Becoming a professional sports bettor isn't a walk in the park, even if it may seem so. If you're a big sports fan interested in betting, you may be interested in getting into the action rather than learning how to be an expert at it. We recommend learning at least the basics and checking out some starter tips, as some good knowledge can give a good head start.
Check out this guide on becoming a professional sports bettor and find out what you should focus on to sharpen your betting skills.
Remember that You don't Have to Win All of Your Bets
One myth that every bettor needs to dispose of once and for all is that professional bettors never lose a bet. On the contrary, the most successful bettors are usually correct 55% to 60% of their total bets and won't even get close to 80% or 90%. If you've managed to make a 5% profit on your bets over an extended period, you're on the right track to beating the bookies seriously.
Look for Values in 5 Steps
A crucial part of betting is picking the right bets to start. To do this, you need to look for bets with the most value. This includes looking for underdogs and favourites. As every sport is unique, experienced bettors can find value in many distinctive ways. However, looking for value always goes through a similar process.
Here are the five steps in identifying value in sports betting:
Don't Look at the Odds
To analyse the outcome of any sports match, we recommend doing your research first before looking at the odds from the bookies. Odds cloud your judgement even if you've made some good predictions from your analysis.
Predict the Outcome
Choose which outcome is more likely. For example, in football betting, decide whether a football team will win, lose or draw during a football match.
Recalculate Your Predictions
Nobody has a crystal ball to predict the future, so when you predict an outcome that you think is highly probable, there is no guarantee that you'll be right. You should now be determined to make decisions objectively, look at all the likely chances of happening or not, and calculate them based on percentages.
Set Your Odds
Every set of odds has its implied probabilities, and you may also calculate the odds from probabilities. For example, a probability of 34% has an odds of 3.00. You can look up an odds calculator to find the odd type you're more familiar with.
Compare the Bookies' Odds with Yours
After you've obtained the odds, the next thing you should do is to look at what bookies are offering and compare them with your odds. If you feel like your set of odds is more accurate compared to what the bookies offer, it's a good signal to go ahead and place your bet! Figure out why there's a big difference in the odds between yours and the bookie.
Personal Traits Required to Become a Professional Bettor
If you want to become a pro bettor, there is no specific requirement that you need to obtain, as anyone determined enough can succeed in sports betting. Therefore, there are certain traits that you may want to improve on if your end goal is to bet like a professional.
The first and most important trait is to have a genuine interest and knowledge of sports. We don't mean that you need to be a hardcore fan and dedicate all your free time to sports. After all, you mustn't let your emotions get in the way of your predictions. Having a genuine interest in sports ensures that you're still entertained and won't get bored quickly.
Besides that, the fact that you can make money may not always be enough to keep you interested. Knowledge is also fundamental. It is best if you're constantly learning more about the sports, the teams and the matches you choose to bet on. Even though the probability element will always take part in any bet, professional sports betting doesn't always serve bettors that rely only on luck.
What's also important is getting used to working with numbers. You don't need to be a genius at maths, as you'll find some elementary mathematics that's pretty easy to understand. But you'll still need to understand the probabilities and odds.
Having the ability to control yourself is also important and not letting things get out of control. Remaining disciplined is crucial and not betting beyond your means. If you don't reason based on logic and let yourself get carried away, things can turn around and go against you and leave a big hole in your earnings.
The last important thing to mention is to maintain a realistic outlook. Indeed, betting can result in big winnings, but it takes plenty of time and skill to turn yourself into a professional bettor. Don't be surprised if your first big attempt didn't go as well as you're hoping. As with everything else in life, great things take time to build. Therefore, this space also requires a great deal of patience.
Many new bettors ask if it's necessary to attend courses. It isn't, but if you think you have the time and commitment to enrol in one, then go for it! Betting studies usually teach the average bettor some tricks and tips that will indeed enhance your abilities.
6 Expert Betting Tips
You should know some tips if you're serious about becoming an expert bettor. Besides finding out the things you should do in betting, there are also common mistakes in football betting that you need to avoid. Below are some points to note that'll help you prepare for what's coming.
Set Goals
To easily track your progress and keep your staked bets in check, you'll need to set specific goals and work towards them. Indeed, earning a big amount of profit is everyone's big goal, but you also need to take some time to plan realistic targets for consistent earnings. Doing this can help you track how much more you want to win. You can also do this by setting goals for every sport you choose to bet on and placing your biggest goal on the most familiar sports. You can set weekly, monthly to annual goals, but we recommend sticking to longer-term goals due to sports betting's unpredictable nature.
Track Your Betting Records
Analysing and improving your strategy is easier when you record your successful and least successful bets. You should see a pattern in your wins and losses. For example, are you good at picking favourites and underdogs? Do you usually go for multiple small wins or a small number of bigger wins? Are there specific days and times during matches that seem to win more or the contrary? Find out your strengths and other patterns and use them to your advantage when moving on to the next bet.
Learn to Manage Your Money Efficiently
Sticking to a staking plan can help any bettor. For example, if your target is to bring in $2000 a week from your bets, you need to make sure that your plan is in line to make this happen.
You'll need to set specific budgets and pick how much you can stake on every bet to manage betting funds. If you are spending more than you can afford to lose, you're risking everything as you might lose it all – but if you spend less than you need to, you'll hold yourself from earning more. No one takes a major risk in the professional betting space, as your earnings will depend on every move. This is why bankroll management may make or break you as an expert bettor, no matter how good your analytical skills are.
Don't Let Emotions Control You
Identify your emotional weakness and make an effort to use logic. Placing a bet because you're cheering for your favourite team to win doesn't usually end well. Always prioritise your analytical skills. Thus, your lack of emotional control can surface in other parts of betting. Maybe you get carried away after experiencing a losing streak, which makes you feel confident enough to place a bet that you haven't thought out.
Work on Your Discipline
As we've mentioned earlier, remaining disciplined and taking control of yourself can go a long way in betting. It's easy to get carried away, so you must follow some strict rules and stick to them no matter what. This works for your spending habits and schedule, which lets you allocate the appropriate time for every betting activity while maintaining your focus.
Be Realistic and Confident
Sports betting is unpredictable by nature. And there will always be periods which can take up to months where you'll have a significantly lower success rate than usual. Every bettor knows the feeling, as constant success doesn't exist. Even professional bettors place safe bets out of fear and lack of confidence. Remember that you should focus on finding value and remind yourself that bad days and slower weeks are normal in sports betting.
Conclusion
It takes time, effort and guts to become an expert bettor. It's also best to start with a decent bankroll and manage it well. Refine your betting strategy by learning from every mistake and don't hesitate to hedge your bets once in a while. Even the expert bettors lose many of their bets and have margins of around 5%. Visit APWin to learn more about this topic and other helpful information related to sports betting and football statistics.
