Like everything meaningful and worthwhile of fighting for in life, succeeding in sports betting comes with its fair share of risks. And yes, not even the best of pundits and bettors are immune to risk; it happens to us all. But you don’t have to feel totally powerless to risk, with the right strategies–such as the ones highlighted below–you can highly reduce risk when betting.
Sports Betting Tips that will Reduce Your Risk
Select the Best odds
With online sportsbooks and bookmakers stuck in a die-hard competition to lucrative rates in order to attract new customers, you are easily likely to end up with some solid betting odds that give you a good chance to even beat the betting lines on a regular basis. More importantly, by filtering things out in this “fight quota” in the betting market, you avoid the risk of ending up with some skewed bookmaker-friendly odds that are more likely to lead you to losses than wins.
Establish a Good Money Management System
In the same way we tend to focus on establishing good betting systems and strategies that will be profitable is the same we should pay attention to money management. The biggest benefit of good money management is that it helps reduce the chances of bettors getting into extreme losses, especially when we are on some losing skid of sorts.
Use Hedging to Minimize Losses
Hedging is the general practice of betting on alternative markets or outcomes to minimize losses. In turn, this guarantees some form of profit in the end. Hedging can particularly prove vital in games that are expected to be close with no clear winner. Of course, hedging is not allowed in all sportsbooks (meaning you have to choose your sites carefully) and you often have to deal with the risk of putting an increased total stake on different outcomes. But in the gambling market with long odds or those with less clear-cut winners, like a wrestling tournament, the risk may well be worth it.
Bet on Alternative Markets
If one market, let’s say basketball, is constantly throwing you into losses, maybe it would be best to try your luck into something new or different, depending on your likes. The same advice goes for people who, for example, bet on SU and ATS lines with no wins, thus necessitating some sort of change into something like total or parlay betting.
Go for Live Betting Rather Than Traditional Betting Markets
In-play betting, also known as live betting, offers betting fans the perfect opportunity to tailor their wagers to the events once they start, rather than having a non-changeable bet before the game begins. In short, rather than picking a winner from the start of an event, live betting allows you to take your time and make a more informed decision by seeing how the favorites and underdogs fair in the event, before you eventually pounce on the odds for the team or player that looks most favorable to get you profits. If you have a keen eye for detail, this strategy can particularly be vital, as you can use issues such as injuries, weather changes and overall team/individual performances to make timely and nearly-perfect bets; something that can’t be said for betting before an event starts.