Handbook for beginners

“Is it possible to win in sports betting?– – this question is of interest to the vast majority of those who have recently started or just want to start playing in bookmakers. Some people ask search engines something like “How to get rich on bets” or “How to make money on bets”. This article contains several answers and tips from people who are familiar with the game in bookmakers firsthand.

Let’s say right away

A novice player should first of all understand the basic concepts, and only then be interested in “money” issues. Yes, you can win sports betting, but the right goals and the right knowledge are important. We strongly recommend starting correctly!
What is sports betting

Sports betting

This is an intellectual bet between a player and a bookmaker: a player makes his forecast for a sporting event and puts money on the fact that this forecast will be correct. With the right bet, he returns this money to himself with a profit, with a lost one, respectively, he loses them.

The bookmaker assigns a coefficient (quote) to each bet, estimating the probability of this event. In Russian bookmakers, European coefficients are used, which are displayed as a decimal fraction. If the bet turns out to be successful (the player’s forecast turned out to be correct), the bet amount is multiplied by the coefficient offered by the bookmaker — this is the amount of payment put for a successful bet.

The size of the bet

Multiplied by its coefficient – this is the amount the bookmaker pays to the player if his bet has won. Only the amount of profit is called a net gain: the amount of the bet made is deducted from the payout amount.
The bookmaker’s quotes may change both under the influence of the number and size of bets placed on this event, and due to a decrease / increase in its probability. Experienced players also call the coefficient the “price” of the proposed event: everyone can either choose a bet at the proposed price, or refuse if he considers it incorrect.

Bookmaker’s office

• What you need to know before the game starts
• Is it possible to win in sports betting?

Of course, you can win sports betting. To make sure of this, it is worth looking at, for example, the rating of Legalbet forecasters, which shows the success or failure of the forecasts of each expert and handicapper of our site for a long distance. Statistics are kept openly, and therefore it is clear on the rating page that not everyone is able to make accurate predictions and choose winning bets. Although all forecasters, without exception, are well versed in the sport for which they give forecasts.

View forecasts on Legalbet

A good knowledge of sports does not guarantee permanent winnings. However, we note: nothing guarantees permanent winnings. And yet, the game can be successful. Subject to several main conditions.
Condition one: correct perception. Betting should be fun, and this is the main thing that anyone who reads everything about sports betting for beginners needs to learn. They can (and will) lose, and you need to be prepared for this.

The perception of betting as a game and as a hobby has several significant advantages at once:

this allows you not to lose your mind and not to risk large sums (by the way, reason is very necessary in this game);
it helps to develop forecasting skills, and not the skills of finding betting mistakes (unlike obsession with money issues);
this gives what bets should give: more drive, more healthy excitement and more emotions when watching the match.

Condition two: control of the bankroll (game budget). For a beginner, the advice will be simple: you can bet only the amount that you don’t mind losing. Betting twice as much after a successful bet is a bad start. Trying to recoup after losing is an even worse start. Experienced players know how our brain works: one beginner’s win (especially if it turned out to be large) can “outshine” many previous and subsequent losses.

Purely psychologically. If you have seriously decided to master the art (science?) sports betting, start keeping a record of all bets placed, as well as every win and every loss.

Condition three: working with information. The ability to work with information, correlate facts and get up–to-date data in time is the basis of the basics and the main thing when choosing a bid. It is not enough just to believe in the team you want to bet on: it is important to understand what form it is in right now, whether its motivation is enough to win, how optimal the squad announced for participation in the match is, etc.

A novice player should also remember that in a game for money, the bookmaker always has a mathematical advantage. Of course, there is a small percentage of players who evaluate events better than a bookmaker at a distance, but this is absolutely not about beginners: this can only come with experience, and even then not everyone. A beginner can count on luck at first, and use his knowledge of sports as an aid in making an informed choice of options for betting.

Sports betting training

Before making a bet, understand the basic concepts and terms used by bookmakers. The betting line consists not only of such simple positions as a victory of one of the teams, a draw or a total of more / less. There are also a huge number of other bets where various pitfalls for a novice player can hide: if you do not delve into this and just experiment without the necessary knowledge, it can lead to bitter disappointment.

For example, bookmakers also offer customers different types of handicaps (Asian/European), which are calculated differently, and you need to know about this in advance.

There may be a catch in betting on statistical indicators (statistics) in the match: different bookmakers can count such bets according to different sources, and for a beginner it does not always end favorably.
In order not to have to learn from your mistakes, we recommend that you allocate time for training, carefully study the betting rules and possible nuances that may arise when calculating a bet. The coefficient proposed by the bookmaker is also important: it is very important for the player to avoid betting on overestimated outcomes, because such bets will be unprofitable at a distance.

As a rule, favorites are overestimated, but this does not always happen. Understanding the correctness of the assessment of the event will come only with experience, but you need to remember this from the first bet.

The School of Betting on Legalbet will help you better understand the topic:

• General information is the section that a beginner should read first.
• Sports — separate articles describing the main features of betting on various sports.

Types of bets

Materials that will help you understand exactly what the bookmaker offers to bet on, and how such a bet will be calculated.
You need to know this — a lot of applied information for the player.

• Strategies — materials about popular betting strategies, pros and cons of each.
• Sports betting: How it works

Define for yourself

How much money are you willing to allocate per month for betting, and at first do not deviate from the target figure. Even if it seems to you that here is the stake of a lifetime, you should not increase its size. Even if the bet passes in the end, do not regret that you could have bet more. In the process of learning sports betting, a person himself must come to the idea that the main thing in this matter is how the game develops at a distance. Such an understanding comes only with time.

Decide where it is better to bet on sports. In betting, a lot depends on the coefficients and the choice of the event. Each bookmaker has its own offer, so you need to start from what kind of sports, tournaments and types of bets you are interested in. Having decided on our direction, we also make the choice of a bookmaker. It is worth noting that the market is now so competitive that the betting line is getting better and richer. Therefore, many people focus on the coefficients and the size of the margin. For the same events in different offices, the difference can be several tenths, and at a distance it is of great importance.

Most people start their “career” in betting with bets on their favorite team and athlete. And this is a huge mistake that haunts many experienced players throughout the entire period of the game. After all, these bets are dominated not by analytics, but by emotions, which is a noticeable problem in the game.

Emotions and bets for a professional player should never be in the same row, all beginners should learn this truth as quickly as possible. It’s not just about negativity, when the desire to win back forces people to bet on the 3rd Malta Curling League, because there are no other events in the line at that time: it’s much more important that, perceiving your game too emotionally, you will get very upset because of defeats and will not notice the positive emotions that sports betting can bring if you play responsibly and have fun.

So, if you have already decided to try your hand at betting, we hope that our material will help you not to be disappointed in this choice. Good luck and new useful knowledge!