The number of punters is continuously increasing, and sports betting is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the gambling industry. Of course, every bettor wants to be profitable in football betting, but a small percentage of them can actually do it consistently. Many reasons stand behind the fact that most punters are unsuccessful in sports wagering. However, the most common one is the lack of strategy. And without a proper one, your sports betting experience has minimal chances of becoming successful. In a series of articles, I’m going to reveal everything related to strategic betting. Bear with me!
What Is Strategic Betting?
Having a strategy is essential, not only in sports betting but in any sphere of life. Strategies help us mitigate risk and increase our chances of success in a given activity. Therefore, every bettor should have a plan before placing their first wager.
Having this in mind, strategic betting is not a specific technique, but it is an approach to developing your tactics in sports betting. There’s no universal strategy that works the same for all punters. You should create your own based on your knowledge, experience, preferences, and goals. However, there are several common principles that every bettor should adopt when starting their wagering experience. I’ll drive you through them in the following paragraphs. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned punter, you should always stick to them.
Define Your Bankroll
I will be straightforward here: don’t start sports betting without a defined bankroll! Your bankroll is your “weapon” to fight against bookmakers. I won’t tell you how much money to put aside for sports betting, but I will show you some tricks to keep it healthy.
Bear in mind to use your bankroll only for betting. So, it shouldn’t be money you use for livelihood, covering other monthly expenses, or anything similar. Let me make another prejudice clear: the size of your bankroll won’t determine your success in sports betting! In other words, it doesn’t mean you won’t make profits from wagering if you cannot afford a large bankroll. You can easily run out of a huge bankroll if you don’t have a betting strategy!
On the other hand, the first step towards strategic betting is to define a UNIT. I recommend that it be 1/50 of your bankroll (you divide it by 50). This approach will help you control your bankroll when on a losing streak. Also, you’ll be under less pressure when placing your bets, knowing that this mechanism keeps your bankroll healthy, and you won’t run out of wagering funds quickly.
If you are just starting with strategic betting, I recommend an initial bankroll of 500 €/£/$. I started my wagering experience with that amount, and you can adjust it over time. Of course, don’t get discouraged if it is too much for you. You can start with any amount you are comfortable with, but don’t forget to define a unit!
Only Consider Odds 1.80 or Higher
Regardless of your betting strategy, chasing low odds won’t bring you profits, at least from my experience. I’m sure that many other punters can confirm this. Why? We witness many surprising results each day, especially in football, which is also my primary focus. To make decent profits, you need a long run of successful bets. However, the possibility that one will let you down is quite high, so I don’t recommend this approach.
On the other hand, many experts have stated that the odds around 2.00 (1/1) can be quite lucrative for punters. I’ve tested this strategy, and it turned out successful, at least for me. The ratio between the risk and gain is optimal, and I wouldn’t advise placing your wagers on odds lower than 1.80. Whether you will go with singles or create an accumulator, it’s up to you, but your bet slip should have minimum odds of 1.80 (4/5). Usually, you can find the most lucrative odds at betting exchange platforms.
Focus on Match Analysis
Before putting a game on your bet slip, try to find as much information as possible. Current form, predicted lineups, weather conditions, anything that could help you become more certain in your pick. You can invest some of your time into that or simply check match previews online. In the digital era, I’m sure you can find a lot of information, even for less popular leagues and fixtures.
It might be harder for beginners to assess all those data properly, but you shouldn’t give up, and it will come with experience. Eventually, you will become proficient in match analysis, and you will see that in the size of your bankroll and profits!
Don’t Believe in Fixed Matches
Nowadays, the internet is full of wannabe tipsters that claim to have information about fixed matches. Let me get this thing straight: all of them are scammers! They are playing with your emotions just to get quick money from you and provide false information, and you’ll never hear back from them.
Unfortunately, game fixing is present in the world of sports. However, that information is available just to a strictly narrow circle of people. I would say no more than two or three for a given match. So, why would they reveal that info when they can simply place a bet without risking being exposed? That’s why neither you nor I will ever get those fixed games.
Therefore, if you want to apply strategic betting, forget about fixed matches. Of course, many successful tipsters provide picks based on their expertise in return for compensation based on their subscription plans. You can also get many quality games from those services, but they won’t claim their selections are fixed.
So, beware of those shady guys, their Instagram pages, Telegram channels, websites, etc. As soon as you see the term Fixed Games, it should be a red alert for you to stay away. Otherwise, your bankroll will quickly drain, and you will lose all your money. I went through that when I was young and naive, but I have learned from my mistakes. I’m sharing them with you so that you can avoid these scammers.
Conclusion: Start Applying Strategic Betting Today
Strategic betting can help you become a professional in this gambling discipline. In this article, I’ve shown you the basic steps toward becoming profitable in sports wagering. Take care of your bankroll and implement a unit-staking system. Find sports, leagues, markets, and odds that suit your betting strategy best and perform analysis constantly. Don’t let greed take you to the dark side of football wagering, as it is the fastest way to failure! Remember, sports betting is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and you must be patient. This is only the start, and I’ll dig into other topics in the following articles.