It’s that time of the year again, when football fans gather around the television to shout at their favorite team, order pizza and wings to demolish during the game, and check up on their current sports bets. But did you know that there are actually a lot of common sports betting mistakes that people make every year, resulting in preventable losses? Let’s take a closer look at the most common sports betting mistakes that you avoid, once you take into consideration this professional advice.
Mistake #1: Placing your bets on a team because you love them
It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of placing bets on the teams you love the most. After all, you may feel confident in the players or you have a positive attitude towards the team’s overall management. But this is a major mistake for one simple reason: placing bets on a team just because you love them is essentially looking at them with rose-colored glasses. You’re thinking with your heart, not your head, and that’s a major mistake when it comes to any bet.
Instead of betting on a team just because you like them, you need to look at any team with as neutral a perspective as possible. If you want to bet like a pro, you’ll need to analyze a team’s performance logically, not emotionally.
And yes, when you bet logically, sometimes you’re going to end up betting against your favorite team. It may hurt… but the potential reward will be worth it.
Mistake #2: Not venturing outside one sportsbook account
Yes, managing more than one sportsbook account can take more time, effort and juggling than having one. But limiting yourself to one sportsbook is a rookie mistake that professional betters highly recommend against. If you only have one sportsbook, you are limited to those odds only; but when you manage more than one, you’re going to give yourself much better odds than before.
Another benefit of having more than one sportsbook account is the ability to do some line-shopping. You can find the best prices available for certain lines, and you’ll end up with better chances than you would if you only stuck to the single sportsbook you were using before.
If you aren’t familiar with line shopping, a good comparison is to think of it as price checking. Just as you might compare the price of a new TV across multiple stores, you can compare the price of certain bets and give yourself a stronger strategy through multiple sportsbooks.
Another pro tip: don’t wait until the day of the game to get your bets going. Try to make your bet earlier in the week. If you wait until game day, your odds are going to be lower, because the sportsbook is likely to hone in on the numbers that they feel confident in.
Mistake #3: Trying to reverse a losing streak with more bets
Are you on a losing streak? It happens to everyone, professional or otherwise. What matters is how you respond to a losing streak, and it’s here that the difference between pro and amateur betters really shines. One common mistake that people make when facing losses is that they try to reverse their bad luck with more bets, thinking that they’ll win “this time” for sure.
Why does this happen? It’s fairly simple: panic. Many amateur betters will find themselves getting into a panic when they face a losing streak, to the point that they’ll try to reverse their losses by betting more heavily. They think that if they can just get that “one big win,” they’ll be back on track. What usually happens is they wind up deeper in the hole.
When you’re on a losing streak that won’t seem to end, the best thing to do is: stop. Yes, stop. Take a break. Think about your strategy. And start again another day. Sports betting can be fun and exciting, but you need to make sure that you aren’t digging yourself into a financial hole.
Mistake #4: Thinking parlay bets are a good idea
A parlay bet is a bet in which you connect at least two bets, but potentially more, in an effort to win a larger pot. Parlay bets are not uncommon, but they are largely considered to be a huge mistake by pros in the sports betting world.
It’s easy to see why someone might be tempted by a parlay bet. There are a lot of hype social media posts where someone bets a relatively low amount–say, $10 or $20–but they make it a parlay. In the end, they win a relative fortune. Many people see these wins and think: why not me?
And yes, it’s possible that you might win a parlay bet or even two. But it’s very uncommon, and the odds of winning simply aren’t that high. It’s best to avoid engaging in parlay bets altogether if you want the surest wins. It might be okay to try them out once in a while for the novelty, but don’t rely on them or consider them a “regular” way to bet.
Consider parlays like a lottery scratch off ticket–they’re fun to do, but you’re almost never going to win.
Mistake #5: Not understanding the pro mindset
Perhaps the most significant mistake that sports betters make is not approaching better with the pro mindset. Even if you aren’t doing this professionally, you should approach betting with the same strategies as experienced betters, if you want to avoid losses and increase your chances.
The wrong mindset is fairly simple: if you think that sports bets are a quick and easy way to get some cash, you are wrong. Sports better is not an easy profit scheme, and it’s going to take a lot of research, experience and skill before you get anywhere close to what is considered a high success rate in the field. And note that a high success rate is considered a 55% success rate, so even then, you aren’t going to be constantly winning and raking in the cash.
In order to win, you’re going to need to lose. It’s simply a fact of the game. One reason for this is because sports betting require actual experience in order to improve. Yes, you can and should read all that you can, but you’ll need the actual betting experience to fully understand the best strategies and approaches to your bets. This means that you shouldn’t enter into sports betting unless you are prepared to lose money and spend time honing your skills so you can have a better success rate. And remember, that extremely high success rate is still only 55%. The better prepared you are for the realities of sports better, the better your experience will be in the long run.
