Sports betting is fascinating, exciting and fun, but at the same time it can be very challenging and confusing for those who have decided to get on board with this increasingly mainstreamed activity, without prior experience or knowledge. But this is not to worry, considering that it is always a good time to get some basic information on sports betting and to get more acquainted with it!
Becoming familiar with the fundamentals of sports betting and gaining a better understanding of some basic terms and approaches is a crucial first step in going beyond ‘simple luck’ in gambling. Once mastering these basics, you can apply your knowledge in betting on the best bookmakers in the UK and see the results!
The bankroll
But, first things first. In sports betting one of the most important things to consider is your bankroll. The bankroll is in fact the amount of money that you set for investment in betting on sports and it is certainly a first-tier issue to decide before you make any other decisions concerning the betting. Whether you are a conservative or a more aggressive player, your bankroll needs to reflect your plans and your intentions when it comes to betting, because after all it is what you will eventually build your strategy upon and also it is what you will progressively use for future investments.
Once deciding on your bankroll, it is time to select how you will go about allocating your money in betting and more specifically how you will put your stake in different bets. Simply enough, you need to figure out your strategy for making profit in sports betting based on your staking method. Following there is a brief description of the basic staking methods, offering a glance of the different approaches.
Staking strategies
You can take different approaches to staking, depending on what suits you best. You can allocate a specific percentage of your money or even a specific amount to each bet consistently and in this way shield your bankroll and avoid any risks of losing all your money. This is a conservative method, protecting your bankroll from vanishing all at once, but it does not take into account the value of bets. Both level staking (where a specific amount is allocated on each bet) and percentage staking (where a specific percentage of the bankroll is allocated on each bet) are often used by novice players who want to avoid drifting into risk from the very beginning, but in the long run they can lead to bankruptcy because they don’t recognize the role of value.
You can decide to proportionate your staking -proportional staking – to your bankroll at the time of the bet. This means that the proportion refers to a share corresponding to your current bankroll (updated and informed after each bet) at the time you put your stake. Here, your staking share adjusts to the bankroll that you have when you place the bet.
Or you can allocate your money in bets by backing different outcomes of the same event and in this way ensure that you will win in one way or another. The stake is adjusted on the basis of the odds and the return of the bets and so you can spread your amount on several outcomes. This method is called Dutching and it is quite popular in sports betting, especially for sports like football where there can be a number of different outcomes and where you can compile a multiple selection for optimizing the chances for profit making.
Your decision…
These simple approaches and methods to staking, are in fact fundamental issues when it comes to making sense of sports betting, especially if you are a beginner and you find yourself highly attracted and largely overwhelmed by the world of betting. You can follow one of these strategies – one that fits more to your style and your needs as a player, or you can devise your own strategy. Both approaches are equally good, if they prove profitable. So, don’t worry about ‘framing’ your method or putting a label on your strategy; what we have presented here is an initial guide to sports betting. Remember that these strategies are only a small fraction of what you can learn about sports betting, but they are certainly a good starting point to your journey.