Sports Betting Guide

Can patience lead to betting success?

Do you know what goes into the successful punter formula? Well, while there is no officially agreed-upon list of such features, let us find out whether or not patience deserves to be one of them.

patience in sports betting

Introduction

What success in betting is all about? Whether you are a recreational weekend bettor or a professional punter, there is way more that goes into betting success than just sports knowledge & betting skills. In addition, understanding various psychological aspects of betting is equally essential, and sometimes plays a crucial role in gaining the edge over the bookmaker. Thus, regardless of the reason behind your betting, following specific rules could be quite beneficial for you.

Importance of being patient

If you are looking to make profits in betting, patience should be present in your arsenal. Unfortunately, the ability to tolerate mistakes, problems, or keeping yourself cool is usually overlooked by punters. Finding value, exploiting the reverse line movement & many other tricks are great, but what are you going to do if your correct calculations & precise predictions fail when your emotions get the best of you? What’s then? The best way to keep yourself on the safer side of things is being patient, especially when it comes to events & activities that involve a large share of luck & randomness.

Online Sports Betting Tutorial: The 6 No-Nos of Online Sports Betting

If you feel a bit sceptical about what you have just read, let us show you one of the best proves of how vital something like patience can be. The law of large numbers that many should already be familiar with is, in fact, the best way to show how crucial patience is in betting. This law basically says that the probability of opposite outcomes of the same event will even out within a large enough sample. If you need extra proof, try the good ol’ coin toss bout 100 or even more times. Bet you will get more or less 50/50 result at the end. Just like the coin toss, punters who consistently find the edge over their online bookmakers need a large enough sample to find out whether or not their strategy is working. Thus, being patient and giving yourself just enough time to reach the expectations or goals is a must! Of course, nobody is safe from losses, they are simply inevitable, especially in betting, thus, prepare to be patient for positive results to come your way.

Patience vs Biases

Knowledgeable & skilled bettors who are aware of particular risks & common punters’ mistakes like biases & fallacies have better chances of reaching their goals. However, the road to success is quite a bumpy one, and there will be numerous distractions that would prevent you from reaching it.

Staying patient is great, but sometimes you need to be extra careful. Numerous cognitive biases can mess with your patience & cold-headed thinking.

Sometimes bettors get caught up in action and forget about their long-term goals being misled by the «lucrative» short-term ones. Punters got to stay patient regardless of their bankroll situation or whatsoever. It is pretty common among bettors to fall for hyperbolic discounting biases. Simply saying, this is a tendency to pick immediate (short-term) results (even though more minor) over the larger long-term ones. This is one of the biggest mistakes inexperienced & undisciplined punters make. While it is hard sometimes to stay patient when betting, a great way of controlling yourself is selecting a proper staking method. Depending on your betting style, you can choose various progressive methods like Fibonacci, where you continuously increase your stakes to cover losses, or more proportional methods, like Kelly Criterion. Of course, it is all up to you, and you decide whether to go all-in on a surebet or gradually wager your way to success.

Rationality

Are you a rational bettor? Remember, being a rational bettor must be your number one priority. In other words, begin rational when it comes to betting means committing actions that aim to maximise the profits & minimise the losses. That being said, having accounts at multiple online bookmakers is the first step that you should take. Doing so will allow you to look for the best price & thus value for your wagers. Simply saying, placing a simple weekend football tenner at one betting operator at the odds of 1.95 (19/20) will payout at 19.50. However, placing the same bet at a different online bookmaker that offers evens for the same selection would result in a 20.00 payout. That being said, placing the same exact bet at a bookmaker that offers you a better value for the bet will give you extra winnings, which in this particular example is 0.50. It might not look like a significant difference, but try to put it on the bigger scale and stake, let’s say, 500 or 1,000 or even more. Looks better now? Regardless of the amount you stake and, thus, win, the goal remains the same - profit maximisation! The importance of finding value is the most crucial point in sports betting. Betting without value is the one-way road that will eventually lead you to inevitable losses.

Sports Betting Guide: Bookmaker or betting exchange? Who has more value?

Pro Tip: Check out our recommended online bookmaker list to choose a betting operator with the lowest margin on the market!

Impact of technology

We are currently living in a technologically advanced world. People have to make the least effort than they have ever done before. Everything we do at our fingertips, we can go shopping without leaving our cosy room, we can arrange a doctor appointment in a couple of clicks, and what is more, we can place a bet without having to bother ourselves with all that extra hassle. Do not find us wrong, technology is great and makes our everyday lives much easier. However, most of these benefits come at the cost of minimisation of effort and, thus, thinking!

Betting Tutorial: Betting 101. How to collect & analyse data for betting?

The desire to get instant results has gotten a bit out of control, which made consumers way more vulnerable to manipulation. Unfortunately, the same tendency can be witnessed in sports betting, as well. Online bookmakers provide numerous instant betting options that would require only a couple of clicks for your bet to get submitted. Such a trend is better seen among recreational punters, who by default do not spend too much time considering their next selection. Bookmakers exploit this by utilising various manipulation techniques. Some of the most common (and successful) ones are highlighted sections like daily specials, or most popular bets or other tools like automatic staking. All of them are quite helpful at times, but their main purpose remains to purposely generate betting volume on those specific markets at all times.

Sports Betting Tutorial: How being wrong can make you a better punter?

Summary

Altogether, the main idea is to stay focused at all times. Being patient and long-term goal-oriented are your main success components. Regardless of the current situation that you are going through, always keep your eyes on the main price. Keep in mind, even if you have done a proper analysis, found the way to secure value & have tested your betting strategy, you might run into a losing streak. That is nothing more than just a moment & we guarantee you will see profits coming your way in the long run!

How to beat a bookie? Secrets of the world's best punters.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
Bonuses and Promotions

Free Bets and Bonuses

Get some great betting offers and bookmaker bonuses like free bets and more.

Online Bookmakers

Online Bookmakers

Check out some comprehensive reviews of some selected online bookmakers. 

Free Betting Tips

Free Betting Tips

Take a look at free betting predictions from our expert tipsters.

Tips ending soon
SINGLE
Stake: 3/10
soccer ball Brighton vs Manchester City
Bet type: Manchester City -0,75 AH | Odds: 1.99
SINGLE
Stake: 5/10
soccer ball UEFA Europa Conference League - Winner
Bet type: Chelsea | Odds: 2.38