Betting guide

Recently I wrote an article about what you should look for in online betting site promotions. In that article, I mentioned that some websites offer a number of different types of bonuses. One of those types is what is known as a "free bet." What is a free bet and how does it work?

If you have been looking for a way to conserve time and energy while you are wagering on british betting sites, you may have started looking into sports betting bots.  These are automated programs which provide you with alerts and/or place bets on your behalf on an ongoing basis.  Generally speaking, most sports betting bots are sold by experienced punters who have programmed them with their own betting systems.  But what if you want to create a bot which utilises your own betting strategies?  That is

There is an interesting psychological phenomenon which is sometimes observed in people who are facing win-or-lose situations.  If the possibility of loss becomes imminent or even seems imminent, people experience what is known as “loss aversion” and change how they behave.

If you play or watch sports, you probably have observed this.  For example:

If you dream of becoming a profitable sports bettor, one of the first steps is to learn how to set intelligent goals.  You may think that comes later, but if you put off goal setting too long, you risk setting yourself up for failure.  Why?  When all you have are dreams of success, they tend to remain just that - dreams. 

In Tips for Setting Goals, Part 1, I gave some advice for setting your sports betting goals, including:

Have you ever noticed that sometimes a player on a losing streak will make a sudden turnaround?  They will actually start performing better than they have for weeks?  This sometimes happens with teams as well—though not as often.  Losses seem to be more demoralising for groups.  But sometimes even a team will suddenly give an extra push.  When this happens, it clearly isn’t a fluke - it’s a concentrated effort. 

If you are just beginning your journey into the world of sports betting, you have a long road to walk if you want to join the sharps.  Even if you become good enough to join the pros, you will probably only have a win percentage hovering between 55-60%.  You will have to fight for every percentage.  That is how hard it is to succeed at punting.

With such a long journey ahead, how do you set useful goals which will help you succeed?  Here are some tips.

If you are trying to build a career as a punter, you hopefully have a spreadsheet where you track your wins and losses. Whether you are testing or betting live with real money, you need to keep an eye on a number of key statistics to evaluate the performance of your betting techniques:

• Win percentage
• Win/loss ratio
• Average win size
• Average loss size
• Total number of wins
• Total number of losses
• Net profit (adjusted for fees and spreads)
• SOL Quotient

In the world of sports betting, you will encounter several common attitudes towards betting systems:

• Who needs a system?  Go with your gut.
• You need a system, but if you want to prove you are a real expert, you need to create one yourself.
• Why reinvent the wheel?  You need a system, but you may as well just borrow one from someone else.

You have probably discovered that most uk sports betting sites now offer full mobile access and a rich suite of betting features you can take advantage of anytime, anywhere.  Depending on your disposition (and the technology you own), you may immediately see the appeal of wagering on sports using your mobile device. 

Do you have a system for betting on sports?  If the answer is “no,” please see the article, “Why Don’t You Have a Betting System?” to understand why you should consider having one.