Sports betting guide with recommendations and advice for beginners 

While sports betting is a popular venture, there are still persons who have never placed a stake on a sports fixture. If you belong to this category, then this article is specifically for you. 

Like every other venture in life, a bettor should be conservative and start small at the beginning. Let experiences inform your betting decisions and choices. Nonetheless, you could have a more rosy start with some tips and recommendations in your possession. These sets of information might be more necessary than you think because many bettors lose a lot and quit betting at this beginner stage almost as fast as they started. 

In the early stages of betting, one decision that could easily mar or make your venture is the choice of a betting provider. Which bookmaker should you approach for the best betting offerings? Fortunately, there are numerous platforms online that provide correct ratings and credible reviews of betting providers.

This information on the betting base will help you make an informed choice and pick the right betting platform. You do not have to go with the known names, any platform with a great data structure, user-friendly website, and features that appeal to you is good enough for a try. It does not have to be a platform with extraordinarily high odds as those features do not usually last. 

After choosing the right bookmaker, the next most critical factor that affects success in this journey is your betting behaviour. What type of bets are you most comfortable with, and what type of bettor are you? Are you the risk-taker or the conservative bettor? Some sportsbooks make it simpler for punters as they put the most successful bets on display. These hallmark bets might be over different periods, e.g. last 24 hours, last week, last month, or even the most successful bet of all time. Listing books with a payout of up to 100,000 euros would almost be irresistible for bettors, especially beginners, despite the low chances of these bets winning. It is similar to a lottery pool with a millionaire emerging every week. It might make you feel you could be next, but how many of the participants become a millionaire. Similarly, the colossal payouts from ‘monster bets’ is no reason to stake on them as betting on emotions rarely ends well. 

Bettors also have to choose a particular sport and focus on it. While soccer gets a lot of press, other sports would be worth considering. Before picking a sport, ensure that the odds and the market are lucrative. You also want to choose one with regular tournaments and fixtures. 

Betting correctly as a beginner

If you are eager to maximize the proceeds, try as much as possible to limit the combination bets to between 2 – 4 on a betting slip. No matter how likely it seems the stake would come through, the more you accumulate them, the less your chances. From experience and records, you cannot just assume that the top teams will win or that there would be plenty of goals in a game. As a beginner, you should start with individual bets, which come with smaller odds. The good news is that if you stick to this conservative strategy over time, the proceeds will amount to something very substantial. 

While on one bet type, you can still look out for better odds in the different options available. There is handicap betting, which sees the bookmaker try to even the playing field by providing one of the competitors involved with an advantage. This type of bet is popular with points-based sports like football. For instance, there is a match between Manchester City and Leeds United as the former is the favourite. The bookmaker can decide to give the underdog a handicap advantage of maybe 2:0. So if you place a handicap bet on the favourite to win and they only win by a lone goal, then you lose the bet because due to the handicap, the betting platform sees the score as 2:1. There are other types of bets that you can explore, e.g. Over/under bets, 3 – way bets etc.

If you also like the thrills and excitement from Live bets, you should check it out in the bookmaker. Though these bets come with attractive odds as a beginner only participate in Live bets when it is a sport that you really understand and know well

The wrong mindset to go into betting with

Going into betting with the mindset to win as much as possible right from the inception might work for you but not for long. Imagine expecting to win up to 400 euros from staking just 50 euros, and then you do win. When that happens, the bettor might continue betting even with more stake this time. Unfortunately, the sportsbooks come with betting options like live and fast bets that can easily win back huge profits made by bettors.

So as a bettor, if you get to such a payout vortex, learn to bet with caution because, when you fall back to where you started, the thought of winning that same huge amount might keep you carelessly staking until you lose it all. Hence, such a moment would be the perfect time to protect yourself from yourself.

Even when you have a long streak of luck, it is most likely coming before a long spell of losing bets. Hence, always endeavour to set aside a part of your payout as profit and continue with what is left. You can only get as many tips on the betting base as possible the perfect strategy will still depend on your experiences.

Increasing your winning opportunities as a beginner

Bettors can leverage the Welcome bonuses from betting platforms to increase your chances of winning. If you are new to a betting platform, they often provide bonus funds and free bets. Nonetheless, this is no reason for you to start registering for as many bookmakers as possible to get more free bets and welcome bonuses. This approach would likely backfire as the different sportsbooks constitute different data structures and methodologies, so sticking to a particular betting platform will be in your best interest. It is also vital to go through the terms and conditions of these platforms, e.g. the minimum deposit requirement and the payment method. Knowing how they would provide an upper hand.