Sports betting has grown massively in recent years and is now ranked as one of the most popular forms of entertainment around.
Bettors tend to fall into two distinct categories – people who gamble purely for fun and people who see the practice as a way to make a profit.
In both cases, the sense of anticipation when someone places a wager provides people with an adrenalin rush that many other activities fail to match.
With gambling now firmly established within modern culture, we take a look at how to bet on sports for both fun and profit.
The Fun Factor
As highlighted earlier, people who start betting on sports either undertake the practice for fun or with a view to making profit.
Generally speaking, the individuals who wager for recreational purposes see betting solely as a form of entertainment.
They may be inclined to click here to check out the latest odds on an upcoming event, but their priority in doing so is not driven by a desire to profit from betting.
Those people see betting as an extension of watching sport, creating an added layer of interest into following a particular event.
While placing a successful bet is undoubtedly pleasurable, a losing bet doesn’t bother a fun bettor in the same way it would impact someone betting for profit.
People who bet for fun view their outlay in the same way they would think about going out for a meal or visiting the cinema – it is simply the cost of their entertainment.
Some punters believe that it is impossible to make a profit from betting and thus stick to placing wagers purely for fun.
However, while it cannot be denied that the odds favour the bookmakers in the long term, that viewpoint is a little skewed.
The Serious Bettor
There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting aside an amount of money and using it to bet purely for entertainment purposes.
While that ethos suits many people, there are plenty of others who take their betting activities far more seriously.
Serious punters spend hours studying form and analysing trends in order to give themselves a vital edge in the battle against the bookmakers.
Their activities bear some similarities to running a business, with making a profit being the ultimate aim for every single wager they place.
A punter who bets for profit is far more likely to be selective about the wagers they place when compared to a fun bettor.
Bankroll management plays a key role in their behaviour, with serious punters tending to stick to very stringent guidelines regarding how much they are prepared to risk on a single bet.
This tends to be around two to five percent of their bankroll, thus allowing the punter to safely navigate their way through losing spells.
Fun bettors don’t generally go into this level of detail, preferring to simply to view their activities as a form of entertainment.
Betting for Profit
Regardless of the reason for betting on different sports, it is entirely feasible to make a profit on a consistent basis.
There are tons of betting strategies listed on the internet and many of these have been proven to be successful if followed faithfully.
Generally speaking, fun bettors don’t possess the necessary discipline required to make these strategies pay, preferring to focus purely on the entertainment aspect.
However, punters who bet for profit often successfully implement strategies and one excellent example of this is the Martingale System.
The strategy was originally designed for betting on either black or red in roulette, but can be adapted to guarantee a profit from sports betting.
It requires you to place a wager on a single selection at odds of Evens or better. If your bet loses, you must double your stake on your next selection under the same odds criteria.
The mathematics behind the system guarantee a profit at the point you make a successful selection and you then revert back to the start.
While a long losing run could make a serious dent in your bankroll, the Martingale System will eventually deliver a profit if you stick rigidly to it.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
