PROVIDING YOU WITH ALL THE BEST BETS
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Whether you’re betting on-track, visiting a bookmaker’s shop or logging into some of the most popular, best betting sites UK, where punters can access a host of free bets and sign ups, it makes sense to have some thoughts about how you place your bets. After all, if you have a kind of strategy, then you can approach your gambling on a logical basis, rather than an irrational or emotional one, and that’s half the battle won there. But how can you make better, wiser, bets? Today, we are going to look at some of the ways that you can do just that. Read on to find out more.
Know the odds, find the value
If you’re taking part in sports betting, then you will need to know what it is that you are getting into. This means that, first off, you need to know what the odds are. In the UK, fractional odds are the most common. So, if you place a bet at 2/1, that means that if you £10 and your selection wins, then you will get £20 back in winnings, plus your £10 bet for a total of £30. While there is a good chance that you knew that already, what you may not know is that fractional odds represent the probability of a bet being successful. If we go back to those 2/1 odds, that means that there is a probability the pick will win one time and lose twice if the same contest happens three times, so it has a likelihood of 33.3 per cent. Meanwhile, odds of 5/2 mean that the pick should win twice and lose five times if the same contest happens seven times. This means that it has a probability of 28.6 per cent. If you know this, you can start to look for value. Value isn’t always about what the most likely result is, but it is the result where the percentage chance of it happening is better than the one implied in the odds. While you won’t win every time, because no bettor does, a lot of professional gamblers love the idea of value, because it can be very profitable with time, patience and luck. And remember that value doesn’t really apply to casino games like roulette, blackjack, or slot machines. This is because the house always has an edge on every outcome, while a sports book can only have an overall edge if you bet until you reach the overround, or the total odds percentage implied in the events overall bets.
Specialise, don’t generalise
If you were playing a trivia quiz for money and you were given the choice of a topic you knew a fair bit about or one you didn’t know anything about, you’d choose the first one, right? Well, the same sort of thing applies to betting and gambling. It is far better to be a specialist than to be a generalist. If you study something, and you understand something pretty well, that can give you an advantage over a bookmaker. To put it simply, a bookie has to offer odds about everything, but you don’t have to bet on everything. So focus on the things that interest you and you know about. This will mean that you will be able to find what’s worth betting on and what isn’t a lot easier. Similarly, make sure you do your own research. Study the form and, in some cases, the trends so you can narrow your selections down and take advantage of the best odds available. The more knowledge you bring to your betting, the higher the likelihood of things turning out well.
Know what you’ve bet and what it means to you
Talking of research, it’s very helpful to keep a track of your bets. There is some specialist betting software, but you can equally use a spreadsheet or even an old-fashioned notebook. Whichever one you use, you can put down what you’ve bet on, whether it was a win or a loss, what sort of return you got back and what sort of bet it was. In the long term, you’ll have a large chunk of data and that is when patterns start to emerge. Once you’ve found the patterns, you can work out what sort of bets and odds work for you, and what ones don’t. In turn, this means that you can narrow yourself down to becoming the sort of ultra-specialist we talked about earlier and that, in turn, can help you become a cleverer and wiser gambler.
Shop around for the best odds
Betting is big business, with dozens of different bookmakers offering you all kinds of odds. This, again, can give you an advantage. It’s worth taking a look around when you want to bet, so you can find the bookie that offers the best odds. Talking about 2/1 and 5/2 again, you’d take the 5/2 bet over the 2/1 odds on the same thing, so knowing how to maximise any potential profit is crucial to becoming a smarter bettor.
Know when not to bet
There are times when you shouldn’t bet. If you are under the influence of alcohol, walk away. Similarly, if your emotions - either positive or negative - are very strong, then you should avoid betting until you feel more rational. Similarly, you should only bet what you can afford to lose and never chase your losses. A smart bettor knows when not to bet and to either accept their losses or take their winnings. Follow that advice, and you’re on your way to becoming a wise bettor.