Common Mistakes New Bettors Make — And How to Avoid Them

Sports gambling can be exciting, tactical and even lucrative, but only when done with discipline and expertise. To beginners, the thrill of making a bet may sometimes outweigh the prudence in making a decision, and the mistakes one makes are sometimes expensive. Bettors can win a lot of money betting on football, cricket, basketball or horse racing, but the difference between gradual advancement and rapid losses is knowing the most common traps.

Let us discuss the most common errors a new bettor commits- and, more to the point, how these can be prevented.

1. Betting Without a Strategy

Probably the greatest error amateurs commit is to make random bets by making choices based on intuition, the favorite teams, or the hype and not on reason. Although one can be lucky and hit it big every now and then, success in gambling in the long run is a result of an engagements strategy.

Avoid it by:
Thinking out a strategy prior to making any bets. Get to know of bankroll management, odds calculation and value betting. Stake in a regular routine (such as not more than 1-5 percent of your bankroll on any bet). Above all, record your bets in a spreadsheet- having an idea of what works and what does not will aid you in improving your strategy as the time goes on.

2. Not taking into consideration Bankroll Management.

Most bettors dive in with great enthusiasm and begin betting higher sums and do not have a budget in mind. This usually results in emotional judgments and huge losses. The talented bettor will run out of business without effective bankroll management.

Avoid it by:
Considering your betting money as an investment. Take a particular amount of money that you can spare and break it down into smaller units. Always keep the stakes per bet constant and do not take the temptation to chase losses. Balance and patience are good in the long term to shield your mind and balance.

3. Basing Bets on Feelings, as opposed to Reason.

One of the quickest methods of losing money is emotional betting. Most of the bettors base their decisions on loyalty like supporting their favorite team or player, irrespective of the shape or performance. Other betters will get on a streak after winning or losing hoping to earn more or to get back the money within a short period after gaining.

Avoid it by:
Coming to the point of eliminating emotions altogether. Bet based on use data, statistics and analytical logic. In case it is your favourite team, you could simply avoid that match. Between blind loyalty and discipline and objectivity, the latter is much more important.

4. The confusion of Odds and Probabilities.

Odds are not mere numbers the odds are the implied likelihood of an event. The most common mistakes made by novices are that odds are converted to potential returns and bookmakers would stack the deck.

Avoid it by:
Knowing how to read various odds (decimal, fractional, or American) and the meaning they represent as a probability. As an example, even money (odds of 2.00) implies a 50 per cent chance of winning, as the bookie puts it. Take this and contrast it with your own evaluation of the actual probability – in case you think the probability is more, it is a bet worth it.

5. Trusting to much Up-front or Guessing.

One can find it easy to fall into an online gambling community, tipster, or social media influencer promising to make sure that they have a sure pick. The truth? Nobody is sure which one will be a winner and there are more tipsters who are interested in clicks than the right one.

Avoid it by:
Relying on tips as only one of so many pieces of information never as your decision-making tool. Always look up on your own: guide to forms, team news, injuries, and previous performance. The most successful betters believe in their personal analysis and not in following others blindly.

6. Attaching too much importance to Short-Term Results.

Betting involves every punter experiencing good and bad seasons. The issue is that newcomers base the evaluation of their competence only on the few outcomes. Some favorable outcomes may give them overconfidence and several negative influences may make them surrender prematurely.

Avoid it by:
Assessing the performance in the long-term- 50, 100 or even 200 bets. Record notes of your outcomes and concentrate on the process rather than the short-term development. Betters who do it professionally know that there is variance involved in the game and it takes time before it pays off.

7. Wagering on Too Many Games at Once.

Most of the new gamblers assume that the more bets, the more opportunities to win. The truth is that over extension can water down your analysis and create more chances of going into losses.

Avoid it by:
Investigating quality instead of quantity. Select few games that are well researched on a day or a week. It will enable you to investigate the finer details of the game more, odds changes, team news, and trends in the market instead of making a blind bet in dozens of games.

8. Disregard of Line Movements and Timing.

The odds are always changed by the bookmakers depending on the team news, the amount of betting and professional opinions. Most of the bettor do not pay attention to such changes or bet at the last moment to miss the good opportunities.

Avoid it by:
Listening to the movement of lines. When team odds are considerably shortened, then there is a possibility that this is a sharp cash move or inside information. Early betting is sometimes the bet worth taking; it has been known to happen that waiting pays. Train to understand the tendencies in movement of odd to bet in a smart way.

9. Not Reaching Out To Research.

Placing bets in the absence of adequate research is similar to dart playing with a blindfold. Numerous new men do not even bother to read statistics or watch games when they believe that good fortune will prevail.

Avoid it by:
Always do your homework. Formation of study team, player statistics, injuries, motivation, and head to head records. A football team may, say, play badly out of home or on a particular kind of pitch, this kind of information can turn an otherwise worthless bet into a valuable one.

10. Not Learning from Mistakes

Lastly, and, possibly, the most significant error is the inability to learn and make the same mistakes. Most bettors tend to attribute their misfortunes to luck or referees rather than analyzing what was wrong in the decision making process.

Avoid it by:
Looking at your betting history frequently. At the end of each week/month, review your largest victories and defeats- what do you see? Did your bets to the losing side have some emotional, hasty, or ill-researched reasons? It is self-reflection which partakes the average bettor and the successful one.

Final Thoughts

Sports betting is an art that is done with time, experience and discipline. No bettor, not the best ones, makes no mistakes, at least not at the beginning. The trick is to be able to identify these pitfalls beforehand and formulate routine habits that will guard your bankroll and tighten your battle plan.

With patience, research and proper management of money, you can make betting more of a calculated hobby rather than a haphazard one, and possibly a lucrative one.

Courtesy: //www.pennlive.com/betting/guides/odds/, https://www.investopedia.com/, https://www.covers.com/guides/, https://www.oddstrader.com/, https://www.thesportsgeek.com/