Why You Should “Paper Wager” Before Betting For Real

In the investing world, traders talk about “paper trading” before trading live with real money.  Paper trading is essentially just what it sounds like.  Traders “follow along” with live trading on paper, keeping track of their imaginary wins and losses.  The goal is to replicate the live experience as well as possible without risking real money.  Just as investors “paper trade,” you should “paper wager” before you wager live. 

Some betting sites will actually allow you to do this on their site with a demo account.  The demo account allows you a chance to test drive their betting software, get a feel for the features, and see how your betting strategies would perform in real life.  If your UK betting site provides you with this opportunity, by all means, take it.  Oftentimes these demo accounts are restricted, though, and you can only place X bets or wager for Y amount of time before you have to switch over to a live account.

If this is the case, keep on wagering “on paper” until you know that you have your betting strategies down and you have demonstrated to yourself that they are going to work.  Why not just do this using historical data?  Here are a couple of reasons:

• The historical performance of players and teams certainly has a bearing on their future performance.  You probably are using historical data to help you predict future results.  But things do change, and you want to see how your strategies would perform now.

• Your own real life is unpredictable.  It is easy to think when you are looking at historical data how you could have used your strategies to win in years past.  But what about real-life scheduling factors like work and sleep which you may not have accounted for?  Betting “on paper” helps you learn how to schedule betting around your other life activities.  This is especially important if your strategies are designed for betting in-play. 

• Get a rein on your emotions.  Many sports bettors are surprised by how much their emotions impact their performance when they first start betting live.  Betting on paper without wagering real money is a smart idea until you start to get used to it.  You can feel very anxious while you are waiting to learn the outcome of a wager, or trying to decide whether to enter into one.  You will still be dealing with new challenging emotions when you start betting with real money, but at least you will have learned how to deal with some of them.

It is always a really good idea to wager on paper before you start putting real money on the line.  In fact, it is a vital part of your training as a sports bettor.  Bettors who skip this step pay for it in real money.  Often times, they are paying as much for their impatience as for their lack of experience.  Be patient and cautious, test before you wager for real, and you will reap the rewards.