Common Sports Betting Mistakes to Avoid – How to Avoid Losing Sports Betting Strategies

Betting on perfection pays in fool’s gold. Whether Daniel Jones or John Doe, everyone stumbles en route to reaching gambling goals. This article highlights six common sports betting mistakes to avoid to help readers eliminate common, self-enforced errors. 

Being Uneducated in Sports Betting

Knowledge is power. As such, lacking sports savvy atrophies earning potential by encouraging weak bets. This is the most common sports betting mistake. Nobody needs a gym membership to obtain the right kind of power for sports betting. The internet provides a wealth of free resources and analytics to help people of all levels comprehend the sport they wish to watch. OddsJam Youtube reigns supreme when it comes to housing tutorials and interviews/tips from professional players, coaches, and respected analysts.

For those yearning to scratch beyond the pixelated surface, the NFL offers the widest variety of detailed analytics, since it is America’s most popular sport. The same applies on a global level to soccer/fútbol. Those wishing to venture from the gridiron to the hardwood shelter with a smile with “Inside the NBA.” The show churns out accolades and memes at a prolific rate for its unpredictable, relatively uncensored presentation filled with humor. The style digests easily for basketball newcomers and amidst the laughs is solid, unbias league coverage and team/player performance discussion held by Hall of Famers Shaq, Charles Barkley, and multiple-time NBA Champion Kenny Smith (occasionally joined by future NBA Hall of Famer Dwayne Wade and current NBA star Draymond Green).  Purists respect MLB Network’s extensive breakdowns of mechanics and matchups provided by Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez (whose career peak is widely regarded as the greatest in modern baseball history), Jim Thome, John Smoltz, plus a plethora of other veteran baseball players and reporters. 

Sports fans preferring athletes throwing hands as opposed to balls educate themselves via the acclaimed writings and podcast of acclaimed journalist and combat historian Jack Slack. Multiple-division UFC Champion Daniel Cormier hosts a technical fighter and matchup examination show called “Detail” similar to Peyton Manning’s famed football version.

Only Using One Sportsbook

Whether the cause is superstition or pure laziness, another common sports betting mistake is to only utilize a singular sportsbook for placing wagers. Doing so effectively cripples the crucial ability to shop around for the best odds. Contrary to popular beginner’s belief, not all odds are created equal. 

If you do not have multiple books to shop lines around then you are NOT getting the best odds. All books set their lines independently. Just because one book has a money line at -150 does not mean every book has the line set at -150. This is actually the basic principle of OddsJam +EV betting!

Our mantra at OddsJam is more books = more money! Sign up for every single book you can, take advantage of their promotions, and shop the lines.

Neglecting Bankroll Management

Income and bankroll bring us to the third point which is the charm for longevity: bankroll management. Bankroll management encompasses how bettors use various strategies and profitable principles to protect and increase available betting funds without taking unnecessary money or risks. 

Validity of the saying “a gambler’s money knows no home” depends on the track record of the individual. However, it’s undeniable that gambling is inherently streaky, and consistent losses can alter home life for the worse. Improper betting amounts damage personal finances for real expenditures. Financial stress trickles into personal relationships and even overall mental health as well, making proper bankroll management a crucial element not only to success, but sports betting survival.

Look at OddsJam’s recent guidance on bankroll management for specific strategies on how to not just survive, but thrive!

Chasing Parlays

Parlays and paramours share too many commonalities. Both live off big, attractive teases that usually lead to bigger mistakes, financially and emotionally. Sticking to casinos, parlays unearth tasty odds by adding up the lines of multiple bets for one payout. The more wagers added to the parlay, the higher the potential payout becomes. Your parlay payout will continue to increase with more wagers added in. 

For example, a bettor likes the Yankees to take advantage of the short porch leading to home runs and Patrick Mahomes to take advantage of the deep ball to his speedy receivers. The bettor picks the over on a Kansas City Chiefs -6.5 point spread +100 odds & New York Yankees moneyline +100 odds. If the Chiefs win by at least seven points and the Yankees win, the bettor earns a $300 profit per $100 staked. 

The catch is that every single leg of a parlay bet must succeed for the bet to pay off. In other words, it’s all or nothing. The fact that many people parlay individual prop bets toughens victory conditions. Unexpected injuries to stars, tweaks that lead to cautious usage, rare off-nights, upset victories, or simply put a single stroke of bad luck demolishes the parlay. Getting one bet right proves far easier than getting ten. 

If the urge to plunge into parlays proves to be too strong, OddsJam assists as always. The parlay calculator calculates parlay payout and profit amounts,  as well as odds of successful completion for all users. Along with this, you can parlay +EV bets from the OddsJam Betting Tools page to get more value for your parlays!

Chasing Losses

Chasing parlays and old money are two good ways to lose stamina and safe funding. Whether in betting, business, or other walks of lucrative life, avoiding losses compels many to psychologically stay in a losing investment until they at least break even, so the person assuming the risk can truthfully declare he or she didn’t lose. The economic term sunk cost fallacy shows the error of these wealth-wasting ways. The sunk cost fallacy states that money spent that is now lost is gone forever. New money resides in a new environment of circumstances, so it’s actually worthless to chase “getting your money back.” 

Betting Bias Towards Favored Teams

Everyone wants a handsome return on emotional investment for beloved teams. The Golden Brick Road isn’t paved with good intentions. Letting one’s heart instead of head dictate bets conjures a recipe for disastrous real returns on investments. Objectivity remains crucial in a world of misinformation and misplaced bets. This is the final sports betting mistake.

For personal instance, I shouldn’t use the first person and declare that I’m a devout Cubs fan. Unwavering fandom since childhood fails to blind me to the fact that, if I had one hundred dollars for every World Series won in the last one hundred wins, I wouldn’t be able to bet too long. A rebuilding team in the process of developing prospects at every phase assures that glorious 2016 history won’t repeat itself. 

Migrating north from the icy stares we offer the miserly Ricketts Family to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field owned by nobody flocks to a quality bet for winning the Super Bowl if reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams stay. However, I’d have to carefully consider Green Bay’s consistent inability to replicate sterling offensive success over the regular season when games truly count in the playoffs. Coordinator Joe Barry commands an impressive defense. Adams catching precise passes from Rodgers arguably tops the quarterback-to-receiver connections in the entire NFL. “The Other Aaron” Aaron Jones and powerhouse AJ Dillion complement each other perfectly in the running game. However, health, Rodgers’ recent track record of postseason woes, and limited receiving weapons outside of Rodgers, plus somewhat shaky team morale intrude on my ability to confidently wager on the Packers winning another Super Bowl, despite my wishes to the contrary.

If the reader takes away one piece of valuable advice from this article: don’t aim beyond safe budget targets and make each wager an educated guess, rather than a dart lobbed in hopes of a blind bullseye.