5 mistakes people often make when betting on football
Betting on football sounds easier than it is. You may think that it is enough if you have the necessary football knowledge. And okay, a little guts is also useful. But if those are the only two factors you rely on, chances are your life as a football bettor will turn out to be a disappointing experience. You also have to think strategically in order to get the most out of your bets. An important part of that strategic thinking is awareness of possible mistakes. There are a number of mistakes that keep coming back to football betting. As long as you are aware of this, you can easily avoid these mistakes. So sit down and get ready for the top 5 most common football betting mistakes!
Mistake 1: Forgetting to spread your gambling budget neatly
See a bet you just can’t pass up? One where the odds are quite high when you really think you can win that bet? Then it is tempting to bet a lot of money. Perhaps a large part of your total bankroll will immediately go to that one bet. That can of course be beneficial. If your forecast comes true, your weekly or monthly budget will yield quite a profit in one fell swoop. But there’s a good chance that this way of playing will go wrong. And then you’ll soon be in trouble. Because suppose you have a weekly budget of 100 euros. When you spend this entire amount on one bet, you are simply taking a huge risk. Football matches regularly deliver surprises, so even a ‘certain’ bet is not so sure.
When you bet your entire bankroll on one or two bets, you can lose your entire betting budget instantly. Then wait and see for the rest of the week without placing an extra bet (and possibly losing more money than you can actually lose). So the motto is to spread out! By spreading out you have to sidetrack your dream of that one big financial hit. But in the long run, this strategy will give you the most profit. Or rather: you protect yourself against major losses. Spreading is only one part of what we know in the gambling world as bankroll management. Poor bankroll management is disastrous for any football bettor. So make sure you make clear agreements with yourself when it comes to the financial side of betting. Determine a fixed monthly weekly or daily budget and divide that amount into small portions. You use those portions again to spread out properly. In this way you already have the financial side of gambling under control to a large extent.
Mistake 2: Ignoring your mind and listening to your emotions
In football betting you now and then act on instinct. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you don’t ignore the facts (and therefore the statistics). Yet it can happen that you get to a point where your feelings and your emotions take over your mind. And that’s where it gets dangerous.
With good bankroll management you basically have the financial side of gambling in order. At least on paper. Because when your emotions take over and your sensible decisions fade into the background, it can just happen that you bet more money than you intended. It is not only the financial decisions that can go wrong if you are guided by your emotions. Suddenly it seems attractive to go for that one bet with high odds. After all, you want to earn money from your football knowledge, so why not immediately go for the highest possible profit? Your mind tells you that the risk is far too great. But you haven’t listened to that mind for a long time.
When your emotions take over your mind, an important filter falls away. With all its consequences. That is why it is important not to bet if you have been drinking or you just feel bad. At times like that you are more sensitive to emotions, and that is disastrous when betting on football.
Mistake 3: keep playing to make up for losses
Even if you start an evening of football betting calmly and in a controlled manner, the atmosphere can change. You lose your first bet and the second won’t bring you the profit you hoped for. After the third lost bet in a row, your frustration starts to mount. You’ve lost all the necessary money without earning a cent back. You have the feeling that there is only one thing left to do: keep playing until you have compensated for those losses.
A wise move? Certainly not! If you notice that the betting is not going so well, you have to muster the strength to distance yourself. Stop betting and accept that you have lost. There are still many days to come when you can make new bets that might bring you more luck. Trying to offset losses is always a bad idea. In that situation, the chance that you will keep the focus and keep thinking carefully is very small. Probably only more and more losses will follow. Always remember that you don’t necessarily have to end a day winning. The trick is to keep a long-term view and accept that bad days are part of it. You will make up for those lost bets after a while.
Mistake 4: betting without any kind of strategy
You undoubtedly have a good portion of football knowledge. Good, because with that you already meet an important requirement to become successful as a football bettor. That knowledge is of little use if you then start betting haphazardly and without any form of strategy.
Football betting without strategy can be compared to a game of roulette in the casino. You bet your money on an outcome that feels best at the time, but you forget to be in control. As a result, it can go either way with your bet. Winning or losing seems to be purely a matter of luck or bad luck, just like at the roulette table. However, you must realize that betting on football is not 100% a game of chance. Of course, it all has to be a bit of luck if you want to win the bet. But unlike with roulette, you do have the necessary influence on the game. By sticking to your own strategy, you have even more grip when you start betting. As a result, the chances of winning increase automatically. Can you see yourself sitting in front of the computer for hours looking for the perfect betting strategy? That is absolutely not necessary. A strategy does not have to be a very complicated plan. It is much more important that you make some clear agreements with yourself. For example, determine what kind of competitions and bets you are targeting or how high the odds can be to keep the risk somewhat under control. Or maybe you default to a match where there is a clear favorite on the field, simply because otherwise the match becomes too unpredictable. Do you choose never to place a live bet in the first half, but to wait until you know what the situation is after the break? This may just be a sensible strategy to win your live bets.
Mistake 5: You lose in high odds
He who does not honor the small, has not withdrawn the great… You may not be very enthusiastic about this proverb, because you have come to make a lot of profit. A nice thought, but in practice football betting does not work that way. It is wise to build up your profit slowly and sometimes settle for less than you had hoped beforehand.
Inexperienced football bettors can easily get lost in all those high odds that are online. Admittedly, it’s also hard to turn down a bet where you get back seven or even ten times your stake. However, you will only lose money in the long run if you are tempted by all kinds of high odds. This applies to both single bets and combi bets. With those combo bets you are sometimes tempted to add an extra prediction to further increase the potential winning amount. But when you’re so focused on odds and making a profit, you lose sight of the risks. Because how realistic is it actually to win a bet with odds of 7.00? It is certainly not impossible, although statistically speaking, you are much more likely to lose the bet. Who plays wisely, will settle for less. Ultimately, this strategy pays off on its own.