5 Ways to Reduce Your Risk Exposure
In our previous instalment, Choosing a Healthy Attitude Toward Risk, we talked about why it is important to cultivate a smart mindset when you are putting your money on the line. With sports betting, you cannot entirely avoid risk, so being totally risk-averse will not help you win. But you do not want to be a risk-seeker either; you want to cultivate habits of moderation, and curb the risks you can eliminate. Here are some simple ways to reduce your risk exposure when you bet online:
- Use a money management plan.
Choose a conservative percentage of your bankroll to bet each time (something around 3% is reasonable), and then stick with it and stay consistent. Do not arbitrarily change your risk when you feel more or less confident. Instead, bet only when you do feel genuinely confident!
- Work on your betting strategy.
Make betting decisions with a solid basis behind them only, and avoid taking bets because they “feel right.” Leave your emotions at the door and instead focus on opportunities that have a genuine likelihood of making you good money based on the past performance of your betting system. There are hundreds of free strategies out there, and you can customize any betting method to your needs. When you make smart choices based on strategic rules, you reduce uncertainty and profit off of patterns. This reduces your risk exposure, whereas betting randomly or on instinct increases it.
- Avoid bonuses unless you know what you are doing.
Bonuses can be awesome, but they do increase your risk exposure, which is something you need to be aware of before you bet using them. There is always an associated turnover requirement set by your online betting site. Make sure you know what that volume is before you accept the bonus and use it. It is not technically your money until you earn it by meeting the turnover requirement. Until then, it is essentially leverage. Yes, that means you can win more faster—but it also means you can lose more faster, which means you are increasing your risk!
- Do not bet live with real money until you are sure you are ready.
One great thing about online betting is that it is easy to follow along with games and matches without actually putting your money on the line. Why would you want to do that? Because it is the best way to gauge your own skills before you put them to the test. Calculate the odds and whether you would have won or lost a given bet. Do this again and again, and keep a spreadsheet tallying the results. Wait until you are consistently “winning” on paper before you start betting with real money.
- Choose an online betting site you can trust.
There is more than one way risk can enter into your life when you are betting online. Bad betting habits can certainly increase your risk exposure, but so can betting with a bad site. There are a lot of reputable betting sites, but not all sites are on the up-and-up, so be sure to do your research before you send your money to a company online. Check out our recommended betting sites to choose a bookie who is going to do you right. We suggest signing up with several, so that you can shop the odds and drop your risk even more with each bet.
Risk may not be something you can entirely keep away from, but it is the punters who do everything they can to avoid taking unnecessary risks that succeed. Bet with a strong strategy in place, use smart money management techniques, avoid bonuses unless you can fit them into your money management plan, and choose a reputable betting site. Don’t actually bet with real money until you know you have a real shot at success. Stick with those tips and you have a great chance of doing well as a punter!