Common Mistakes Made By U.S. Online Sports Bettors

If it's true that online sports betting is a skill-based endeavor instead of gambling on chance, one would think sports bettors have a legitimate chance of regularly winning money. The reality is quite different. Less than 1/2 of the U.S. sports betting population can honestly claim to be successful sports bettors. Why is that?

The truth is that bookmakers really have no advantage other than the monetary advantage they gain by charging VIG on straight bets or the house-friendly odds they offer on parlays and other types of sports bets. Realistically, an online sports bettor can expect to regularly break even if they pick winners at a rate of about 55%. That's hard to do.

In our analysis, we have come to realize that U.S. sports bettors don't typically succeed because of the mistakes they make when making selections. The following information is being offered to help sports bettors like you avoid these seven (7) common errors, boosting your chances of becoming a winning sports bettor.

1. Making Selections Based on Emothion

It's rare that a sports bettor won't have a favorite team or player they love supporting. While there is nothing wrong with being a fan, there is no place in the sports betting world for such a person. Even a recreational sports bettor should leave their fandom behind when they start making selections.

The problem with betting based on emotion is your emotions know nothing about sports. They are just feelings without rhyme or reason. As a rule of thumb, why not avoid betting on your favorite teams or players unless you have a viable reason for doing so outside of your desire to be supportive?

2. Not Using Available Handicapping Information

The #1 reason that astute sports bettors can rack winning bets is because they don't place bets in the blind. They invest time and money in the "handicapping" process and use information to guide their wagering efforts. The availability of good handicapping information is why bookmakers will set betting limits on professional sports bettors because of the advantages those bettors can gain from hard work. This is often the reason given for calling sports betting a skill-based endeavor.

If you have not yet learned the art of handicapping, there is no time better than the present. We would like to offer you this list of handicapping resources:

• Team and player statistical databases - free and "pay for" services


• Weather reports


• Sports news - contract info, legal issues, etc. **


• Injury reports


• Tip or tout sheets (never use as a sole resource)

3. Getting Involved in Too Many Games

It's common for recreational and novice sports bettors to "play the board," especially when betting on NFL or NCAA football. Playing the board refers to wagering on as many games as possible. This is usually accomplished by using parlay and teaser betting options as opposed to straight bets.

Why do recreational online bettors love playing the board? They seem to get an extra thrill when they can wager on a full selection of games that are being televised. The problem with playing the board is it becomes impossible to keep one's mind focused on information that's needed to make wise wagering decisions. It's much easier to handicap or think about 3-5 games than it is to focus on a full slate of NFL games (up to 16 games a week). If you need wagers as motivation to watch games on TV, you might save yourself a lot of money by just being a sports fan.

Recommendation for recreational online sports bettors: Pick a few games of interest and focus your betting efforts on those games. You might want to focus on rivalry games or games that could have a profound effect on league or division standings.

4. The Gambler's Fallacy"

What is the "Gambler's Fallacy?" By definition: "the belief that, if an event (whose occurrences are independent and identically distributed) has occurred less frequently than expected, it is more likely to happen again in the future (or vice versa)." How does this apply to sports betting?

There is a psychology tied to sports betting. It starts with the belief that a gambler is a better sports bettor than they really are. That leads to unrealistic expectations about winning bets. The gambler's fallacy comes into play when a sports bettor starts believing that a losing streak will suddenly come to an end because they are overdue to win. The converse of this thought process is also applicable when fear of losing is created by a winning streak.

When it comes to gambling, the results of any given event will never be predicated on the outcome or outcomes of prior events.

5. Changing Bet Size

If you want advice on how to manage your bankroll, look to the pros for some useful hints. One thing the pros never do is wager amounts that vary greatly from one bet to the next. It's a far better option to establish standard betting sizes and stick with them religiously. This will keep you from throwing away winnings on one bet or chasing losses by increasing your wager sizes.

Here's a recommendation. Let's say you have a bankroll of $500. Make your standard betting unit $10. When wagering on games on which you have a very strong opinion, make your bet size 3 units. If you have a moderate opinion, go with 2 units. If you have a hunch, it would be fine to go with a 1 unit wager.

If by chance you like wagering parlays, group your selections accordingly. Never put a strong opinioned game with a hunch selection. Keep your 3s, 2s, and 1s grouped together.

6. Letting Touts Do the Touting

If you are under the impression that sports betting touts are better at selecting winners than you, you would be advised to let that notion go. If you are going to allow touts to influence your betting action, get ready for disappointment. Here's why?

Lower-level touts will ask customers to call them for their latest selections on a game or two. Guess what. They will give 1/2 the callers a tip on one side and 1/2 the callers a tip on the other side. To the winners, they will look like heroes, almost assuring they will generate more business. The losers might try again or simply go elsewhere. It's a numbers game. Satisfy as many customers as possible while the pipeline of new customers keeps flowing. Are these the folks you want to make selections on your behalf?

7. Gambling With "Scared Money"

At the end of the day, you have to behave as a responsible gambler. That means you should never gamble with more than you can afford to lose. As a rule of thumb, the amount you can afford to lose is what is referred to as your discretionary cash. Discretionary cash is the money that's leftover after all bills have been paid and something has been set aside for savings,

If you start wagering beyond your means, you will eventually be wagering with "scared money." It's scared money because a loss will potentially cause financial damage. The even larger risk is sustained losses with scared money could lead to gambling addiction. That's a world you want to avoid at all costs.

Conclusion: If you avoid these common mistakes, there's an excellent chance you will improve as an online sports bettor. It doesn't ensure you are going to make profits, but it does open the door to the possibility of more winning sports bets.
If you can string together more winning sports bets, it increases the chances to can generate profits with more regularity.