Why Most Sports Bettors Lose
Why Do I Lose Money Betting On Sports?
I'm guessing that because you've made it to a sports betting related website, you must understand that most who engage in sports betting lose money. This shouldn't come as a surprise, but if it does I know a wealthy prince with a sick goat who could desperately use your help.
Poor attempts at humor aside, the reason most sports bettors lose is obvious: bookmakers require bettors to risk $1.10 to win $1.00 on bets essentially billed as 50/50 wagers.
This means for every against the spread and every over/under bet you make, you can expect to lose 4.55% the amount you risked. Most sports bettors end up losing much larger than this though for the reasons we'll mention here.
- Bankroll management
- Suckers bets
- Picking the wrong teams
Success
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1) Bankroll Management is key.
It doesn't matter if you're a winning bettor or a losing bettor, if you fail to manage your bankroll properly, you're going to go bust.
Did you know that even someone capable of picking 55% winners is going to go 0-8 one in 589 times average, and someone going 50/50 is going to do the same 1 in 255 times on average? The truth of the matter is that the average recreational bettor only picks 48.51% winners, and there has been huge samples/studies done to reveal this.
If you're one of those average bettors, you're going to go 0-8 one in 202 times; and if you bet an average of ten games per week over the course of a year, there is a 71.48% chance you're going to hit an 0-8 streak; you're probably going to hit a few of them.
Let me state this clearly: get all those ideas about doubling after every loss out of your head. Get any other form of system where you bet size based on the outcome of a previous win/loss out of your head as well. There are hundreds of touts willing to sell you this amazing system, but the bottom line is, they don't work!
There is no such thing as a betting system that can turn a negative expectation into a positive one no matter how you size your bet.
It doesn't matter because you're a winning bettor? Think again.
Even if you're super talented at picking 57% winners, and very few true pro bettors claim to have a win rate larger than that, betting 10 games per week there is a 29.1% chance you'll experience at least one 0-8 streak per year, and its going to happen on the average of one in every 868 times.
Optimal bankroll strategy in sports betting is to risk 1-2% of your bankroll per bet, based on your confidence level. A very serious sports bettor with a proven 57% win rate, again very tough to maintain, can get away with a 2.75% max bet. Anything higher than this and you're running a high risk of eventually going bust.
Note: When you sign up to Bookmaker.eu using the bonus code FRESH, you will get a 15% up to $500 deposit bonus added to your account. This is the perfect way to increase the size of your initial bankroll and help you to develop your bankroll management skills.
2) Sucker bets.
The second reason most sports bettors lose money is sucker bets.
There are many ways to bet a game, but so few correct ways. Parlays, Teasers, Pleasers, Action Reverse, Round Robin, and I could go on and on here, are bets the bookmakers created to increase their chances of beating a sucker.
I strongly suggest that if you are betting any of these, read my article on how to avoid sucker bets before continuing.
3) Picking the wrong teams.
One of the biggest mistakes novice bettors make is overvaluing good teams on the road, especially in the NFL. These lines always look great, but historically have not fared so well. Here are the stats using 16 years worth of NFL historical data to show often subsets cover the point spread (note: ties are ignored).
- Home Favorite 48.7%
- Road Dog 51.3%
- Home Underdog 52.2%
- Road Favorite 47.8%
To break even betting at -110, you need to win 52.38% of the bets you make. As you can see from the data posted here, the house edge is completely miniscule if you had done nothing but bet underdogs playing at home. If you want to cut down your losses, bet less favorites, especially favorites playing on the road.
Final Thoughts on why most bettors lose.
This website has several pages of strategy content that could help you reduce your losses, or even better yet become a winning bettor.
Combine this strategy with the 15% up to $500 bonus offered by www.Bookmaker.eu (to new sign ups using code: FRESH) and you could very well be on your way to a profitable betting season.
I wish you the best of luck.