What Are Common Mistakes Beginners Make When Sports Betting?

Anyone who has ever made a bet, had a time when they placed their very first wager. Therefore, It is common for beginners to come into betting with a slightly rose-tinted, or perhaps misguided, view about their betting strategy. This often leads to common mistakes beginners will make when they start sports betting.

In this simple guide, we will explore ten of the most common mistakes beginners make when starting to bet on sports, and, crucially, how you can avoid them!

1. Not taking advantage of a Welcome Bonus

The first common mistake beginners make happens before they have even joined up with a site. That is not taking advantage of a welcome offer available for new customers. Fortunately, sites nowadays are much better at promoting their welcome bonuses to customers, but even now some people will sign up and fail to take advantage of a bonus offer. Some bonuses require the customer not only to make a deposit, but also a qualifying first bet of a stated amount to trigger the welcome deal.

Remedy: Any site you are considering joining, check the latest welcome offer and what you need to do in terms of: deposit amount, deposit method, use of bonus code (if required) and the timescale in which the deposit needs to be made in order to access the bonus. 

2. Staking too much based on your bankroll available

Experience bettors will only tend to place bets with a small fraction of their bankroll, say 1% to 3%. That means if you have £100 in your account, your bet size should be around £1 to £3 in total. 

Beginners will often place bets that chew up 10%, 25%, 50% or even 100% of their bankroll, meaning their funds will dwindle away more quickly, leaving them with no option but to deposit more cash to place future bets.

Remedy: Only bet a fraction of your bankroll. This allows you to make affordable bets but also a chance to extend your bankroll over a much longer period. 

3. Chasing your losses

Beginners can easily get frustrated if they make a few bets and they lose. This especially the case of they see their bankroll dwindling. They can easily start to feel like they need to ‘make the money back’ by placing more bets to recoup their losses. 

Let’s make this clear. Never chase losses. Take it on the chin and focus on the next opportunity you have to bet to put things right.

Remedy: Always bet with money you can afford to lose and if you lose a bet, shrug your shoulders and accept it. That is the nature of betting!

4. Betting on unfamiliar markets

The sheer wealth of markets available with top bookmakers can be eye-opening for beginners. This can tempt them into betting on markets that they are not familiar with, simply to ‘give it a try’ or ‘to see if I get lucky’.

Bad idea! As a beginner especially, you should stick to the sports and betting markets you know. So if you are a football fan and like the goalscorer markets, stick to those for the league and teams you are most familiar with and have better knowledge about. 

Remedy: Stick to betting on sports you know well and markets you enjoy and understand. Not only will your bets be better judged, but you’ll also enjoy it more.

5. Not researching their bets

It is tempting as a beginner to think you know all you need to know about a particular bet you wish to make. After all, Mo Salah scores in most games, so a bet on First Goalscorer for Mo Salah is a great option! 

It may be, but it may also not be. A bit of research could reveal that Salah doesn’t score the first goal in a game that often. Or it may show, he is reliable as a first goalscorer. Research can help you identify whether the bet you make is a good one based on the evidence, rather than gut feeling. 

Remedy: Try and research a bet you plan to make to see if the data supports your choice of bet, or whether another option looks more viable. 

6. Betting too often and burning through a bankroll quickly

In addition to betting too much per bet, beginners can often bet smaller amounts but place far too many bets in a short space of time to burn through their bankroll. This is especially true for customers that may make smaller deposits initially with a bookmaker.

Remedy: Don’t burn through your bankroll by placing lots of bets. Take time to research a good bet to make and just place the one bet. Keep the rest of your bankroll to try the site at different times of the week or month.

7. Having an unrealistic view of how successful they will be

Winning a bet is a great feeling for a beginner, but if they manage to achieve success early, it can give a novice a skewed view of how easy it is to win bets. Don’t think that because one bet you made came in, that you are some kind of genius punter! You did well, but next time, you may not be quite so successful. Those that expect to win, or feel they must win to enjoy betting, are on a slippery slope.

Remedy: Understand that with any bet at the bookmakers, the odds are against you winning. So treat losses as the norm and those wins as the special moments that they should be!

8. Placing too many long-odds bets with little chance of success

Those 15-fold acca bets are tempting aren’t they? Bet £0.50 and you could still win thousands and thousands of pounds! But realistically, the chances of these types of bet hitting are remarkably slim. There is a good reason the odds on these bets are so high!

Remedy: By all means, have a go at these longer-odds bets, but mix them in with bets based on one or two selections or markets which have fewer outcomes to keep the odds more in your favour.

9. Not reviewing how past bets have performed

One of the key things for a beginner to realise is that you can learn from your past bets. So when you make a bet, win or lose, don’t just forget about it. If it won, why did it win? What made you pick that bet? If the bet was a loser, why did it lose? Why did you select that bet rather than the other? Reviewing your betting performance will help you make better judged bets in the long term. 

Remedy: Take time each week to review the bets you have made and how successful, or not, they have been and why. 

10. Failing to keep tabs on how much you are depositing

Gambling responsibly and safely is a non-negotiable in our book. Never deposit more money than you can comfortably afford to lose. Never bet with money that is required for something else and don’t bet when angry or emotional. Keep close tabs on your deposits and spending and keep betting fun.

Remedy: Check the responsible gambling section of a site for plenty of guidance on what to do and what not to do to ensure you gamble responsibly.

It should be noted that often one mistake outlined above can lead to others naturally occurring. For example, if you stake too much on a bet compared to your bankroll, and then make many more bets, you’ve made mistakes numbers 2 and 6. This can lead to mistake 3 - Chasing your losses and then onto mistake 10 - not keeping tabs on your depositing and spending. 

So follow the guidance here as a new bettor to start betting on the right foot, by betting responsibly, safely and at a rate that fits nicely with your budget!