Sports Betting 101: the Fear of Losing Money
Intimidating. This is the first word that came to my mind when I was thinking about placing my first sports bet just under a year ago. What if I lose? This is confusing. This seems stressful! All of these thoughts ran through my head (and to an extent, still do) while I clicked the “Place Bets” button. But what got me to the point where I became more comfortable pressing that button on a semi-regular basis? That’s what I want to share with you, my mindset surrounding sports betting and why it should not be viewed as a scary scheme, but as exciting entertainment!
I want to break this down as simply as possible. In my young betting career, there are five intimidation factors that inhibit people from recreationally betting:
1) Fear of losing. One of the greatest pieces of advice that I have ever received on this subject, and that I can ever give, is do NOT bet with money that you are not comfortable losing. At the end of the day it is a gamble and there is no guarantee you will win money, so understand that quickly. Do not expect to lose, but since it is money that you are able to “spend” try to detach yourself as much as possible from it. A healthy way to combat attachment is once a bet is placed, to consider it a sunk cost, consider it gone. In a quick example, my mindset for placing a $5 to win $10 is, “okay, I just spent $5.” Say that bet wins then sweet, instead of winning $10, I won $15. At the end of the day, betting is supposed to be a fun, exhilarating experience. Unless you are a professional better, do not bet simply for the purpose to make money. If you find yourself with this mindset, perhaps take a step back and reconsider the next time you are looking to press that “Place Bets” button.
2) Sports betting is confusing. What the heck are all these numbers and what do they mean? What are all of these different categories and types of bets? What does it mean to bet the moneyline vs spread? At the end of the day, sports betting is only as confusing as you choose to make it. It may look crazy from an outside perspective, but once you understand the few basics necessary, you are well on your way. To get you started, begin with the most basic bet: who is going to win? This is called the moneyline bet. After you graduate from understanding the moneyline bet, there are other relatively simplistic bets to understand regarding the spread of games, how many total points will be scored, etc. Okay great, but what do the numbers mean? American odds are easy to explain: anything with a “-“ is saying you need to bet X amount to make $100. Anything with a “+” means if you bet $100, you will win X. Two quick examples: -115 means if you bet $115, you would win $100 if the bet hit . +120 means if you bet $100 you would win $120 if it hit. While obviously there is no need to bet upwards of $100, the ratios remain the same no matter how big or small you make your bets. My best advice, start simple and as you learn more and gain familiarity with terms and numbers, then perhaps begin trying new things to bet in fun new ways. If you would like to check out our glossary for the most relevant sports betting terms, check out our page on gambling lingo!
3) Fear of not betting enough. This most commonly stems from peer-pressure of seeing and hearing other people placing more money on events than yourself. Heck, my friends give me a hard time when I am placing $5 bets on games and they are throwing down upwards of $100 on a game. Both are okay and shouldn’t be looked poorly on in either case. While my friends feel comfortable betting larger sums, I am perfectly content with my $5. That $5 for me, is the perfect amount to add entertainment value to my spectator experience. I can not overstate this enough, only bet what you are not afraid to lose. If you find yourself needing to continuously increase bet amounts for the viewing experience and find your betting motives evolving into bad habits, please take a step back and again reconsider.
4) Fear of addiction. It is true, betting can be addictive. The most important thing is to begin with a solid base and learn along the way what keeps you in check and what doesn’t. For one, limit emotional betting. One practice I have learned is to not bet (or limit) betting for my preferred teams. My logical and analytical judgements become (ever-so-slightly) clouded by my emotional hopes that my team will perform well, and seldom does that bode well in the long-run. It is also a good practice to take breaks for set time intervals to allow yourself not to get completely engulfed by the thrill. And my third and final piece of advice for this section goes back to #1 again, do not bet to make up for lost money. Consider any money lost sunk, and do not feel you need to make it up. Use money you are comfortable to lose!
5) I want to bet, but I don’t think I know enough. Do your research! It doesn’t need to be anything crazy, but it is important to know the basics. First and foremost it is crucial to understand the sport(s) you are betting on from a fundamentals standpoint. What is the object of the game? How are points scored? What teams are good in this league? This may seem elementary for some, but I can tell you I am in no state to bet UFC because I could not tell you the answer to any of those questions other than perhaps that the goal is to knock your opponent out. After that, you can dive deeper into the specific games and analyze what each team does well, how they have matched up in previous games, and how their play styles match-up. These basics are sometimes all you need to make an educated bet. If you capable of doing this type of basic research and spend 10-15 minutes looking these ideas up, it could be beneficial for your viewing experience and may put some money in your pockets. Check out our Sports Betting 101 articles!
I hope these 5 ideas regarding the intimidation of sports betting put your mind at a bit of ease. Feeling comfortable is the most important aspect. As a new gambler, I agree there is a threshold that needs to be broken if you want to involve yourself in the world of sports betting, but it can truly entertain you greatly for the 2-4 hours your event lasts (and if you bet on futures, the entertainment may last all season)! There is reckless betting and then there is smart betting. I hope this helped and I hope you are encouraged to smart bet with smartsportsbet.net!
