Betting on football can be an extremely frustrating, and costly, pastime with many people wondering how to bet on football and win.
Whilst there are success stories of punters who won thousands from a 50p stake, most punters know the sinking feeling of a last-minute goal ruining their accumulator or the team at the bottom of the table picking up a surprise victory over the defending champions.
Some people continue to place the same type of bet week after week, with the hope that one day their ship will come in.
However, to win at football, punters must follow a few certain rules.
Research Before Betting
Rule number one of football betting is that the punter must gather as much information as possible before placing a bet.
Study statistics, recent form, head to head information, and team news to give you as much of an advantage as you can have. Knowing all of this will help you take an analytical approach and work
out which outcome is most likely.
For example, the second-placed team in the league are playing a team in the relegation zone in midweek. The higher team would be priced as a heavy favourite but there may be factors to take
note of before betting.
Although most people would take the league positions as a good indicator of who will win, what if the second-placed team have an all-important match with the leaders at the weekend?
There are chances they will rest players against the lesser team, to keep them fit for the bigger challenge. They may also take the midweek match lighter than usual thinking they already have the
victory.
But, taking a match lightly against a relegation threatened side who also need the points can be a dangerous tactic.
Also, what if the so-called bigger team have failed to win in their last three matches against the team in the relegation zone? What if the last five head to head meetings have all been draws? What if the team in the relegation zone have hit a purple patch of form and won their last few games?
These factors can play a huge part in determining the outcome of a match. The favourites may not look such a banker now, with the chance of a draw or even a surprise victory for the underdog
being much higher.
This is one of the many reasons why we provide team news to our members.
Like this post? Read also about “Horse Race Betting“.
Remain Analytical
Betting on impulse, betting with your heart, letting your emotions take over, and betting solely based on the betting odds are all sure-fire ways of losing money.
Impulse betting is where a punter places a bet on whichever matches are available, regardless of their knowledge of the teams involved. It’s something which many online punters will do, and thei
win percentages from this type of betting will probably be extremely low.
Betting with your heart means backing your own team to win, or favourite player to score first, regardless of the opposition or form of the player. Whilst some punters may get lucky and win often i
they support a big team, those who support a team struggling against relegation every year will lose more than they win.
Letting your emotions take over is a big no-no when it comes to betting. This is usually described as chasing your losses, when you are angry and frustrated after a bet fails to win. You then place
more money on another bet you believe to be a banker, to try and regain the money you lost before. This is a slippery slope and could quickly lead to a bank balance of zero.
Betting based solely on the odds is another thing punters should never do. Whilst short odds favourites obviously have the best chance of being victorious, there may be mitigating factors which
could weaken that chance.
Remain analytical and do not bet on a match unless you have gathered as much information as possible.
Profit Is Profit No Matter How Small
Some punters look for the big, life-changing, win every week. They place a few pounds on bets which could return thousands, with the chances of these bets coming in being small.
Those few pounds every week may be small to start with, but done every week for several years will mount up to a lot of lost money.
Punters should always be looking to make a profit, even if it’s only a few pounds.
Would you rather place £10 on a single bet which returns a £12 profit, but has a 92% chance of winning, or place two £5 bets on sixteen-team accumulators which return £10,000 each, with a 1%
chance of coming in?
Some people will say the second, but sensible punters will know that £12 profit every time soon adds up.
For more information on this you might like our post on focusing on losing less often.
There’s a big chance you have sat in a pub, or café, and overheard a conversation about how close someone came to winning £26,000 on Saturday or how one team let them down for £500. You
never hear the punters who were £5 up talking about their win, although they are the more successful punter.
The best advice we can give when gambling is, your first thought should be how best you can avoid losing rather than how much you will win if your bet comes in.
Look for a small profit, which will help to boost your betting bank and may ultimately lead to a big life-changing profit over time.
Keep A Betting Record
Keeping note of your wins and losses can help you see how much money you’re throwing away, and can help you change the way you gamble.
In this record, write down the type of bet you placed, the stake, the potential return, and how much profit or loss you made from it. Also add any notes which will help you moving forward, such as
which team(s) let you down.
At the end of a set period, such as every week, fortnight, or month, you should tally up your results to give you an overall profit or loss.
If you are suffering constant losses betting on accumulators with the promise of a big return, maybe change the way you bet for the next period. Consider backing less teams in an accumulator o
placing single/doubles/trebles bets which return a small profit.
You can then see if your overall profit has gone up.
If you regularly see a + amount in the profit/loss section, it will be a big eye-opener that the way you were previously betting was wrong and you should stick to your new approach.
Remember, You Will Not Win Every Time
If there was a fool-proof way of winning on football every time, bookies would go out of business and football betting would cease to exist.
However, there is no fool-proof way because football is unpredictable and shocks happen. The favourite doesn’t always win, everybody has off days, and punters will often be out of pocket. There
are no 100% guarantees in football betting.
In those times, you must remember to have fun, stay analytical, and follow our advice to give you the best chance of making a profit.
Written by Mike Granson