Tips To Improve Online Betting - How To Bet Smart in 2024.

How To Improve As A Gambler

Success at online gambling is less about luck and more about how you think and act as a gambler. If you want to improve as a gambler, you're going to have to take a cold hard look at how you approach online betting in 2024. In this guide we'll show you exactly what you need to do, in order to manage your bankroll and minimise your losses at today's online bookies in Britain.

Learn how to manage your bankroll effectively and set daily limits

Understand the difference between true odds and advertised odds

Know when to take a break from betting to make better long term gains

Money Management And Budget Setting

The idea of giving yourself a budget to gamble with might sound contradictory (not to mention dull), but trust us, all experienced gamblers have got bankroll management down to a fine art. Keeping a tight grip on your bets, setting deposit limits (and sticking to them) and giving yourself a daily, weekly or monthly budget to bet with are what make a great online gambler.

If you're not in control of your finances when you gamble online you risk losing more money than you can afford, starting down a slippery slope to gambling on credit, or borrowing from friends. Nothing will help if you still haven't learned how to manage your bankroll effectively.

Before you start blowing cash up the wall like you're Kanye, set out a quick strategy for how much you can comfortably afford to stake in online gambling each day, month or week. Make sure you stick to the limits you'veset for yourself. If your willpower fails you now, it's only a matter of time before your innocent gambling pastime becomes a sticky gambling problem.

Make Goals To Aim For

Think about most things you approach in life, you do it for a reason right? Online gambling is no exception. The reason you're doing it is to make money, plain and simple. No one online is betting to lose, where's the fun (or the sense) in that? But making money is the bigger picture, the end goal. Before you can achieve that end goal you need to set yourself smaller, step-by-step, goals that will get you to the finish line.

When you set your online betting goals, here's a couple of things to have in the back of your mind:

Don't over complicate your goals. Keep each one simple and to the point.
Set targets you know are achievable. Start small and progressively make your goals more ambitious.
Don't take on more than one goal at a time. Treat your goals as a "to do" list. Once you've achieved one, cross it off and move to the next one.
Give yourself a deadline. Goals are pointless if you don't have a time frame to complete them. So put a date beside each goal you make.

Set A Daily Loss Limit

You know how they say money doesn't grow on trees? Well, it doesn't. It's important to set yourself daily loss limits if you have any hope of becoming a successful online gambler. After all, allowing yourself to lose more than you've budgeted for can have serious knock-on consequences, not only in terms of your betting strategy but also when it comes to the other financial commitments you have to meet in your life. As profitable and fun as online betting can be, nothing is worth risking the roof over your head for.

Only you know what you can comfortably afford to lose from your pay packet. And when we say comfortably, we mean comfortably. So, when you'vedecided on your monthly gambling budget, break it down into what you can afford to potentially lose on a session without putting yourself into a tight spot financially. Allow yourself a little wriggle room, but no matter how much you lose, don't exceed the loss limit you've allocated yourself for that day.

Understand The True Value Of Odds

If you don't understand odds then you should really make this your first goal. The odds offered at UK bookmakers are what making money hinges on. Don't even think about making a bet before you've got to grips with them.

When you hear the term "true odds" touted around (as you no doubt will from time to time) we're talking about fixed statistical probability. So, to give a very simple example:

When you toss a coin you have two possible outcomes, either the coin will land head side up, or it will land tails.
The true odds of this happening are 50/50 or 1:1. So you know if you get offered these odds they're true.
But if a bookmaker offers anything other than these exact odds on this bet then those aren't true odds.

Understand?

Knowing, or having a rough idea of what the true odds of something are will help you determine whether the odds a bookmaker is offering are a good deal. If they're way below true odds then you stand to lose money. Understanding true odds will help you recognise when a bet is worth taking.

Keep A Record Of Your Bets

Every time you make a bet you're either going to win or you're going to lose. After a while, everything blurs into one and you forget where your successes were and where you bombed. This is why bet recording is such a vital asset.

Go onto any online forum and you'll find the most experienced online gamblers waxing lyrical about the importance of keeping a running tally of your bets. Why? Because knowing where you went wrong is the only way you're going to learn from your mistakes and avoid failing again in the future.

This doesn't have to be anything too detailed, or complicated. But keeping each bet you make logged will quickly help you identify where there's money to be made, and where to cut your losses. So don't skip this step if you want to become a successful long-term gambler. All the best ones have every bet they've ever made logged to look back on.

A bet record in its simplest form should consist of the following info:

Date
The bookmaker
The odds
The bet details
The bet value
Whether you won or lost
The amount you made (if you won)

Keeping a log like this is also useful when it comes to bankroll management too. In essence, it's a bit like being self-employed and keeping a log of your payments and expenditures for tax purposes. There are multiple benefits to be had from recording your bets in a spreadsheet or notebook.

The Dos and Don'ts Of Online Betting

A few general tips to help you improve.

Do sign up to more than one betting site. You can shop around for the best odds and take advantage of the free bet sign-up offers.

Don't gamble after drinking. Alcohol clouds your vision and impairs your judgement, which is something you need sharp when you're betting.

Do stick to one or two sports only. As you get familiar with the key players you'll be able to harness that knowledge to make better bets.

Don't chase your losses. Even the best gamblers don't win them all but they do know when to quit. So record the loss and learn from it instead.

Do try in-play or live sports betting. The odds will rise and fall throughout the event so it gives you the opportunity to capitalise when they're highest.

Don't over complicate bets. Parlays or accumulators can bring in bigger returns but there's far greater risk involved than making single bets.

Mastering The Art Of Selection

You don't owe anything to anyone when you gamble online in 2024. There are online bookies galore out there vying for your business against the competition, so don't limit yourself to just one betting site. Joining multiple bookmakers gives you access to a better selection of odds and bets, which is the only way you're going to maximise your winnings. You can also use the free bet offers each betting site gives to new members to boost your bankroll even more, potentially clocking up hundreds of pounds in risk-free bets. So don't tie yourself down to just one bookmaker online. The savviest gamblers spread themselves around and chase down the best action.