10 Reasons Your Bets Keep Losing
Are your bets actually paying, or do you find yourself losing more bets than you win?
Let's face it, losing more than you win is what the bookmakers want, and it's what happens to most people, it's the reason that the bookmakers are in business and making millions in profit every year. Clever use of bonuses can help you win, and turn your betting from a costly entertainment expense into a hobby that pays you.......and is fun. Read on to see the ten mistakes people make when betting, and the reason they are losing. |
Before we start with the 10 reasons your bets keep losing, we'll quickly cover off one reason that stands above all others; following a tipster.
Actually paying for a tipster is the worst thing you can do, but even a free one is bad. Tipsters want you to lose, not win (read more on how this works in practice under our Snowball Betting article). They get paid based on you losing your bets. Also, if they can predict winners with that degree of accuracey, how rich would they be?!
Actually paying for a tipster is the worst thing you can do, but even a free one is bad. Tipsters want you to lose, not win (read more on how this works in practice under our Snowball Betting article). They get paid based on you losing your bets. Also, if they can predict winners with that degree of accuracey, how rich would they be?!
1. Sticking with the same bookmaker
Why would you use the same bookmaker all the time? They won't have the best odds or offers for every match, and every new account you open will give you a bonus to use as well. It pays to put yourself about a bit when it comes to bookmakers. |
2. Betting with your heart, not your head
Don't trust your gut. Your gut gets things wrong, not all the time, but enough of the time for it to be costly. Supporting your team is one thing, but blindly betting on them out of hope isn't a way to get rich. Bet with your head and run the numbers, that's how to beat the bookies. |
3. Caring about the result
If you're matched betting correctly, then you won't care about the result, you're going to win anyway. You pick your matches based on how close the odds are, and you do it simply to extract as much of the bonus or free bet value as possible. Sure with advantage play betting (if bets etc) there might be a desire for specific events to happen, but over time you will pick them up, and losses on qualifying bets will be minimal............or even arbs if you're good at it. |
4. The gambler's fallacy or Monte Carlo fallacy
The last outcome has no effect on the next outcome (certainly with casino games anyway). This misunderstanding is one of the key reasons that the martingale betting strategy never works in practice. Being due a hit or a red or a winning spin is no guarantee the next spin will win. Don't chase losses. Move on to the next bonus and get your winnings there instead of just gambling. |
5. Thinking accumulators are the route to riches
Your bet is multiplied, but as is the bookmaker edge (or overround). They already started with an edge, so there's is being multiplied up higher and faster than your potential winnings. Bookmakers love punters that place accumulators, that should tell you everything you need to know about them! |
6. Playing the casino for 'fun'
Casino bonuses can be beaten, sometimes, but going to the side games at a bookmaker is just financial suicide. Build a bankroll using matched betting and then take on some low or no risk casino offers. There's nothing fun about losing money betting. |
7. Not understanding true odds compared to the odds being offered
The odds you are offered by a bookmaker are not the true odds of the outcome. Don't forget that all bookmakers and exchanges need to balance their books and include an overround in the calculation. Also, if a bookmaker is taking a lot of money on one horse, or team or outcome, then they need to limit their risk with reduced odds, you might therefore find better value in other bets. No bookmaker will offer you evens on the flip of a coin, there's no margin. |
8. Being unable to calculate EV
Particularly relevant when looking at casino bonuses, EV (expected value) is what you epect to make from a wager or series of wagers. It's not a guarantee, but if you run the numbers and the EV comes out as negative, then you're not really giving yourself much of a chance are you?! Expected value calculations are what separates the shrewd punters from the mug punters. Which one do you want to be? |
9. Not knowing how to lay
If you're not laying off your bets and using the bonuses then you're just gambling. Sure you might have an edge or an advantage, but the only way to keep steady profits coming in is to lay the bets and take up the sign up bonuses and if bet offers. Read our Matched Betting Basics guide to learn more. |
10. Not being a member of The Gambling Times
Sharing information is a great way of learning and it reduces the workload of finding new offers and odds. There's no better place to join than The Gambling Times. |
Stop being the mug punter the bookmakers want you to be, start betting smarter by signing up for new accounts and getting bonuses
BetBright offer a Risk Free £30 on sign up.
It doesn't get much better than that, and when you're done with that then the bonuses and if bets just keep on coming making BetBright a must have bookmaker account. |
Bet365 offer one of the biggest and most generous sign up offers on the net at £200.
As if that wasn't enough there are then the exceptional horse racing free bet offers which will keep you entertained and topping up your float for a long time. This account is so good and so valuable you'll want to avoid being gubbed, but other than that, let the good times roll. |
And lest we forget, the most important account of all, BetFair.
As a betting exchange BetFair allows you to be the bookmaker and lay bets placed by other people. This is a key factor in matched betting and the way you're going to make money without risking too much of your own. |