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Betting is a popular way to entertain yourself by predicting the outcome of a future event, most commonly sports events. Betting is the wagering of money or other assets on the outcome of a game or event. You can bet on any type of event, from a football game to a horse race. You can also bet on the results of individual games or matches.
Learning how to bet responsibly is easy if you prepare by understanding how betting works first. Some people watch sports and games to bet on the outcome, while others bet while they’re working out or doing other tasks. Many people love to bet because they enjoy being able to connect with a sport on a personal level. Plus, betting has many benefit those who want to connect with their favorite sports emotionally or are looking for a way to increase their engagement. Ultimately, anyone can learn how to bet by educating themselves first.
Betting is a popular sport in its own right and a form of gambling where people wager money on the outcome of sports or other contests. Understanding how to place a good bet is essential for your gambling life and it is something you can learn.
Yes, you can absolutely learn to bet. As with any new activity, you’re going to need to do some research in order to learn how to start betting on sports. There are a few different ways that you can go about doing this. The first option is to continue reading as we explain you the fundamentals of sports betting. You can also read some other articles on our site about how to start betting on sports and different markets. You can find answers to frequently asked questions here, you can use our search function or you can check the footer down below. Make sure that you only read articles from credible sources. Another effective way to learn to bet on sports is to spend time with your friends who already bet on sports. A good option is to watch some videos about sports betting. Finally, you can go to a sports betting shop and talk to a professional bettor about how to start betting on sports.
Learning how to bet therefore starts by going over the basics and personalize this into your own formula for betting.
If you are looking for the perfect formula to win then don’t be too disappointed when we tell you that in sports betting, you require a combination of both luck and skill. The best way to force your luck is also by practicing and learning more about betting, but also about the sports and the teams or players that you would like to bet on. The more you practice, the better you will get at it. This could possibly give you an edge over the sportsbook or your friends if that is who you are betting against.
Down to the very basics of sports betting, there are two main types of bets: Safe and risk. Developing the winning formula for betting starts with acknowledging these two type of bets.
A safe bet is one in which the odds are in your favor, and you are likely to win your bet. A risk bet is one in which the odds are against you, and you are more likely to lose your money. For example, you can place safe bets by choosing a match that is likely to be a close contest or by placing your bets on teams that are strong favorites in the event.
A successful formula for betting also requires you to understand the value of your bet and more specifically the meaning of the odds. The value of a bet depends on the likelihood of winning or losing. For example, if the probability of winning a bet is 50%, then the value is 0.5. You often hear the term 50/50 but note that not in all sports there is always a winner. In Football, games can end in a draw, while in basketball or American Football, games could end in a draw in regular time. Tennis is a good example of a sport that ends in either one of the two players winning.
If you have just started betting, you’ve probably quickly learned about the different odds that are used. There are three different types of odds. The first odds type is European Odds, also called decimal odds. The second odds type is British Odds, referred to as fractional odds. and the third is American Odds. If you are looking to find out more about these odds and how to convert the, check out our Odds Conversion Guide.
Going back to the above example of a 50% probability of a player winning a game, let’s use a tennis game to illustrate this. How does this show in the odds? In tennis betting, when both players have 50% chance of winning the game, you can win the amount that you wagered (stake) if you select the right player. However, you lose that amount when your selection is incorrect. In European Odds or Decimal Odds this would be represented by 2.0 odds. In British Odds or Fractional Odds it is 1/1, also called ‘Evens’, while in American Odds an even chance of winning is quoted by +100 for the player you want to bet on. Note that sportsbooks odds always comprise their profit margin, which we did not included in this example.
What Markets Are There in Sports Betting?
As you learn more about sports betting, and start spending time on sports betting sites, you find that there are not only many sports, events and games to bet on, but there are also many betting markets.
Having more choices also means that you’re more likely to find something that suits your needs. However, having too many options can overwhelm you and make you unsure of what to choose. Clearly, having just the right amount of choice is vital to ensuring your satisfaction and thankfully sports betting sites have organized their betting offering in a way that you do not have to worry about feeling lost.
