Just like stockbrokers need experience and skill to make the right decisions at the right time, expert sports bettors do the same by implementing their own betting strategies and following them whenever they place a bet on their favorite betting sites, such as those at Betting Sites Ranking.
Here, our UEFA bets expert highlights some top tips that may see you moving from a rookie who loses money to a specialist winning a fortune.
1. Start with a sensible betting bankroll
Unless you start with a betting bankroll that can soak up losses, you can’t make real money. If, for example, you’re going to bet in units, with 1 unit of average bet, a bankroll of at least 50 units is what we would recommend.
For example, if you can afford a bankroll of €1,000, 20 will be your average unit. Yes, it isn’t too big, and you might want to be a high roller; however, with an intelligent staking plan and consistent value recognition, a €1,000 bankroll can turn into a big amount in no time.
For instance, you bet 200 bets a year and they’re all of 1.90 odds. Further assume that you hit a strike rate of 54%. Now, with a fractional Kelly staking plan, your bankroll would be around €1100 (based on your winning consistency that should even out over the long term). You might ask, “well, that’s a profit of only 100 over a year?” But that’s for placing only 200 bets per year, with an average return per bet of 2.6%.
Suppose you bet 400 bets in a year and get a modest average return of 5%. At the end of the 400 bets, that €1000 bankroll would turn into around €1400. At the end of 5 years, the bankroll will be around €5000; and after 10 years, it’ll surge to €30,000 with 600 average units.
This isn’t too bad, right? However, getting a consistent 5% return is difficult, and grinding it out until you build that bank up over multiple years is also challenging. But don’t go into the details, we’re here to show how starting out modest with a viable staking and bankroll plan can transform into genuine profits in the long term.
Everything is not about value though – the ability to manage your money properly is extremely important too. There are two main goals of money management, and both contradict themselves partially: growing your bankroll fast while ensuring you don’t get bankrupt.
If you find value frequently, your bankroll will continue to amplify as you stake more money per bet. But if you stake a lot per bet, there’s a risk of bankruptcy. Unfortunately, most people underestimate this aspect. The random swings can be harsh even if you place value bets mostly. But handling it isn’t too difficult. How? Never stake over 1-2% of your bankroll on a bet.
If you can predict your actual value, you can use the Kelly formula to make the most of your edge and stake efficiently.
2. Have a long-term sensibility
Start thinking long-term if you take your betting seriously. Build your betting bankroll, slightly increase the amount you bet on every game, and soon, you’ll be making some decent money. If you stick with it, there’s a chance you can make a living wage out of betting live.
But always keep in mind that betting isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Your bankroll will grow, but it’ll take time. However, if you’re successful and patient, the effect of compound interest will support you. Yes, the initial, painful slow growth will start picking up the pace before you even know it.
You’ll have to deal with winning streaks, losing streaks, and more swings, which may make the curve less smooth and need a lot more bets. But the general dynamic holds true – you can get quite far with a 5% value and that too in a short time. So, what are your waiting for? Go ahead and sign up for 1xBet, 1xBit, or Stake now!
3. Don’t hope for the big score
Teasers. Parlays. Multi-bets. Whatever you like to name them, know when and when not to bet them. Yes, they may promise a big payday or a big score, but unless you have located true value and have done your analysis, they’re a horrible way to bet.
Consider this example: you place a multi-bet of 4 legs and for every leg, you get a full price even money odds of 2. Thus, 16 will be the odds for that multi-bet. Here’s a real-life example: you’re offered 1.90 for ‘even money’ and the bookmaker will take out 5%. The odds for that same 4 leg multi-bet would be just 13. This is taking out around 19% of the full price of that bet.
However, if you have located the true value, then multi-bets can help multiply the value into every leg. But locating true value is the issue. When people believe they’re finding value, they add a leg to a multi-bet. Nobody bets odds that don’t carry much value. However, finding true value is key otherwise you’ll decrease your likelihood of success with every under-valued leg you add.
4. Don’t celebrate for too long and stop dwelling on the past
A recent losing run may throw you off your game, but don’t let this happen. Stick with your analysis, don’t think about this losing streak, and have faith that the wheel will turn. Likewise, winning streaks in a live casino may sometimes give you false hope and you may 
end up overextending yourself. So, choose a casino like BetOnline, Betway, or William Hill, stick with your plan, and focus on your analysis.
