In order to start making money at sportsbooks, you have to first understand how to avoid losing at sports betting. Sounds logical, right? The biggest problem for sports bettors is that they simply don’t understand the mistakes they are making and why they have a negative impact on their bottom line.
Here is a look at five important tips to remember in order to stop losing at sports betting.
1. Use Dispensable Money
One of the biggest mistakes that sports bettors make is that they risk money they can’t afford to lose and that completely changes their mindsets when it comes to making smart decisions. A player that is worried about whether or not he will lose money he can’t afford to lose is focused more on the potential negatives than on making a profit and that is not the mindset you want to be in when you make these wagers. There is nothing wrong with betting on sports just make sure you are using dispensable money that you can afford to lose.
2. Avoid Impulse Betting
Another of the biggest mistakes that casual sports bettors make is when they quickly jump on a bet that they wouldn’t have made based simply on impulse. For example, after an inconsistent Sunday afternoon during the NFL season they realize they haven’t made any money so they quickly throw something on the late game even if they aren’t completely confident about their wager. This is an easy way to lose money without even realizing the mistake until it is made.
3. Make Your Own Decisions
It is extremely important to remember to make your own decisions when betting on sports and not to blindly follow other people’s advice. Your judgment – assuming you did the homework and researched the game – is better than somebody else that you don’t even know and often it actually makes a lot more sense to take a contrarian view and bet against the public. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take other opinions into account but there’s no easy way out where you just bet someone else’s picks and win consistently.
4. Establish A Stakes System
Far too often the casual sports bettor will change the amount of money they risk betting on sports with no system in place to stop the amounts from fluctuating. In some cases, that could lead to limiting your potential profit while leaving you vulnerable to bigger losses. The smart thing to do is establish a system where the values are linear so that you will be able to keep track of the amounts you risk and the track your potential winnings. Many times players will bet blindly with different amounts and that makes it so much more difficult to keep track of your profits and losses.
5. Always Keep Track Of The Numbers
It only makes sense to keep track of the numbers in order to see how much you win and lose with every wager. However, that isn’t the only reason why it makes sense as it also helps to be able to see where you make mistakes. Make sure that you keep a log with all of your wagers so that you can track the betting units. That way you know the ups and downs of your sports betting and use those numbers to figure out what areas you can improve on in order to stop losing money in sports betting.