Top 5 Common Online Sports Betting Mistakes: And How to Avoid Them

Sports betting makes watching sporting events a lot more exciting, especially if you’re winning. There is something about taking a risk that makes the rewards so much sweeter, and punters have been chasing that sweetness since time immemorial. The trouble, of course, is losing. Losing is inevitable – it’s the nature of the game – but some losses can be avoided. You may not realise it, but there are several common betting mistakes that make your chances of losing much greater than they would normally be. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of the top five betting mistakes that you should avoid if you want to walk away with a win in your pocket.

Failing to Claim a Good Bonus

If you’re familiar with the world of online casinos, you’ll know that most sites offer players the chance to claim a casino bonus. Unfortunately, many of those sites only offer a bonus to casino game players and not to sports bettors. The mistake many punters make is to fail to shop around for an online casino that offers a sportsbook bonus. There are actually quite a few excellent sportsbooks out there that offer very generous bonuses to their punters. A good bonus can give you the head start that you need to begin building your bankroll. And if you’re a beginner, you can use your bonus to learn the ropes without having to pay for your mistakes.

Betting While Under the Influence

Who doesn’t like to enjoy a game of football with a beer in hand and a few backups chilling in the ice box? We get it, we know it’s part of the game. But if you’re placing bets, you need to be extremely clear headed in order to make informed choices. So, here’s the deal: don’t crack open your first bottle of beer until all your bets are placed. And make sure that before you take your first sip you have closed your sportsbook app and hidden it away so that you are not tempted to make any live bets while the game is on. Betting under the influence is a sure-fire way to blow your bankroll. 

Betting With Your Heart Not Your Head

Everyone wants their hometown team to win, right? It’s in our nature to support our team and want to show that support by betting on our team to win. But let’s get real. Some of us live in towns that just don’t produce the best football or hockey teams (or tennis players or golfers). And some of us live in towns that have fantastic teams, but those teams don’t always have a great season. Whatever the situation may be, our advice is to avoid betting on your home team because it’s almost impossible to be realistic about their chances of winning. Betting with your heart is a mistake, but it is easily avoided if you make it a point to never bet on sporting events that are too close to home. 

Too Many Bets

You will hear many experienced punters talking about the fact that successful sports betting usually comes down to making a lot of small bets over a long period of time. And while it certainly pays to spread your betting budget out over a number of bets rather than just chucking all your money at one event, there is a chance that you will end up making too many bets. The trick is to set a daily or weekly betting budget and stick to it like glue. Plan out your daily or weekly bets in advance so that you know exactly where your money is going, and if you win, don’t be tempted to blow it all on a betting whim.

Believing the Hype

Sport pundits like to talk the talk, but do they really walk the walk? In other words, pundits are highly likely to hype up the chances of a team or player simply to make a newsworthy headline. It is important to keep in mind that pundits are not necessarily sports bettors – they are not necessarily putting their money where their mouth is. Avoid falling for the hype by doing your own meticulous research before you place a bet.