How To Bet On Sports Online – Sports Betting 101
10 minutes
Last Updated: September 12, 2022
With the development of technology, sports betting has become more accessible than ever and has become one of the most popular ways for online players to have fun and potentially make some profit.
While everybody can place a bet in seconds via their smartphones, tablets, or PCs, only a smart portion of punters are making a profit while betting.
To help you master the sports betting basics, we have prepared a full guide on how to bet on sports online.
Whether you are a seasoned punter or a sports betting newbie, we recommend you to read this article because it has something for everyone.
Basics Of Sports Betting Explained
There are a couple of ways to explain how sports betting works, but we will go with the most straightforward definition.
Sports betting is an activity in which people place money on a certain outcome of a sporting event.
If their prediction is successful, they win a specified amount of money. The amount is calculated by multiplying the stake with the betting odds that the bookmaker has offered on that outcome.
While betting alone is pretty simple and easy to do, there are a couple of rules that you should implement even before you place the next bet if you want to increase your chances of winning.
Let’s take it one step at a time and start with the basics of sports betting that have nothing to do with how knowledgeable you are about sports.
Sports betting 101 – Master The Basics
Most newbie bettors think that sports betting is all about how good you know a certain sport, but the reality is that this can't be farther from the truth.
Don't get me wrong, sports knowledge will definitely be of help, but it is not a deciding factor.
The text below will cover 5 sports betting 101 tips that can turn around how you approach this venture.
Sports Betting 101 – Bankroll Management
Bankroll management is one of the basics of sports betting, or to be even more precise, it is the first rule for any kind of betting or online casinos. If you master this skill, you will lay strong foundations that will help you tremendously in your sports betting career.
Even if you make big mistakes with other parts of betting, good bankroll management will help you mitigate the consequences.
So how do you start with the right money management strategy?
The first rule of sports betting is to NEVER bet with the money you can't afford to lose.
If you follow this rule alone, you will already be one step ahead of most occasional bettors. Apart from the obvious financial consequences of losing the money you need, there are also emotional consequences that will put you off track and kill your strategy.
The second rule is to set apart the money you will use for betting. This amount will be your betting bankroll and will help execute proper money management when betting.
You should never place more than 1-3% of your sports betting bankroll on a single bet.
Betting on sports is a marathon, not a sprint, and you want to adjust your strategy to this fact.
Splitting your bankroll into small bets will help you soften the variance and help you tone down your emotions after a losing bet.
Don't increase the amount you are wagering after you lose a bet. Chasing losses is a receipt for a disaster.
Sports Betting 101 – Excluding Emotions
We know that one of the best feelings bettors can experience is the one when you bet on your favorite team and they win. The combined adrenalin rush with the financial gain will launch you into the stratosphere.
However, if you want to take sports betting seriously, you should avoid these kinds of bets.
Just like you don't want to depend financially on the outcome of one bet, you should also try to separate your feelings from how you pick your bets.
A good rule of thumb is to never bet on your favorite teams.
You will be emotionally involved, and your judgment will be clouded in these situations.
To conclude, emotions are a big no-no in the sports betting world. Try to exclude them from your decisions because they will hurt your bottom line sooner or later.
Sports Betting 101 – Understanding How Bookmakers Make Money
If you want to beat the bookies, you first must understand how they make money. A common misconception is that bookmakers only make money when you lose your bet.
While it is true that they make more money when you lose a bet than when you win, they still make money even if you win. How?
Oddsmakers create odds to get equal action on both teams and then subtract the house edge from the odds.
This might be complicated to understand at first, so we will give you an example.
Let's say there is an MMA match on offer where both fighters have the same skills, so there should be equal action on both of them.
So the odds should be 2.00 and 2.00, right? Wrong!
There is this house edge to be calculated, and in most cases, it is between 5% and 20%. The final odds released to the public will more often than not be 1.90 and 1.90.
So, even if your fighter, who had a 50% chance of winning, wins, the house still took their 10%. In the end, you won, but the house also won.
P.S. – This calculation is true if the public place a similar amount of money on both fighters. Or to put it this way: The oddsmakers are guaranteed to make money each time the public places the same amounts of money on different outcomes.
Sports Betting 101: Picking the right bookmaker
Technological progress and globalization have had two contrary effects on this element of sports betting. On the one hand, there have never been this many sports betting sites available, and on the other, sports betting sites have never before been so similar in terms of the markets, odds, bet types, and bonuses they offer.
