The new season is in full swing and many people will want to bet either for fun or to earn something out of it. They feel they now have some understanding of most of the teams and can place their bets.

There are some things you should understand if you want to be a successful bettor. Following it will help minimize your loss and ensure you make profit at the long run.

Source

Your bankroll

Having certain amount of money set aside for the betting season is the first thing you should do. Do you want to set aside $1000 or $500 for the new season. This means win or loss, there will be no addition elsewhere. A mistake that most new bettors make is not setting aside their betting fund. They only deposit money from their bank account every matchday. If they win, they cash out and repeat, if they lose, they repeat the same process. This is not best practice. You need to define your bankroll, this will help you manage it well and reduce losses.

Bankroll management

This is a must for any would-be or already-be bettor. Betting is a game of probability. A team having 95% probability of winning might end up losing. There is a 5% away win/draw probability remaining that can play out anytime. You don't want to gnash your teeth and start blaming the player that missed the penalty or cursing your luck. You don't start saying stuffs like betting is not for you or you are naturally cursed by god of betting.

Have a staking plan that you follow strictly. You need to think and stake in units. Each unit you assign to a particular game should be equal to your confidence level. That's like Xunit(s) === confidence level. Your stake on Manchester City beating Aston villa will be different from Arsenal beating Chelsea.

Have a staking plan and follow it strictly. It's very easy to say but tough to implement. I urge you to do the following before placing any bet. Once you select the desired market and about to confirm your bet.

  • Breathe in breathe out
  • Go back and check your bet Account balance
  • Come back and confirm the bet.

The gist here is that by doing the above, you would have come back to your senses and realized that the stake is too huge, the bet is nonsense, you remember list of things you can do with the potential stake amount. When you realise these things, you have a change of mind and modify the bet. Doing that for some time will let you get familiar with bankroll management and improve you as a bettor.

Managing your bankroll well will make you keep going in bad times and let you pick up when you start winning again. You can be on a 11 games winning streak and lose all in just 1 match with a poor bankroll management.

Never chase your loss

This is a common statement you hear every now and then but you still see people doing it. Chasing your loss will only see you going deep in loss. Let's take for example your intention was to place just 6 bets today. Unfortunately, you lost 4 out of the 6 matches and currently on a negative ROI of -20%.

You start thinking of recovering the loss that same day and you saw that Barcelona will face Osasuna in the evening. Perfect match for you to recoup your loss you think. You now go gung-ho on the match with the hope of recovering the loss. Don't try that. You might be lucky today or unlucky. You need to see betting as a long term success and not daily or game week success.

What I do advise new bettors to do whenever they lose a bet and get tempted to recover their loss is taking a stroll. Switch off your device and take a stroll outside. Go watch a football game or see a friend. It will take the thought off you.

Bet what you can afford

This is another mistake most would-be bettors make. You see people saying they want to double their bankroll in order to pay off their debts, buy the new iPhone 11, or complete their tuition fees. This will naturally lead to greediness. You want to reach the desired amount in the shortest possible time. They are the types of users that gnash their teeth, regret, curse, and aggressive once they lose. It will lead them to chase their loss and lose everything at the end of the day.

Your bankroll should be your spare money. The money you can afford to lose and won't have much regret.

Emotions

Let go of emotions when placing bets. You have to be realistic everytime. Don't place bet because of your love for a certain player or team. I am an Arsenal fan but won't let my love for the club cloud my judgement. Club love and betting are two different entities.

I know it's crazy when you pick Manchester city to beat Manchester united and you are a Manchester united fan. You still have to watch the ball with other fans and pretend you are happy when Manchester united is leading meanwhile deep down inside you is filled with sadness. If you can't handle the emotion aspect, my advice for you is to steer clear of Betting on your favourite teams.

You just go and enjoy the game without any extra emotion.

I hope this write-up help you in your betting journey.