In 2021, over 18 million Americans placed up to 78% of sports wagers online at a retail sportsbook or with a bookie. Betting is a fun way to make money and try your luck at anything you’re good at, especially sports. Most sports are easy to predict simply by gauging a team’s past performances. However, at the same time, you can also make a miscalculation and end up losing way more than you bargained for.
While betting is excellent for entertainment purposes, it’s best not to test your luck to the limit when you have no substantial experience. However, knowing a few tips and tricks can help you cash in way more, whether you’re new or have been placing wagers for some time. To help you win and securely place bets, here’s what you should do:
Look at the betting market
When you are about to place your wage, it’s always a good idea to visit the market and see what the consensus is. This is a breakdown of all the bets placed on a team, event, or sport expressed as a percentage. So if there are 100 betters and about 30 of them vote for team A, this will be represented as Team A 30%. You can go online and quickly check the public’s opinion on betting. This trick is helpful while waging in major sports events like the National Hockey League. In 2021 about 2.43 million Americans tuned in to watch the Stanley Cup, making it betting heaven.
By going online, you can pick up what the consensus is, and if you’re curious about how the public is reacting to the market, scroll over to their betting percentages while using USLeaguesBetting, and gauge what the public is waging per team to make an informed choice. Instead of going with mainstream trends, you can extract these numbers, match them according to past performances, check what sporting vendors predict, and place your bet. Keep in mind that having a high percentage as a public consensus is meaningless unless it’s coming from an inside source.
Learn the vocabulary
Betting has a specific language. You can’t simply say you want to bet or put your money on team X or Horse W. You need to know the exact terms, crucial roles, and placing a bet. Bear in mind that while you’re out to make money, at the same time, some players wish to out bet you. Until you learn the vocabulary that teaches you the ins and outs of betting, you may get cheated out of making money. Some common words you should know include:
- Bookmaker. Also referred to as a bookie, a bookmaker is a person who facilitates gambling mostly during sporting events. When placing a bet, you need to contact a bookmaker since they set odds, place and accept wagers, and collect money.
- Edge. An advantage you have over other betters.
- Odds. This measures how much you can win and how much you can bet per $100.
- Handle. The total amount wagered on a game.
When you’re learning the proper terminologies, it will also help if you brush up on your betting knowledge. Learn about the reliability of a website, the limits of betting you can place, the penalties you may have to face, and what happens when you lose. Once you know the rules and details of placing a wager, it becomes easier for you to make your bets. It also saves you from risking your position and losing too much money by making a wrong choice.
Stay informed
Placing a wager involves critical thinking and analysis. If you’re betting on a team, it’s not enough to pick a group based on your favorite players. Therefore, keeping yourself updated is part of the process. You should watch sporting games, read blogs, talk to other bettors and read analyses by bookies. Researching makes you more seasoned and prevents you from messing up when you place bets.
Simultaneously, it would help if you were selective about where you’re betting and what. No matter how popular an event may be, it may not be a potential win. In comparison, certain games may have too many bets, making the process longer and more complicated. So give yourself the space to read, comprehend and be picky about the events you wish to place your money.
Rein the money you spent
Spending $100 for the first time may not seem like much money. But it doesn’t take long for a hundred dollars to quickly become $10,000 if you’re not careful with your cash. Betting is fun. It can make you feel alive and also become highly addictive. But it’s harmful to your wallet if you don’t budget carefully. Your hard-earned money needs to get sorted properly.
First, decide on the achievable goals you wish to get out of placing your wager. Are you looking to make quick money or want to earn a high amount spread over a series of games? Having a clear idea of how you want to divide your money makes it easier to put it on several wagers. You also subside risk and don’t end up blowing all your savings in one place. The money you set aside can be for daily small scale bets, large annual stakes, or weekly wagers.
Always start small before you go big. The funds should also be disposable and not cash your family needs. When you get into the habit of using minute amounts and betting at low stakes with occasional high ones, you prevent an irreplaceable loss from occurring.
Conclusion
As long as you’re legally an adult, you can bet. Placing a wager can be exciting. You can witness your luck in motion and even test out your betting skills. But when it comes to high stakes and money, it’s always a good idea to play from an informed place instead of arbitrarily betting. Betting can be straightforward as long as you know what you’re doing.
While there are several tricks you can follow, the basics include knowing what the betting market holds, picking up the terms that give you an insight on placing a wager, choosing to stay informed, and ensuring you know how much to spend. Once you follow these rules, building on your newly acquired skills will be accessible.
