If you’re new to sports betting, then you’ve come to the right place to get all of the best tips on how to do it. We’ve built this guide so that you can learn about these pieces of advice to help you advance your gambling skills. Even if you never placed a single sports bet in your life, these tips will help you learn some of the most important things from the get-go.
On this page, we’re going to showcase our top tips for beginning sports bettors. By reviewing these recommendations, you’ll have a solid idea on how you can jumpstart your sports betting adventures in an informed manner. In turn, that will help you make better betting decisions as you get things started. Many of us on staff here wish that we had read something like this before we got started. Luckily for you, you’re here, and you’ll benefit significantly from the knowledge contained below.
For those of you that are brand new, we’d urge you to read this page in its entirety so that you get the full benefit. However, if you’re pressed for time, and you’d like to see a particular tip, we’ve included links below where you can jump to a specific section. Simply click on the one you’re interested in, and you’ll skip right to that section below.
Tip #1: Start Slowly
Our number-one tip for beginning sports bettors is to make sure that you start slowly. Understandably, you may be chomping at the bit with excitement to get things started. Trust us; we’ve been there before, too. However, it’s important that you pump the brakes a bit to make sure that you don’t dive in too quickly.
Instead of diving in head-first and making a ton of bets without much knowledge or experience, you’ll want to dip a toe in. By taking a step back, you can increase your chances of winning by learning the basics of sports betting, which is our next tip below.
Tip #2: Learn the Basics
As with many things, it’s essential that you walk before you run. This is especially true with sports betting. For those of you that are new to it, it’s a good idea to take the time to learn the basics before you get too deep into it. By understanding the basics, you’ll make better-informed betting decisions.
Lucky for you, we’ve developed several guides geared towards beginning sports bettors. Below, you’ll find links to our top three that are perfect for you if you’re new. Up first, you’ll have access to our beginner’s guide to sports betting. It’s here that we’ll help you understand the basic building blocks of betting on sports. After that, you should head on over to our getting started page. In this guide, we’ll help you apply the basics that you learned and how to use them to begin betting on sports. Lastly, you can visit the sports betting guide below.
While research takes time, it’s well worth it in our opinion. With just a small investment of your time, you’ll be making betting choices with a solid base of knowledge instead of betting as an uninformed beginner.
Tip #3: Have Realistic Expectations
If you’re already planning your exit from your day job because you think that you’re going to make it big with sports betting, you should put a kibosh on that. We hate to break it to you, but the chances are low that you’re going to be able to make a living off of betting on sports. That’s not to say that you can’t make money, but you’ll be hard pressed to make enough that you’ll be able to live off of your betting earnings.
There are professional sports bettors out there that do make their living off of gambling. However, there’s not a ton of them, and even they still lose quite often. Even the best sports bettors still lose their bets 40%-45% of the time.
For you, it’s essential to have the right expectations from the start. Betting on sports can be fun, and it can be profitable. However, for you to make money, you’ll need to become a knowledgeable and disciplined sports bettor. You’re off to a good start by checking out this list of top tips, but this is just the beginning. You’ll have to remember to keep your expectations realistic for the life of your sports betting adventures.
Tip #4: Bet with a Clear Mind
Our next tip for you is to make sure that you’re only betting on sports with real money when you have a clear mind. What we mean by this is that you should never bet when you’re under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Since you’ll be wagering your hard-earned dollars, you only want to do that when your mind is in tip-top shape.
Many folks end up betting on sports when they’ve been drinking. After all, having a drink and watching your favorite sporting events tend to go hand in hand for many individuals. However, we’d suggest that you get your wagers done before you start drinking so that you’re less likely to make poor betting decisions. Since alcohol and drugs impair your decision-making ability, it’s best not to bet on sports when you’re under the influence of anything. If you are under the influence, simply enjoy the sporting event and wait to gamble at a later time when your mind is in a clear state.
Tip #5: Develop a Bankroll Management Plan
Our next tip is an excellent one to use from day 1 of your sports betting career. Unfortunately, many folks don’t use a plan ever, or if they do, it’s much later than it should have been. The reason that a bankroll management plan is vital is that it helps you calculate exactly how much money you should bet for any given wager.
This idea might be an odd one if you’re brand new to betting on sports. Many of us on staff here began betting on sports without having one of these plans. Back then, we’d pick a figure from our head and make a bet. In many cases, individuals bet their entire bankroll in one single wager, which isn’t the best idea because if you lose the bet, then your entire bankroll is wiped out in one swoop.
While bankroll management plans can differ from one another, the general idea is the same for all of them. The goal of the plan is to help you extend your bankroll as long as possible by calculating the percentage of your bankroll used on a wager. Instead of risking it all at once, you’ll only risk a portion of your bankroll on each bet.
