How to Bet Responsibly: Avoiding Common Mistakes in Football Predictions
Football betting, while entertaining, is a financially risky pastime– you can just as easily lose as much as you easily win. How much you win or lose will influence your entire experience, and unfortunately for some, they end up chasing the highs from a win even after encountering several losses. This is why you need to know how to bet responsibly.
A professional bettor knows that responsible betting is a solid part of their football betting strategy. Only weekend punters bet blindly on odds without having a bankroll management system or getting football prediction tips from the best prediction site out there. That is why this guide will walk you through avoiding betting mistakes and steps you need to take to bet responsibly.
What is Responsible Football Betting?
Responsible football betting is betting in a manner that doesn’t put your wellbeing or that of others at risk. It shows you know what the stakes are, you are disciplined and follow safe gambling measures. Safe gambling measures include taking periodic breaks from betting, making sure betting doesn’t affect your work or family life or bring you anxiety of any kind. Players who don’t follow these measures fall into some of the avoidable betting mistakes we will be discussing below.
Common Betting Mistakes
- Ignoring Bankroll Management: this is a common mistake among novice punters and the easiest to fall into. Proper bankroll management is the most important factor in responsible football betting. Punters who end up in debt and have their funds drained are those who go into betting without having a clear betting strategy or budget. People who don’t have bankroll management end up getting carried away and not realize they’ve used their life’s savings to bet. Betting is supposed to be an entertaining pastime, not a harmful vice.
- To prevent: set a specific amount of money aside, preferably in a separate account from your regular one. Depending on your strategy, you can choose to bet between 1-2% of your total bankroll on each game in the season and make sure you stick to it. To do this, you can implement betting limits offered by bookies or get a bankroll management app to help you. Remember, never bet money you can’t avoid to lose.
- Chasing losses: chasing loses is when a punter tries to recoup losses by placing larger bets in the hope of eventually having a big break that will cover up for all the previous losses. This is a very big mistake because placing more bets after encountering losses is never a guarantee for a win. The only thing you can be sure of from chasing losses is reckless betting and eventual frustration coming from large losses.
- To prevent: Understand that losing is inevitable in football betting and when you see you are on a losing streak, it is time to press pause on betting. When you take a break, you can reflect on where you went wrong and how you can do better. Again, before playing, have a betting strategy and stick to it.
- Betting with emotion instead of logic: football is a game of fiery passion while football betting is a game of cold, hard facts. Punters who end up losing are those who bet on odds with their hearts and not based on numbers. The fact that you have a favourite team or player doesn’t mean you should place money on them without checking the stats of their performance. Emotional betting will keep you blind to the failings of a team or player and lead to a string of losses.
- To prevent: do a proper research on the team or player’s statistics before betting on them. Separate your loyalty and other personal biases from betting on any team.
- Betting on too many games: while accumulators are a great way of winning big, it will be a mistake for rookie punters to start with it. Though it may look like you’re increasing your chances of winning, when you bet on too many games, you will not be able to properly research the games and most likely end up betting on bad odds.
- To prevent: stick to a betting market you know well. Don’t go betting on games and markets you don’t have enough information on. In essence, focus on quality and not quantity.
How to Avoid Losing Money in Football Betting
While the best of football punters lose money, what distinguishes them is that their losses are not frequent and they make smart bets. You can also avoid losing your money by following the next steps:
- Do your research: this is perhaps one of the best betting tips for beginners.
- Compare odds
- Stay calm after a loss
- Bet sober and with a free mind
You Can Only Win when you Bet Responsibly
Responsible betting should be a part of everyone’s betting strategy. This will ensure you don’t lose money while keeping your experience entertaining. If you’re ready to start making smart bets and winning more with expert insights and statistics, subscribe today.