Cricket is such a wildly popular game in India and the number of people following it so large that the majority of people would have bet on the game at some point or the other. The wager may have been one at the playground or among friends on the outcome of the match.
A small percentage of these people, though, want to use their knowledge to actually place bets with professional bookmakers. The legality of betting in India is a bit gray although things are clearly trending towards the formalization of the betting culture in India.
For those people that do want to bet on cricket with a bit more seriousness and have a chance to win some mega moolah, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Do your research
It may sound obvious but make sure you have the best and latest possible information about the match you are going to bet on. Read the match previews, know the conditions of the ground, find out a bit about the head to head, and be abreast of the current form that the players are in.
If you think all this is too much for you then you can even find some dedicated sites that provide betting tips. Onlinecricketbetting.net is one of our favorite sites that we regularly check before placing our bets.
Specialize in a few teams
Cricket betting may seem easy but it can quickly become very difficult to predict if you are not careful. Unless you are someone who is going to spend almost all of your time researching cricket you may not be able to get a deep understanding of every single cricket team.
There are close to 100 members of the ICC all of whom compete in a number of competitions all throughout the year. There are also domestic leagues, T20 competitions, T10 competitions, and regional T20 competitions like the TNPL or KPL which are all available to bet on.
Try and stick to a few teams that you know and can go deep on. Read up on the players that are not yet in the national team but could soon be a part of things, try and follow as many matches as possible even though they may not be televised. Any and all information will help you in making betting decisions that are just a bit better than average eventually paying off in a big way.
Be Very Careful with In-Play Betting
In-play betting is something that can seem very attractive at the drop of a hat. Unless your bets are backed by data and research, they are not going to pay off over the long run. Avoid taking decisions on the basis of gut feel although that can be very difficult!
A lot of in-play bets also deal with aspects that can neither be controlled nor be predicted with any sort of accuracy. This is why the bookmakers offer these bets with a built-in statistical advantage that ensures they come out winners over the long run.
Think like a bookmaker
Try and think about all the factors that can affect the outcome of a match and then decide what the odds should be. If you know the math behind the calculation of odds then that is a huge plus but it is not a necessity to bet on cricket. The idea behind this exercise is to identify bets where the market has left a clear betting opportunity.
These are the times when you should raise the stakes and make a killing!
