Money Matters!

The best feeling in the world can be a big win on a football bet, but the worst feeling is a loss. There is nothing that quite compares to the highs and lows of football betting. One week you are celebrating a tidy profit, the next you are counting your losses. The secret to any good gambler is money management.

I have spent hours reading articles about money management techniques and strategies, but the key point to come out of all of them is don’t get greedy. Anybody with any gambling experience will know that a winning streak doesn’t last forever and not only that, they are usually followed by a losing streak, that goes on twice as long, and it is twice as costly! When any gambler is in profit, the impulse is to raise stakes thinking profits will multiply, but most people find the opposite happens. The raising of stakes is greedy, risky and usually has a sour ending. Trust me.

Football betting has become such a big business now that there are over 100 markets available to bet on in each match. I would recommend being very careful when choosing what to bet on, the temptation is to bet on four or five things during one match in the hope that one or two wins. When you break this down though, you may be betting on 5 markets at £2 per bet. That is a £10 outlay on your bets. Therefore you need to win £10 back before you even fall into the black, that is the equivalent to one of your £2 bets being on a successful 4/1 selection. In football betting, it is hard enough to win one bet, never mind three or four in a single game. Therefore I would strongly advise betting on a maximum of two bets per game, if you want to see any notable profit.

Another old gambling line is, only bet what you can afford. It may seem obvious to the virgin gambler, but once a couple of losses come your way (and they will), it is easy to bet that extra £5 in the hope of recuperating your losses. Slippery slope. The best gamblers, especially on football markets, have a ‘betting pool’ that they put aside for their bets during the season. It may be at the start of the season, or on a month to month basis. For example, at the start of the season I may put away £200, and bearing in mind that has to last the whole season I know how much I can afford to bet each week. This way, you have total control, and you see your profits (if you have any) as a real figure rather than them being put straight back into gambling.  

Most gamblers say the best thing about the habit is winning, and the second best is losing. These gamblers are the ones that have little money management skills who will never be satisfied with a win, no matter how big or small!

Andy Clark

http://twitter.com/#!/AndyClark_TFT

Comments

[Stella]

handy to know