15 important lessons from experienced sports bettors
Helpful tips from a variety of long-time bettors on lessons they learned
There is an old adage that says, “Those who can’t do, teach.”
I have always derived more joy from dispensing information relating to sports betting than giving my actual handicapping of various games. I know what I’m good at — and telling you which teams to bet on isn’t it. While I have plenty of subject matter expertise from being in the sports betting industry since 2010, my value is in the relationships I’ve cultivated over the years, resulting in a Rolodex of bookmakers and bettors whom I can turn to on occasion.
For this piece, I texted 15 different bettors and asked them about a lesson they learned the hard way or were taught by someone early in their betting careers. The resulting quotes hopefully will help you improve as a bettor and hit on everything from bankroll management to the importance of networking to mental health and betting.
Enjoy!
“One early lesson I learned from a mentor was to always look first at underdogs and unders. Bonus advice I would give to new bettors now would be to sign up for all legal books, play out the bonus and decide which ones you want to keep.”
“Every guy thinks he can do it, but the truth is less than 5% of those who try can truly make a living as a professional sports bettor. And it’s not a glamourous life.”
“The best bet in sports can be a focused favorite, like UConn in this year’s NCAA tournament, but if you want to win consistently and long term, you have to play mostly underdogs.”
“You will only be as successful as your ability to overcome negative variance.”
“I think the best advice is to not be greedy, be easy to work with and try to see as many plays from actual people who win. Without knowing what winning looks like, it’s very hard to win on your own.”