The sports betting industry is one of the largest in the world, encompassing dozens of international sports and hundreds of millions of punters from across the world. Sports betting enthusiasts have long been known as somewhat superstitious, especially when it comes to concepts like good and bad luck, and as such there are a number of well-known myths and misbeliefs that have become commonplace among the betting crowd.
The problem with many of these myths is that they can actually be bad for the overall win rate and morale of those that are trying to make it big in the world of sports betting. For this reason, we’ve decided to dissect some of the more common beliefs and explain why they’re not true.
Betting Against The Bookie
Perhaps one of the most common myths among punters is that it should always be priority to bet against the bookmakers, and it’s one that can often be to the detriment of the punter. The bets that the bookies set are set through intense calculation and observation, and they will often set and/or change the bets according to the overall public perception.
At the end of the day, the bookie is trying to make the most money possible by being right in the middle of the action, and it should be the primary concern of the punter to focus on the teams and the available research rather than trying to keep track of what the bookie is doing and betting against them – it’s ultimately a losing strategy.
Always Choosing The Underdog
There’s nothing more compelling in sports than having the underdog team beating the odds and coming out as the winners by the end of the game. Of course, this also makes the underdog a favourite for punters, especially considering that the odds are not in favour of the underdog, meaning better overall wins if their prediction comes true.
In reality, the punter will need to choose the team or player based on previous stats, win rate, injuries, weather, and whether they are playing at home or not. These factors are much more important when it comes to the actual chance of a team being victorious or not, and not whether they are the underdog.
Never Losing A Bet
There are always going to be punters that claim that they never lose bets, whether it’s for betting or when they play games online, and that they are constantly coming out on top of every bet that they make. Statistically, this is simply impossible, and even the very best professional punters will usually sit around the 55% win ratio, depending on how well they research and how experienced they are.
It’s important that beginner bettors understand that there’s no such thing as a persistent win ratio; losses are going to occur frequently, but the punters that generally do the best are those that plan for the losses and make sure that they have the resources available to bounce back from the money and time that they do lose to losses.