These three things should be the deciding factor when you are looking for an online bookmaker.
When choosing an online bookmaker, check the markets that he has in offer for the sports you are planning to bet on.
The last thing you want to happen is to deposit money on a site and later find out that they don't offer your favorite markets.
While you should never choose a site based on their bonuses alone, great bonuses will make your life much easier.
Sports betting bonuses can help you boost your bankroll and try new strategies without risking your own money.
Just remember to check the rules and conditions of the bonus before you deposit. This way, you will avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Odds are the factor you should prioritize when searching for an online bookmaker. Try to find bookmakers who:
- Have the lowest house edge
- Are slow to update odds
These two factors are crucial on every bettor's path to becoming a successful punter since they both increase the chance of finding value, something we will talk more about in the next paragraph.
P.S. – While all of these factors are betting related, there are also other factors that you want to consider, such as country or region availability, security, reputation, payment methods, etc.
Sports Betting 101: Finding value
Most bettors think winning bets equal winning money, but this is not always that simple.
You can have ten successful bets and one loss where you can lose all the money you won before.
The key to winning money through sports betting is buying value.
You are probably asking yourself, but how do I do that? In theory, every time you place a bet on odds that are higher than they should be based on the circumstances, you are buying value.
This means that even if that particular bet might lose, it will bring you more money than it will lose in the long run. This truth is well known for online poker players since they solely base most of their decisions on this factor.
That said, one of the easiest ways for beginners to find value is to compare the odds on different bookmakers and use any differences in their favor.
For example, if you research odds for one event on five bookmakers and four of them have 2.00 odds for the home team and the fifth has odds of 2.50, you should take those.
By doing this, you have bought value, and you will make money within the long run, even if you happen to lose this particular bet.
How To Bet On Sports Online
If you want to make money betting, you should go with online bookmakers. Betting online has too many advantages for you to be missing out on.
It makes finding value, placing bets, and moving your funds around easier.
- Decide what sports and markets you want to bet on
- Research bookmakers that have the best offer in those fields and make a list
- Take the list from step two and narrow it down based on online reviews from trusted sources (reviews based on safety, bonuses, odds, etc.)
- Create accounts on up to 5 of the best ones, so you have several choices to place a bet at all times
These are crucial steps in becoming a profitable online sports bettor. Sports betting has many elements that influence a player's bottom line. If you plan to skip one of these steps, you increase your chances of failing.
Betting Guide: Sports Bet Tips
According to statistics, only 3 to 5 percent of sports bettors are profitable. Not only do these players employ great strategies, but they also do it consistently.
They buy value, play the long game, and don't let their emotions get in the way of making good decisions.
I know what you are thinking, that's all great, but how do I select games to bet on? To help you with this, we have prepared top sports betting tips on how to choose games below.
Sports Bet Tip #1: Specialize in Less Popular Sports
The online bookmaking system is pretty well developed, so you need to look where no one else is looking to find extra value.
This means specializing in less popular sports, leagues and markets.
It is almost impossible to find huge value in big leagues, markets, and popular sports with the way things are today. The simple reason is that everyone is paying attention to them.
However, becoming specialized in smaller markets, in which bookies make more mistakes when creating odds, will give you a chance to be in those 3 to 5 percent bettors that make a profit at the end of the day.
Smaller betting markets mean fewer odds correcting, which equals to more value odds for you, so take full advantage fo that.
Sports Bet Tip #2: Use The Power of The Internet
Even if you apply tip number one, it will be hard to spot value odds without the proper information. To find as much information as possible, you need to use the power of the internet.
Go online and search for sites, forums, and blogs that publish fresh information about the sports and leagues you need.
Make sure to allow notifications from these sites because a couple of minutes and even seconds can be crucial in placing a bet on odds that have value before they get corrected.
Don't forget that you will have to have a smartphone and internet connection at all times to make the best of this information right away.
Conclusion: How To Bet On Sports And Win
Betting can be a great source of amusement and even additional income, but only if you master the basics of sports betting and apply the correct strategies.
If you fail to do so, you risk losing money and killing the fun in the activity.
With this said, if you read this article till the end, you have already taken a step forward and learned how to bet on sports online in the right way.
BEST RESOURCES:
- Sports Betting Online
- UK Betting Sites
- Asian Bookies
- Crypto Betting Sites
- Top Casinos
- Real Money Poker
BETTING GUIDES
