10 reasons you lose at sports betting!

Introduction

Not many people win long term at sports betting, if they did, then the bookies wouldn't be in business and we all know they are mostly doing pretty well. The most obvious reason the bookies make cash and you lose in the end is because the odds are normally under the real chance of your pick happening.

However, all is not lost, as this is not a casino where they always have a fixed advantage, you have a chance to pick based on your knowledge, experience, with bonuses and free bets and at different odds across bookmakers. So without further ado, lets dive into 10 reasons why you could be losing at sports betting.

1) Don’t just take the odds at whatever bookmaker you last bet with

Not all bookmakers will have the same odds for the same result, so it makes sense to have a good number of trusted bookmakers ready for you to compare odds. You can also make this process much faster by using a site like the excellent OddsChecker

It stands to reason that always taking the best odds on an event will either increase your winnings, or at worse, limit your losses if you are on a bad run.

2) Take advantage of bookmaker’s sign ups bonuses and other offers

Taking advantage of sign up bonuses and on going deposit offers is probably the single easiest way to turn a slightly losing bettor into a winning one. Most bookmakers will normally only offer you a large bonus when you first sign up, but they will often have on going promotions for loyal customers.

Therefore, for both the sign up bonuses and on the going offers, it makes sense to have as many accounts with reputable bookmakers as possible.

3) Understand what value is

If the team or player you are backing will almost certainly win, but the odds are extremely low, whilst you won’t lose very often it maybe poor value. What this means is the odd time you lose, you won’t have made close to enough back with the wins to cover it.

However, you could have an outsider that’s 5/1, that you think would win at least 1 in 4 games… Now... you will lose more, but long term you will make cash. When betting on outsiders it’s important to have a sensible staking plan to cover bad runs, which we will discus next.

4) Have a separate bankroll and a staking strategy

One of the easiest ways to lose a huge amount of money fast is when you chase losses. When you have been unlucky and lost, it’s often very tempting to bet more on a sure fire win to recoup your losses. The problem with this, is if you are really unlucky you could lose, chase again and lose again and again and again… In the process also losing a large amount of cash.

Have a read up on the internet on staking and bankroll strategies. If you stick with a sensible strategy and a known bankroll, you can easily avoid this devastating disaster. It also might sound obvious, but never bet with money you cant afford to lose or need for something else!

5) Research the teams playing

Top teams will often not field their first team in games they deem not as important as the league or a bigger competition. A good example of this is the early rounds of the UK’s FA Cup. Often top teams will field almost no first team players when playing a team two divisions below. Teams also do this when they can’t improve their position in the league or they will finish top of their group in a competition even if they lose the game.

The bookmakers however, may still have the usual top team as firm favourites and you will get poor value. It’s best to avoid these games or take a punt on the outsiders with an Asian Handicap, that we will discuss next.

6) Don’t Ignore Asian Handicaps

Most people tend to back a team to win, but often, especially in uneven match ups you can find much safer bets in the Asian Handicap section. They can be a bit daunting at first, especially with the ¾ suffix like 2.75, but they are well worth learning and using.

They are especially useful in games where you want to take the possibility of losing your cash if there is a draw out the equation. They also make a lot of sense when you are backing an outsider on form and want a head start as a cushion.

7) Don’t back a team because you support them

Generally it’s a bad idea to back a team you support, whether that's your local football team or your country playing in the world cup. The reason being, is you are highly likely to over estimate their chance of success or even back them because you “CAN'T” back the other team, even though you think other team will win.

If you are an expert about them and you can genuinely be impartial, then this rule might not apply. But if you are like 99.9% sports fans out there, it's safer just not to do it!

8) Make sure you look into the team’s recent form

Bookmaker’s odds tend to put the team that’s normally dominant as the favourite, even if their recent form has been terrible. This is probably more down to the fact they know they will still get a lot more bets on the normal top team than the usual outsider.

However, if you have a Top team that’s out of form, playing a middle team that’s in form, if the odds don’t reflect their recent run, this is a great time to back the outsider and you might even get a head start with an Asian Handicap.

9) Don’t just bet on something because you are bored and it’s on TV

We’ve all done it…. Bored at home…. Loads of sport on TV we know nothing about and decide to make a bet to make it more interesting. If you genuinely bet purely for fun and are not bothered if you make profit long term you can ignore this rule. However, if you want to make a long term profit, don’t do it!

10) Don’t bet when angry, drunk or on drugs

This may sound obvious, but a lot of people bet when they are drunk/drugged or just because they are pissed off with something, which could be anything from an unexpected bill, to repair work or just losing a bet before. If you are betting without thinking rationally you would be better off going to play at the Casino and we all know how that ends :-)

Hopefully our 10 reasons you might be losing at betting gave you some ideas to help improve your chances or making a long term profit at betting.

Good Luck!