9 Most Common Sports Betting Habits to Avoid
Even the most successful bettors have trouble escaping their bad habits. However, the difference between professionals and most bettors is that they are aware of these habits. And when these problematic behaviours return, they’ll immediately gain control over them so that these habits won’t become a problem. If you’ve been betting for a while, likely, you’ve also developed some unhealthy behaviours or bad habits along the way.
We’ll be looking at the most common sports betting habits that might become a big problem for every bettor. These habits and behaviours all have one thing in common - they can be easy to fall into and may become costly if you don’t identify and fix them soon enough. Let’s look at the sports betting habits you should avoid.
9. Bet Without a Plan
If you don’t know what you’re trying to do as a bettor, then you’re just wandering in the middle of nowhere without direction. You can set any goals and of any size. Starting from as small as betting on major sporting events like the Spanish La Liga to something as grand as “winning enough money so you can quit your job and bet for a living!”
Without a goal, you’re just wasting money on sports betting sites without knowing when you should cash out. And more importantly, when to stop adding funds to your betting account.
8. Believe Your Own Hype
Every bettor usually has an ego. They need this ego to make riskier bets and believe they’re smart enough to beat the sportsbooks and most bettors. When you have successful bets, then it's great. But the problem is when your ego is easily inflated. If you’ve experienced success and produced some profit, then it’s easy to believe you can't lose. This could mean you’re taking the risk of not having a bankroll or bet without any actual sports betting knowledge.
Bettors must remember that they are only as good as their next successful bet and every winning streak you have may also lead to the next losing streak. If you lack that self-awareness or misplace it for a while, you’ll likely get in trouble when betting on sports.
7. Finding Shortcuts
Once bettors have been betting for a while and enjoy the success, they start cutting corners to make the process easier. And this may lead to spending less time doing the necessary research or watching matches.
The problem with not following your trusted method is that you no longer follow the winning strategy that worked before. Getting lazy will drive you out of your previous successful bets.
6. Blaming Other Bettors for Your Losses
Your mate loves to bet and you ask him whom he likes. You scroll through Twitter for the hottest picks. You visit forums to look for sports betting tips and finally settle on your choice with the best chance of winning. Then, when you’re wrong and your pick loses, you blame others instead of yourself!
This is sinful behaviour in sports betting. Blaming others will lead you down a dangerous path of putting bets against your better judgment. Instead, you should determine what went wrong so you won’t repeat the same mistake in the future. So pick a bet and stick to it based on your own decisions.
5. Fail to Embrace Change
The sports betting space is constantly changing and advancing. There are always new betting options and you can always find new information to help you understand and interpret the games. With the information available nowadays, bettors are becoming more intelligent and bet on sports that bookies don’t know much about.
Bettors can also cash out when results aren’t going their way. Bettors who fail to innovate and take advantage of all the options will lose ground against the bookies and the profits will eventually decrease.
4. Chasing Losses
Let's say you’ve lost a bet you were sure would win and cost you $100. This leads you to decide that the best thing you can do is to get back that $100 quickly to make up for the loss. And in the following week, you’ve calculated that your new bet has an even better winning chance, so you bet high with the hope of recouping the losses from the previous week.
As nothing is guaranteed, you’ll face the possibility of going completely broke if the bet doesn’t go as expected. You may lose even more money because you’re chasing the losses. This might work once in a while, but it won’t work every time. You’re embracing a high-risk strategy this way and eventually ending up broke - and a broke bettor can’t place bets and win money, so stay away from chasing losses.
3. Following the Crowd
The majority of bettors are almost always wrong. Instead, you should take any opportunity to bet against the crowd. If you counter this habit early on, it can positively affect the future of your betting career.
This strategy is also known as “fading the public.” The public loves to focus on the winner and wants to be part of the winning circle, with the media inflating this view. The public doesn’t do research like serious bettors like you do. So there’s a better chance you’ll pick a bet with more value than what the crowd is going with.
2. Making Too Many Bets
Effective bettors only bet when they know a bet is worth taking. In other words, if a bet doesn’t seem to have a positive expected value, it's best to avoid it. This means that you might place more bets in some weeks than others.
Take a game of poker, for example. The ones who fold their bad hands make more money. Passing up bad sports bets is just like bad hands in poker. You’ll have a much better winning chance by increasing the amount you bet on fewer bets that you’re more confident with. Spreading your bets may seem like a logical strategy, but you’ll need to win almost all of them to produce any profit.
1. Only Bet on the Same Teams or Sports
Some bettors only bet on specific teams, championships or sports, while others only place bets on live betting. These bettors do this because it's the only thing they know and it's what they’re comfortable with. Unless you’ve done your research and know that these teams or leagues offer the best betting opportunities for your interest and skills, you might be missing out.
It could be that other conferences or leagues offer way better value as the media doesn’t focus on them. As previously mentioned, failing to innovate and trying different teams and sports may be counterproductive to your overall profits.
A good example is during the 2015/16 football season, where people were betting on the English Premier League favourites Chelsea FC. They had their hopes up high and placed subsequent bets on the blues, only to get trashed due to the club losing game after game. On the other hand, innovative bettors bet on Leicester City FC as the team was favoured for relegation and won match after match. Therefore, they have outsmarted the bookies, which led to increased profits.
Avoiding Problematic Sports Betting Behaviours
While we’ve listed some bad habits you can overcome, it's not that simple for others. The worst reason to bet is when specific needs drive it. For example, some people would take their last money to the betting table to earn more, leading to even more financial difficulties. This is usually observed in people who have a betting addiction.
Some people suffer from disassociation and would bet their life away instead of facing reality. These are the ones who usually lose it all. They tend to avoid activities essential for their lives, like work or studies.
While entering the betting world comes with these risks, it's crucial to prepare your mind before you get into it. Preparing your bankroll and setting a budget is the best thing to start with. You can select a daily, weekly or monthly budget. But what’s more important is to only bet with money you can afford to lose.
Indeed, you might have heard success stories where people got lucky by betting with the last of their resources, but this doesn’t happen too often. Always consider the risks of spending more than you should.
We suggest you keep a separate betting account if you want to bet a lot. This can help you monitor your spending and help you stop when needed. It's important to control how much you spend as you’ll want to avoid getting more money from your primary bankroll to keep on betting.
Lastly, if you’re spending more than you should and problems are starting to emerge within your family or workplace, don’t hesitate to find help. Many online bookies will be happy to offer you solutions to this. You just need to admit your problems and ask for professional help.
