Sports Betting Advice - Responsible Gambling

Responsible Gambling

Please take the time to read this section of the website, it offers advice on Responsible Gambling and how to avoid the Pitfalls along the way.

Good Betting Practices

As the saying goes, "You very rarely meet a poor Bookmaker". They make money because they set odds in their favour but also because many casual gamblers do not give enough thought to the betting process. Here are a few practices you should consider before placing a bet

Research Your Bets

You should never enter into a bet without first doing research on your chosen event. It is important that you understand the various risks involved, doing so will mean more satisfaction from your wins and provides the ability to learn from your losses

If you decide to bet at random or by following a "tip" from someone else then this could lead to problems. By all means, use any advice or information you find on websites such as this one but before blindly following this information, you should carry out your own research.

Set a Betting Budget

Gambling is meant to be a form of Entertainment but you need to be sensible about it. The most important consideration is to bet only with money you can afford to lose. If you are risking £200 on your chosen event and the prospect of losing makes you feel uncomfortable, then you are probably risking more than you can afford to lose.

You should also set a specific amount of money aside each month, when this money is gone you stop betting for the remainder of the month. That way it never becomes a problem, and can just be treated as a monthly expense that sometimes returns an income when you win!

Treat the money set aside as your betting bank and consider dividing this up, risking only a small percentage of your "bank" each day otherwise you are probably betting more than you can afford and will lead you to rapidly run out of money.

Adopt a Staking Plan

It is always a good idea to have a staking plan in mind as this can help you maximise your winnings and minimise your losses. As a general rule when deciding on the size of your stake, a bet of 10% of your betting bank would be considered a big bet while 1% considered a small bet. If you're betting more than that, unless you are very lucky, you are on your way to "gamblers ruin".

Set Daily Loss Limits

As well as setting budgets and staking limits it's also important to set a limit on how much you allow yourself to lose per day. One of the biggest mistakes made by both professional and casual gamblers is to chase losses. The best way to recover from a loss is to have a calm and calculated approach, waiting for the right opportunities, and doing it bit by bit, not trying to do it in one large "all or nothing bet". Learn to accept losses as an inevitable hazard of gambling and move on.

Set Daily Win Limits

This might sound a little bizarre at first but when you are on a "Winning Streak", it is easy to get carried away. Set your self a maximum amount you want to win each day and then stick to it. For example, if at the start you have selected 3 bets which you fancy, just stick to them and place each bet individually. If you reach your win target before all events have been completed, don't get greedy, forget about the remaining bets for that day. Also, if all bets win, don't be tempted to look for more bets that you simply wouldn't have considered earlier in the day otherwise you could end up handing some of your winnings back.

Take Time Out

It's always a good idea to take a break from time to time. Whether you are on a dream run or suffering from a series of losses, it is always good to take a step back and let your head clear. Gut reaction bets are rarely the solution. Finding that you can't take a few days out suggest you have a problem.

Bad Gambling Practices

After looking at some of the good Gambling Practices to follow, it is well worth investigating some of the bad practices that can affect both the professional and casual gambler

Chasing Betting Losses

This is a major problem for both professional and casual gamblers alike. Bad days are inevitable, what is important is that you stick to your original staking strategy and keep looking for the right betting opportunities. This is one reason why its good practice to limit your losses each day. Trying to force that one big bet to get you out of trouble is never a good strategy and as desperation kicks in, more often than not it gets you in more trouble.

My advice on the best way to recover is take a break, try to learn from the mistakes that made you lose in the first place, re-assess your bet analysis, and then try to claw the money back with a series of smaller bets.

Changing Your Betting Staking Plan

One of the quickest ways to lose all your money is to keep increasing your stakes after each winner. When you hit a bad run, it doesn't take many losers to clear out your betting bank. If you do decide to up your stakes, this should be done gradually by setting yourself a profit target, once this has been reached, you should Increase your stake. The increase in stake should be small so that a run of losses will not seriously impact you betting bank. It is also a good idea to review this each month when setting your monthly budget.

Betting on Things You Don't Understand

There is a simple rule you should follow when betting, If you don't understand the sport or bet, and have done little or no research into it, DON'T bet on it. Losing is never fun and with a lack of understanding, you're far more likely to lose.

Getting Greedy

In all walks of life, being greedy is not the way to be successful, so gambling is no different. It is important you are realistic in your bets. For example, betting on 10 selection accumulators will require a great deal of luck for you not to lose every week.

Bookmakers are experts at devising new and interesting markets for you to bet on, and they do so with one simple aim: to make Money out of the average Punter. These new markets tend to be a bit more complex and so its harder to spot the fact that the odds are terrible value. There are no "Get Rich Quick" methods when it comes to gambling so longer priced bets like correct score, scorecast, first goal scorers are generally poor value and likely to decrease your bank.

Not Obtaining the Best Odds

Odds offered on an event can differ between individual bookmakers by as much as 20-50%. So if you don't "Shop around" for the best odds, you are missing out on maximising your profits. Getting 20% better odds on a regular basis can result in your betting bank increasing 100% in no time.

Betting What You Can't Afford to Lose

Finally, we look at the key to making Gambling Fun and enjoyable. It is also a difficult area to discuss as a big thrill of betting is the element of risk involved. The key point to remember when betting is to be prepared for each bet to lose (no matter how confident you are in the bet) and if you feel uncomfortable at the prospect of losing that sum of money then you really should not make the bet at your current stake, instead reduce the stake to a more comfortable level.

Additional Advice

There are a number of other sites on the internet offering key advice on the subject of Responsible gambling, so we have included some links that may prove useful