5. Learn to fall in love with the ugly duckling
The longer we have been betting, the more we have learned to fall in love with the team that nobody supports. In fact, many bettors feel better when their bet looks uglier on paper. Yes, it sounds counter-intuitive but the less the general public supports a team, the more we like the look of them with respect to value. For example, a team that may have been performing well for a long time suddenly lost 5 of its matches wouldn’t excite the general public. While the general public will jump off them, their value will continue to increase.
6. Know how the best online gambling sites make the odds
While this depends upon the event’s popularity, the odds of a betting website will not be a reflection of the actual probabilities of either outcome, but more of what they anticipate the public to play. While this concept is difficult to grasp, the best betting sites will set their odds to draw betting on either side of the odds, so they take their commission by balancing their liability.
This allows professional bettors to find incredible value opportunities where the opinion of the general public is just plain wrong. It also means that good value can be found in events where there’s expected to be greater interest than normal by the casual or occasional bettor, who, honestly, doesn’t know much about profitable betting strategies.
If you want to place a successful bet, you should turn to a good bookmaker. You’ll need to look for bookmakers that help you win. But the sad part is that many bookmakers won’t and will ban or restrict their successful customers.
This is why planning for success can become difficult, as your winning would always remain fictional. However, some bookmakers don’t ban or limit their successful customers. One of the most popular bookmakers of this kind is 1xBet Turkmenistan and 1xBet Mongolia. To find more bookmakers like these, head on to Betting Sites Ranking.
The business model of these bookmakers is based on high volumes and low margins. This means they just want to witness as much action as possible, encouraged by a low bookmaker margin that leads to better odds for the bettors. These bookies accept winners because they can use that information to their advantage (for example, by making adjustments in the AFL lines), not to make the world a better place to live.
You should use betting exchanges. Since you bet against other customers (in contrast to a bookmaker) on the exchange, betting exchanges will never ban you for winning. Some betting exchanges are decent alternatives to bookmakers in terms of the bet sizes and odds available on major leagues and sports, even for professionals.
7. Understand basic mathematics
If you’re not a mathematics guy, you shouldn’t be a betting guy. While a lot of bettors may taste success on betting sites due to their instincts, an understanding of what the odds reflect with respect to probability and a viable staking plan is important to remain successful in the long term.
Simply put, betting is a numbers game, and you should at least understand multiplication and division.
8. Understand the concept of value
This is very critical. If you don’t have this, it’s better to walk away. While you may be certain that a 1.25 favorite in an NBA contest is going to win, are the NBA odds on offer providing any value?
Many casual gamblers say, “there’s no chance this team is going to lose this game.” They may be legitimate favorites, but is the likelihood of them defeating the other team better than the odds on offer? If you bet with this frame of mind, it’s like saying an over-priced TV was good value only because you really wanted it – it never works.
The concept of value is quite simple. However, most bettors fail to understand this. And maybe thankfully so, because it’s this ‘square’ or naïve money that can skew the market, leaving a lot of opportunities for a handful of gamblers who understand how to recognize the value.
Spotting value means that you’re able to spot odds that are extremely high, systematically and consistently – and can take advantage of those opportunities.
This isn’t different from successful trading with stocks. Buying a specific stock when it’s undervalued makes a lot of sense, as this means it will probably appreciate in value later. If sports betting is your focus, then your job is to find the undervalued teams every match day, and ‘buy their stock.’
In essence, spotting value is about judging probabilities more precisely than the market does. While doing that for every game is an uphill proposition altogether, it isn’t mandatory. By skipping matches with mediocre odds, you have a big advantage over the betting website – just like you don’t have to buy every available stock. The bookmaker has to provide odds for almost every game, in the most popular leagues at the very least.
The hardest thing to do in this business is spotting value, and pulling it off consistently requires a lot of practice. But once you’re able to determine value consistently, you’ll have a systematic edge.
9. Don’t try to ‘make it interesting’
Value alone won’t cut it if you’re looking to make it big in betting. You should find that value in leagues and sports that you can bet at fairly high betting limits (these are limits that apply to all punters, instead of just a few winning ones).
For instance, a betting website may provide stakes up to 5,000 for a Premier League game a day before kickoff. However, it’ll probably offer 1/10th of that on markets posted a week before.
Moreover, it’ll get tougher in more exotic leagues and sports, even if you find incredible value there. Usually, low limits and bad odds are insurmountable obstacles in that regard.
Verdict
To be successful in betting, you should put in a lot of hard work. Kiss the idea of ‘suddenly winning the lottery with a big accumulator’ goodbye – and remember, nothing is guaranteed in betting and there are no ‘safe bets.’
Best of luck!
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