the side with abnormally high odds. What such players tend to forget is that high odds automatically translate into a very low probability of that team winning. It may be tempting to back Russia to win the 2020 European Championships at odds of 150/1, but it isn’t exactly prudent betting. 

Utilise in-play markets

A good starting point for any new punter is in-play, as it allows you to watch relevant sporting events in real-time, and observe how the odds change over that period. Given the fact that wagers are generally accepted throughout the event, you can choose to hold fire, see how things play out, and place your bet at the perfect moment. This gives players a better opportunity to make a correct prediction.

Use free promotions to experiment

A useful way of building up your bankroll when you first start playing is to simply take advantage of the various free bet bonuses that most online bookies offer. You can start off by claiming the respective sportsbook’s sign-up bonus, but this will normally be followed up with an additional ongoing offer that you can opt-in for. Such offers can potentially help you boost your starting betting capital – or they can at least help you recoup any lost money.

Have fun

Betting on sport, above all else, is supposed to add to your enjoyment of the event. While there may be money on the line, try as much as you can to enjoy the process – and to not get too disheartened by losses or things not going your way. It’s easy to get discouraged when things don’t go as planned, but if you’re persistent and knowledgeable about the sport in question, the tide will soon turn. In the meantime, just enjoy yourself!