Tip #6: Sports That You Know Well
When you’re new to sports betting, it’s always a good idea to stick to betting on sports that you know well. By doing this, you’ll have a higher likelihood of making good betting decisions as opposed to betting on sports that you know little or nothing about. Better choices, in turn, should help you win more of your wagers.
It can be attractive to want to bet on tons of different sports when you’re brand new. When logging into an online sportsbook, seeing all of the potential betting action can really amp you up to want to place a lot of wagers. However, until you’ve got a good grip of sports betting on the sports that you know well, we’d advise you to hold off on betting on other sports until a later date.
Tip #7: Remain Disciplined
One of the hardest struggles when betting on sports is to remain disciplined. When it comes to sports, it’s very easy to allow your emotions to take over. This can be true for new sports bettors, but even experienced ones sometimes have trouble keeping their feelings in check.
In some instances, you’ll want to bet on your home team even when you shouldn’t. Many of us on staff have been there at one point or another. It’s tough to imagine not betting for your team, even when the numbers clearly state that your team is the underdog. However, it’s vital to keep in mind that the folks coming up with the odds are brilliant individuals who are making their decisions without any emotions attached. You too should do the same.
Conversely, some folks love to bet against their team’s arch-rival. While this can be a good idea when the team is an underdog, it’s not a good idea when the team is a strong favorite. It’s nice to see teams that you don’t care about lose. However, if you’re going to wager real money on it, make sure that it’s a sound bet that makes sense from a statistical standpoint. Otherwise, you’re just throwing away money.
If you find yourself struggling to keep your emotions in check, then try taking a step back from betting for a bit. By doing this, you’ll remove the possibility of placing wagers that you otherwise would not have made.
Tip #8: Keep Records
Another excellent idea for new sports bettors is to go ahead and establish a method for keeping records of your bets. If you can put this into practice from the outset of your betting career, you’ll be in much better shape than many sports bettors out there.
By keeping records, you’ll benefit from a couple of different things. First, it will allow you to track your bankroll. Let’s say that you start with $100, and then you have some success and win a few wagers. Without keeping clean records, you might not have an idea that your betting bankroll has increased. If you’ve implemented a bankroll management plan as suggested in tip #5, then keeping records will be vital to the success of your plan.
Along with helping you keep track of your bankroll, using records can also allow you to view your betting record over time. This is excellent, especially if you’ve been trying different betting strategies. Using your recorded data, you can analyze what’s worked in the past for you and what hasn’t. This type of data can then help you improve your betting in the future.
To keep records, there are two main ways to go about it. The best way is to use a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel. This is the go-to way that many of us on staff here track our betting records. If Excel isn’t for you, then consider using a notepad to record your data. No matter which one you decide to use, make sure that you remain consistent with it so that your data is always accurate and up to date.
Tip #9: Find a Trusted Betting Site
As you begin to look into things, you’ll find that there is no shortage of online betting sites out there ready to accept your wagers. However, it’s crucial that you find a trusted one to work with so that you don’t end up risking your money or your private data on a less than trustworthy site. The good news is that with just a little bit of research, you can locate a trusted place to do all of your sports betting.
Here, we’ve assembled two main pages to help you in your quest to find a trusted online sportsbook. Below, you’ll see a link to our top picks for online betting sites. We’ve combed the internet with the goal of finding only the best of the best in the industry. Each of the sites listed on this page is top-notch and is a secure place for you to do your betting.
You’ll also see a link below to our page comprised of our blacklisted websites. This page contains all of the sites that we don’t trust in the industry. Each of these online sportsbooks should be avoided so that you can protect yourself and your hard-earned dollars.
Tip #10: Don’t Pay for Picks
Our final tip for you is to not pay for any sports betting picks. With life being so busy between work and family, we understand the urge for folks that want to buy picks and tips from others. In an ideal world, it would be nice to do this and save time so that you can tend to the other things pulling at you in life. However, the issue is that many people selling picks and tips are fraudsters or just no good at what they do. Therefore, you may end up wasting cash on worthless recommendations.
Don’t get us wrong; there are some excellent tipsters and services out there. That being said, they are few and far between. As a beginner, you should focus on learning how to bet yourself instead of relying on others to help you do it for you. As you become more advanced at sports betting, then you might research the possibility of buying picks at a later date. For now, save yourself the cash and avoid the potential of getting ripped off.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now feel like you’re better equipped to begin your sports betting adventures thanks to our list of top picks. If this is your first time visiting our website, take a few moments to check out some of the other excellent resources that we have to provide. We’ve built this website with the goal of helping gamblers of all levels get the most out of their betting. Using the menu above, you can access sportsbook reviews, detailed betting guides, and much more. Thanks for stopping by, and good luck in your future bets!