It's always wise to track your wagers.
We all have opinions on who is going to win or lose the big game. Sports betting is a fun way to put our money where our mouth is.
And, if you do it smartly, it can be a profitable way as well.
But sports betting can be intimidating for beginners. It’s a lot different watching a game with money on the line, and no one wants to lose their ass.
Keep track before wagering money
Before you start putting actual money on the line, keep a record of bets you would have made and how much you would have risked. In other words, don’t actually make bets, but keep track of how you would have done had you been betting money.
In order to see the odds on all the games, sign up for a sportsbook account at one of our recommended sportsbooks. Once you’re logged in, you will be able to view all the game odds in each sport without having an actual balance in your account.
Then create a spreadsheet or even a word document to track yourself. If a team is -130 on the moneyline, make sure that your imaginary risk is at the same rate (13 to win 10, 26 to win 20, etc.).
Even though it’s not real money, practice money management skills. Try risking the same amount on every bet you make, regardless of how strong you feel about it. The biggest mistake bettors make is risking more on some games than others, meaning that one big loss can wipe out the profits from a lot of small wins.
100 bets should show strengths and weaknesses
After about 100 imaginary bets, you should be able to see how well you’re doing. If you are losing way more than you are winning, you might want to re-evaluate how you handicap games before you start putting money on the line. On the other hand, if you would have made money through these imaginary bets, you should feel confident to put real money on the line.
Bet small to start
If you don’t want to manually keep track of your record yourself, deposit some money into a sportsbook account and just bet a little bit on each game to see how you’d be doing. Pinnacle Sports will allow you to bet as little as $1 per game.
Learn from mistakes
And remember, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So every time you lose a bet, imaginary or real, try to figure out why you lost.
Maybe you just bet with your heart instead of your head (if you’re a Leafs’ fan, this will spell trouble). Maybe you take too many favourites. Maybe you failed to consider all the factors, like whether a team was tired from playing on back-to-back nights or whether there were injuries that you didn’t know about before the game. Or maybe it was just bad luck – it is possible to be on the “right side” of a bet and still lose.
Don’t get discouraged, just try to get better. Remember that a winning percentage of 55 per cent or higher against the spread is excellent in sports betting, and that 52 per cent is all you need to break even.
At some point, you’ll feel ready to put some real money on the line.
Just fund your sportsbook account and you’ll be ready to go.