5 Things You Need To Know Before Your First Bet

Before you place a real money wager at an online sports betting site or online casino, there are several things you need to be aware of. Here are five important things you need to know before gambling in the real money mode. 

Remember, the house always wins. Never gamble more than you can afford. No bet is a guaranteed winner. Never chase your losses, and try not to bet on sports you know very little about. Additionally, you can also find even more useful betting tips, responsible gambling tips, and money management tips further down. 

Never gamble more than you can afford

The main thing to remember is to never gamble more money than you can afford. Perhaps set a small amount of money aside to have the occasional flutter, and don’t forget that the house always wins. If you’re placing sports bets, it would be a good idea to bet small amounts, to begin with, and then if your betting strategies appear to be working and turning you a profit, only then should you think about increasing your stake. Also, try to remember that no bet is a guaranteed winner, no matter what the odds are. 

Do you know anything about the sport you are about to bet on?

It would be a good idea to have at least a little bit of background knowledge about the sport you are about to bet on. Understanding the rules and being current with the latest team news and statistics can also help you make more strategic bets. For example, if you’re placing a bet on football, say the English Premier League or any other major European football league, it would be a good idea to know which players are fit and who isn’t fit, who is currently in form, and how the team have performed in recent games, and so on. There’s no point in betting on football if you have zero knowledge of the game. 

Understanding the odds

The best way to place more sensible bets would be to understand the odds. For example, let’s just say that you like a name of a horse that is about to race, but it has 100/1 odds. 

In American/Moneyline odds, this is equal to +10,000, and in European decimal odds, it equates to 101.00. In the same race, you may also have a horse that’s priced at 1/5 (which is -500 in American/Moneyline odds, and 1.2 in decimal odds). The favourite horse that’s more likely, but not guaranteed, to win is the one that’s priced at 1.20/-500, or 1/5. The outsider that’s least likely to win is the 101.00/+10,000, or 100/1 horse. In other words, don’t keep wasting your money on outsider bets with rubbish odds because you are less likely to return a profit. You can find out more about the latest betting odds and markets on the 10bet betting app – one of the best African sports betting sites out there today! Don’t forget that some of today’s best sports betting sites allow you to display the odds in American/Moneyline odds, in UK fractional odds, or in European decimal odds, so choose whichever suits you best. 

What are betting markets?

For each sport, you can generally find several different bet types, which are otherwise known as betting markets. Although some sports may only have one or two betting markets, such as outright winners, other sports can have multiple betting markets. In your average football match, you can also find correct score markets, as well as first/last goal scorer, total goals (under/over a certain amount), minute of the first booking (the exact minute the first yellow or red card will be dished out), and how many corners/throw-ins there will be in a game, to name just a few. 

Responsible gambling leads to better bankroll management

The first thing you should do when you sign up to a fully licensed sports betting site, or online casino would be to set daily, weekly, or monthly deposit limits. Some sites also allow you to set session time limits and even spending limits, and this is a great way to better stay in control of how much you spend at the casino. If you were to set your deposit limit to $/€/£25 per month, it means that you could only deposit $/€/£25 into your account over a four-week period. 

If you deposit the full $/€/£25 and then decide a few days later that you want to deposit more, the website wouldn’t allow you to because of the limits you set. You would have to wait for the following month before you could deposit again. You can find out more about how to set your limits either by contacting the player support at the website you sign up to or by visiting the ‘safer gambling tools’ area of the website when logged into your account. 

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