In sports betting, you can practically bet on anything that comes to mind, from something as straightforward as who will win the match (Outright or Match Result) to what player you think will be sent out of the game and even in what minute that happens. For you to learn and fully understand these markets helps you to optimize your betting formula.
Next to betting on the winner of a game, other popular markets to bet on include Winning Margin Betting, where you predict with how many points or goal differences any team or any player wins or Asian Handicap Total Goals, also called Asian Totals, where you have the chance to predict the total number of goals or points in a game with the chance of getting part of your wager or stake back. To give you an example, Asian Totals offers something called minus 1.5 betting or -1.5, which we are sure got you frowning already. Don’t worry, we will explain what it means next.
Minus 1.5 in betting can have different meanings depending on what Asian Handicap market you are betting on. To continue the above example of Asian Total Goals, betting minus 1.5 in Asian Handicap Total Goals means that:
First, you always want to make sure to do your homework when betting on sports. Understand the basics of sports betting and the special rules that the sportsbook has in place and applied to the sport you are betting on. Preparation can include analyzing previous results of the teams you are betting on or goes as far as making sure you are in an optimum state of performance, both physically and mentally.
Because not all sportsbooks offer the same odds, it really pays off to find the best odds that are available on the market. As part of a winning formula in sports betting you’ll quickly learn that a rule of thumb is to keep a handful of active accounts at multiple betting sites, so you can play the best odds. An excellent online bookmaker is award-winning Stake.com, which accepts regular currencies like USD and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Sportbet.ONE, where you get risk-free bet of $50 when registering, is a good choice too. For a top US Bookie, sign up with BetUS.
Most sports betting sites today have a cash-out functionality, where you can cash out your winnings during the game. Whatever strategy you choose, try to follow the game live and make use of cash-out options when you feel it is needed.
If you are looking to boost your winnings, you can start playing multiple bets, which are also called ACCA (accumulator) or Parlay Bets. In these multiple bets, your total odds are the product of the odds of the single bets included. Note that all selections must be winning for you to win the multiple bet. Another strategy often used and one that you can learn in betting is called ‘hedging’. So, what is hedging?
Hedging in sports betting is basically a form of reducing your risk of losing to much and taking a guaranteed (smaller) win. You do so by placing a bet which is sort of the opposite to your initial bet, with the condition that odds and therefore the match outcomes have changed somewhat. In football you can hedge your bets by placing multiple bets, often a combination of pre-game bets and those placed in-play or in game when the game is already underway. The moment where you cash out one of your bets is called the moment of hedging. To illustrate with an example. Let’s say you placed a pre-game bet on Team A to win the match and the team is ahead with one goal at some point during the game, you can then choose to hedge your bet by betting on a draw. Even better, when you are absolutely convinced that the game is going to finish in a draw because you are watching the game, you can then use the cash out functionality to take some winnings on your pre-game bet.
It comes to no surprise that hedging is part of a winning formula in betting. While it might sound complicated, you will learn to bet this way as your skills evolve naturally.
To conclude, if you ever had worries about sports betting and it being difficult to learn, we hope to have convinced you that with right amount of study, preparation and practice, you will have all the ingredients to get started and enjoy betting.
Although there is no real way of winning in betting easily, there are a few key factors that can lead to success. The first is to understand the game. This means understanding the rules, the history of the sport, and the statistics related to it. It also means knowing how to bet on the game. This means understanding which bets are best and how to make them. To keep sports betting fun, it also a great way if this is something that you can do together with your friends. Finally, it is important to be persistent. If you keep at it, eventually you will find success.
To get the ball rolling, at iGaming.org we recommend award-winning Stake.com, which accepts regular currencies like EUR and USD, but also cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Another Crypto Sportsbook is Sportbet.ONE, where you get risk-free bet of $50 when registering. For a top US Bookie, you can sign up with BetUS.