Five mistakes new punters make (and how to avoid them)

You’ve done it. You’ve figured out what team is going to score big in their next match and you’re ready to put your money where your mouth is. You’ve opened your Sportingbet account, scored the signup bonus, and located the game you want to bet on.

Now’s the time to stop and think. Sportingbet wants you to make informed decisions so that you get the most out of your bet, so we’ve put together this guide to help new punters make the right bet at the right time. Here are the mistakes that new punters make, and how to avoid them.

Your team is due to win a football match. It’s been years since they got the trophy and it’s about time it was their turn to take it home. This sort of thinking is one of the most common mistakes that new punters make, because there’s an entire science to betting that they’re failing to take into consideration. 

You need to look up the statistics and see if your team really does stand a chance at winning a match. For example, if you’re going to bet on the Premier League, the Sportingbet offers offers stats on the match page. Do a deepdive — find out how your team has performed this season and seasons before.

Betting with your heart can also lead to one of the mortal sins of betting: chasing your losses. Losing a bet doesn’t feel great, and you can even feel like you’ve been shorted what’s owed to you. If you want to make betting a regular pastime, you need to accept that losing your bets is just another part of the game and every punter has to deal with it sooner or later.

Within every sport, there are plenty of betting markets that you can bet on. There’s more to it than who will win or lose the game and more often than not, the odds will be better on something a little less obvious.

Spend some time researching the betting markets available to you. Sportingbet is a great place to start. You might find that your insights extend much further than the overall win, and that you’re actually more likely to predict which team is going to score the first goal, how many corners your team will take, or even who’s going to get a yellow card. There’s a good chance that the odds for these sorts of bets will lead to a better payout if you predict correctly.

If you’re taking the time to analyze the data, you need to be careful that you interpret it correctly. You need a full understanding of what both teams’ statistics look like. Just because Manchester City wins more than 50% of their home games doesn’t mean that they're guaranteed to beat Real Madrid, who have an impressive win-record. 

Only looking at one side of the data gives you a wholly incorrect perception of how the game will go, so when you’re doing your research, make sure you get the full picture.

If you’re ready to make betting a regular pastime, you’ll need to develop a strategy. This may sound like a lot of work, but it adds a new dimension to your betting that can make the rewards all the more satisfying.

Find your sport, and find the market within that sport that works for you. The more specialized your strategy is, the more knowledgeable you will become in that specific betting market. This allows you to build on past research to make continuously more informed bets. Keep track of all the bets you’ve made and keep meticulous records of your wins and losses. You’ll never know if your strategy is working if you don’t have the information laid out in front of you.

Sports betting is fun, and should be done for the fun of it. Making your first bet and expecting to win big no matter what is a sure-fire way to develop an unhealthy relationship with betting. Never bet more than you can afford to lose. Remember that sports betting is a great way to enhance your appreciation for a game, not a way to ruin it.

You will lose some bets, but every loss is a learning experience. Use the advice we’ve offered in this article to gain insight from your losses, and figure out how to increase your chances of winning the next time you make a bet.