The world of online sports betting is vast and ever-evolving. If you’re new to betting on sports online, you might be overwhelmed by the number of sports betting websites, sports betting markets, bet types, bonuses and more. Where do you start? How does it all work? Is it safe?
There are probably tons of other questions running through your mind. Here’s a guide where we’ve compiled some of the most important and fundamental golden rules of betting on sports online. You might not become a millionaire overnight by following these tips and suggestions, but you’ll certainly save yourself from unnecessary losses, scam betting websites and other forms of disappointments.
Picking the Right Online Sportsbook
In order to place a real-money sports bet online, you will need to first sign up for an account with an online sports betting website. There are hundreds of online sportsbooks to choose from, so where do you start?
Well, the first thing to consider would be your location. Depending on which country or state you are located in, you will want to narrow down your choices to sportsbooks that accept players from your jurisdiction.
You can simply start by Googling which sportsbooks are popular in your area and make a shortlist. You might also consider checking the laws regarding online sports betting in your jurisdiction. If the market is regulated, there could be state-approved or even state-run online sportsbooks which are always a safe bet.
Once you’ve figured out which sportsbooks cater to players from your area, the next thing to check would be whether the website is licensed. You want to ensure that the sportsbook is licensed by a reputed game regulator. You can also check reviews of the sportsbook in question and see what other players have to say about it. If there are lots of complaints about payment delays and other disputes, you might want to skip it.
While choosing the right sportsbook, you want to ask yourself a few questions. Firstly – what sports are you going to be betting on? Make sure the sportsbook offers a good range of betting markets and odds on the sports you are interested in. Also check which payment methods the sportsbook supports and whether or not the currency you used is supported at the sportsbook.
Choose a Sportsbook with a Good Welcome Bonus
In order to attract new players, sports betting websites offer lucrative bonuses to new players. This could be a free bet or even free money that you can gamble with. Sometimes, you don’t even need to make a deposit to receive a bonus, you just need to sign up for an account. Such bonuses are called no deposit bonuses.
These are great for beginners since you can explore the sportsbook and even get a first hand feel for betting without spending any of your own money. In fact, this kind of promotion is very popular on sportsbooks, so you should give it a go!
Start Small
Once you’ve signed up for an account with a sports betting website and you’re ready to start betting, you should certainly pace yourself. We recommend reading all the terms and conditions of the website since this will tell you exactly how certain things work and what you should and should not do.
Unfortunately, only a small fraction of players read the terms and conditions. If you can’t be bothered with reading the copious amounts of fine print, you should at least play very conservatively when you start betting.
Choose your bet and place a bet for the minimum allowed amount. This will give you some insights into how the deposit process works, how the betslip works, how winnings are paid out and more. It’s always a good idea to understand all this before placing bets worth substantial amounts of money.
Learn the Foundations
Sports betting can vary significantly from one sport to another. For instance, the bet types available on horse racing can be completely different from the bet types available on Cricket. So, depending on which sport/s you are interested in betting on, you should try to understand how the different bet types work, what the rules of the bet are, how to read the odds in different odds formats and more.
You should always try and stick to sports that you know well outside the realm of betting. So, if you’re a fan of football, it might be much easier for you to learn how sports betting on football works since you are already familiar with the rules, nomenclature and other nuances of the sport.
Stay Within your Limits
Before every gaming session, you should always have a clear plan in mind and execute the plan. Don’t do anything more or anything less than what you’ve planned. Many beginners fall into the trap of chasing losses by placing more bets hoping to recover their loss, any seasoned bettor will tell you this is a sure shot way of losing even more money in the long run.
Many online sportsbooks and casinos will give you responsible gambling tools like deposit limits, session limits, bet limits and loss limits. Customize these limits and use them to ensure you stick to your budget and don’t let gambling consume you.
