Want to become a successful professional sports bettor?
Pro sports bettors seem to be living the high life. They own their time and make lots of money from wagering on sports. The profits they earn are enough to support their lifestyles and their families.
However, this kind of success is born of determination, expert knowledge, and experience. Besides these, some attitudes separate the pros from others. Ambition and luck can only get you so far in the world of sports bets.
If you're aiming to better yourself and find success in sports betting, then read on! Here's what it takes to become a successful sports bettor that makes major league money.
Wager With Your Head
You may have started your betting career as a regular sports fan. Sports fans have biases towards certain teams that cloud their judgment. If you want to win at gambling, you must use your head, not your heart.
Pro sports bettors know when their loyalty can get in the way of objective betting. As such, some abstain from betting on events that involve their favorites. Bias can be subconscious, so know when you need to preempt it from making you lose.
Have Expert Knowledge on Sports and Betting
You can't rise to the top with common knowledge and sense. It would help if you did your research and learn from other bettors. Read as much as you can, join sports betting forums, and talk to other bettors in real life.
The more expert knowledge you have, the more factors you'll know to make better decisions. This can be as minute as knowing how certain weather affects sports performance. Knowing the sports betting community's jargon and cues are also a must.
Prudent Money Management
It goes without saying that your money's proper and wise management is essential to success. You won't have a long and successful run in sports betting if you always bet too much of your bankroll. This is a common mistake of recreational sports bettors.
Have clear money management guidelines and be strict in following them. One of these will be your bankroll's unit size. For beginners, 1-5% is the recommended unit size for every bet.
As you gain experience and expertise, you can adjust how much you wager and make riskier bets. Still, successful pro sports bettors aim to make money over the long haul.
Math Skills
If you're asking how to become a sharp sports bettor, then having strong math skills is a sure quality. Sports betting involves many numbers, from bookmaker odds to historical data. A math-oriented brain can make easier sense of all these numbers.
The best pro sports bettors can use their math skills to analyze sports betting data in a short time. They're able to work on serious numbers and come up with valuable insights. These insights help them make sharper and surer decisions.
Strong Self-Control
Excellent self-awareness and emotional control set pro sports bettors apart from recreational gamblers. Of course, achieving great self-control is not a simple walk in the park. However, mastering yourself helps you master how you play.
Emotional control allows you to set aside biases or tell you when to abstain. It also allows you to make better decisions when you're not distracted by excitement or fear.
Having strong self-control also means having great discipline. This allows you to stick to your plans and manage your bankroll and finances. In the long term, discipline allows you to sustain your determination towards success.
Logging and Studying Your Bets
Relying on your memory's account of experience isn't enough. Logging your bets gives you a precise and tangible record of your performance. This is an invaluable tool if you wish to better yourself.
Revisiting your losses is especially important. Reviewing your errors and missed variables will help you make better decisions. This helps you prevent from committing the same mistakes again.
Studying your performance also allows you to spot your strengths and weaknesses. You'll know which areas you need to improve and even which sports you're better at.
Choosing Your Battles
Online sports betting makes it easy to bet on multiple sports. It can be tempting to make bets on all the sports you know. You might think it's a good way to practice being a jack-of-all-trades.
Yet the most successful sports bettors focus their attention and skill on only 1-2 sports. Your goal should be mastery, so invest in what you know. Stacking on knowledge and expertise in 1 sport is better than being good enough to play many.
Betting on various sports also involves more risks. It also funnels more of your money to sportsbooks. It's best to choose your battles and specialize.
Shop Lines
It's best not to rely on only one sportsbook. Pro sports bettors shop for lines across different sportsbooks. This allows you to exploit the price discrepancies between different sportsbooks.
Line shopping guarantees that you get the greatest value from winning your bets. This is also one of the proven strategies in sports betting that's close to being foolproof.
Consider line shopping if you're still relying on one sportsbook. Signing up with at least 2 different sportsbooks is a minimum recommendation.
Set Realistic Expectations
There will be both good and bad streaks for the most seasoned professional sports bettor. Accepting this reality at the onset is a good mindset.
Successful sports bettors win 54% of their bets. The best pro sports bettors in the world win around 60% of the time. It's a tall ambition to want to achieve these numbers from the get-go or even over an extended period.
It's not impossible to win your first 10 wagers. The law of averages may not be true, yet getting too overconfident or reckless opens you to more risk. Keep this in mind when you get too excited.
Having realistic expectations when betting on sports is important. Stick to your sports betting strategies and methods, and don't get carried away. Do not gamble more than you can afford to lose, that's how your sports betting becomes a gambling problem.
Becoming a Professional Sports Bettor
Remember, the most successful sports bettors don't rely on mere luck and confidence. Your success as a sports bettor will depend on your hard work, expert knowledge, and resolve.
Want to know more about achieving success in sports betting? Read our other guides here on sport bets, poker, slots, and other casino gambling games.
