To be a serious football punter, you must develop rules that you follow to achieve consistent results. We live and work with
rules and process each and every day of our lives. Football Betting is the same if you want to be serious in the business.
Below are rules that everyone who bets know about. Unfortunately, only a minority follow these rules.
RULE 1: Bet with what you can afford
This is common sense in life. Unfortunately, this is the hardest rule that many punters have failed to adhere to. It does not matter what you do for a living but if you want to save and keep what you have made – this rule is a must. Stock traders, Options Trader, Gamblers, Football Punter, and even Entrepreneurs will tell you that to be successful you must not be in a situation where it is “do or die.”
When you are betting and you are ahead, it is easy to fall into this trap. Bigger stakes won’t hurt – after all – it is the bookies money that you are gambling with. Or you could be losing and you decided to increase your stakes to get back your money. After all, your luck can’t be that bad. When you start thinking in this manner, it is time to take a step back and revisit this rule.
Use only risk capital – money that you can afford to lose. Better still start a new season with a new account and deposit some start-up “business capital” for your betting business. Treat football betting as a business and take each and every punt that you make seriously.
Increasing stakes game after game is a sure-fire way to disaster. Punters who have hit a winning or losing streak have fallen into this trap and gambled away money that they cannot afford to lose. Before you ever place another bet – always think gambling as a way to have some fun and a way to provide our families additional monthly disposable income. You wouldn’t gamble away your kid’s future, would you? I HOPE NOT!
RULE 2: Have fun!
For a start, have fun when you gamble. Relax and trust your analytical skills. Put it to test with small bets – bets that you do not lose sleep over. The idea is not to make a quick fortune in the least amount of time. The idea is to develop yourself into an accomplished football punter. Stay in the game long enough and you will learn how to profit from it. Never ever place a bet so big that it will take you out of the game.
RULE 3: Do not assume you know everythin and Never Stop Learning!!!
There are many forms of betting. Please stick to something simple and not go for complex betting spreads. Picking the right winning team consistently is tough enough – do not make it tougher for you to win. To some, it may not be attractive nor exciting picking on 1 game (Asian Handicap or Fixed Odds) as compared to a 10 game Accumulator. Always remember - a small profit is always better than a loss of any type.
Just like anything in life – if you want to be good, you have to continuous learn and educate yourself.
A good to start is to:
- Understand how odds movement and how they work
- Learn analyze games objectively
- Learn to appreciate your winnings rather than profit (if you continue to pick winners – profit will come naturally)
- Learn how to place bets correctly (without mistakes)
- Learn to control your emotions (win or lose)
An easy way (and cheap way) is read on betting books. If you invest in stocks, you would take the initiative to learn about charts, trends, fundamentals, etc. Why should it different when it comes to gambling? After all, both involves money. When money is on the line, take it seriously.
RULE 4: Bet on what you know
A general tendency of many novice punters is to bet on as many games as their bookie have. It is hard enough working out who will win a football match. Do not reduce your chances of profitability by betting on a game that you know nothing of. Most of the time, these bets are placed based on pure instinct – for the sake of gambling. A good guideline is to place only 5 to 10 games a day. If you do not know the league, then stay out or learn about it first before diving in.
Bet with what you can afford and bet on what you know.
RULE 5: Avoid Long Shots
In trading, options trading who buy calls or puts deep out-of-money are normally “suckers” in the market. They speculate and put their money on the line for a big payout. Guess what? They normally go out of business.
It is the same with long shots in Football. If the bookies are prepared to give you $100 for every $1 wager that you placed, then chances are this team will not win during your lifetime.
There is a good reason why bookies are successful. And it is definitely not because they give away free money. They provide long shots with very high payouts to tempt to place your bets. Your bets are the free money to them.
Stay clear of these bets.
RULE 6: Be Wary of Hot Tips
There are plenty of tipsters out there. Anyone can make a pick. Anyone can make a prediction. That is the beauty of this business. But not every one can have a winning ratio of more than 70%. To achieve high winning percentages, you have to do it yourself by horning your match picking skills. Always perform a post mortem on your winning and losing picks. Why did you win? Why did you lose? If you do not know, then you have not progressed.
Plenty of website claim to have a betting system that will work – even make you a fortune. Learn to pick, learn to analyze, and learn to research. Develop your analytical skills on games. In the long run, you will improve and be profitable.
It is no harm taking tips from others. But it is best that you investigate and analyze these tips because ultimately it is your money on the line.
