To an outsider, it may seem like sports betting is all about luck or no skill, that you just take a guess, or pick the option with no solid basis to go off on. But to anyone who has been betting for a while will know that couldn’t be further from the truth.
This may be the case with some casino games, like roulette or craps, but betting on sports is an entirely different story. If someone were to make random guesses all the time, they would burn quite a big hole in their wallet reasonably quickly.
While chance does factor in, whichever sport one chooses to bet on, there is a certain level of skill that they need to possess.
Luck or skill
To begin with, you need to have a working knowledge of the game you’re betting on to be able to make an informed decision. You would need to be familiar with the teams and the players, their past performance, details about the formation, their manager, and their style of play. Naturally, all this information would assist in making the right decisions. You would also need to have a reasonably good knowledge of all the sports betting markets. Some markets are more profitable with some sports, leagues, and tournaments, so you would need to know what works best where.
There are also several strategies that one would need to adapt to ensure profitable betting. These strategies require careful speculation and precise calculation to execute.
So as you can tell by now, profitable betting does require a degree of skill and expertise. But on the other hand, a large part of wagering does depend on chance. Due to the linear nature of time, we can never accurately predict the future, and no matter how much research we do, there is no saying what will happen with absolute certainty. We can only guess and hope for the best, and we must take into consideration the influence randomness has on outcomes.
What we’re left with here is a paradox, a catch 22 of sorts.
Skills to develop
So what is it then, luck or skill? I would say both. You can acquire skills that increase your chances of winning but don’t guarantee it. So you may be wondering, what are some skills you can imbibe to gain a sports bet?
Look for value
This is probably one of the most essential pieces of advice anyone can give you. As a punter, you must always look for a value betting situation. It is when a bet is priced at less than what it’s actually worth. This happens when the odds reflect a probability that is less likely to occur in reality, like some someone says that a coin has a 60% chance of landing on heads.
Use strategy
Like we mentioned before, you must use an approach to increase the chances of making a profit. There are several strategies you can employ, such as hedging, arbitrage betting, or the Fibonacci sequence. Some strategies work better than others in certain situations, it’s just a matter of finding out what works, and when. Betting tips can also be a useful strategy if you know what you’re looking for.
Look for patterns
If you bet for a while, you will find that certain events tend to repeat themselves. Some teams always win against particular groups, others almost always win in particular stadiums. To uncover such patterns, make a note all your wins and losses. This way you will find that there is more than meets the eye than just randomness.
Remove all emotion
It is vital that you rid yourself of all emotions when you bet. You absolutely cannot let your personal biases influence your decision-making process. A team you absolutely cannot stand has a good chance of beating your favorite? Your gut is telling you that a particular player will win a match, despite the odds telling you otherwise?
It’s necessary to put away anything that might come in the way of logic so that you make a smart and fair bet.
