What Type Of Sports Bettor Are You?

When it comes to placing bets, every enthusiast may have their own unique style. For many there can be no better entertainment than witnessing one or more of their chosen selections win.

People have been making wagers since the beginning of time; even betting on the outcome of gladiatorial duels in the Colosseum; though, this was perhaps a lot more straightforward and – mercenary.

Until the early 2000s, people only had the option to place physical bets having the choice of a lot fewer bookmakers; certainly, the high street ‘Big 3’ of William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral had most of the market share – an argument could maybe be made for Betfred.

Each one would compete in their own way, though the nature of betting in a physical location meant there were very few ways to differentiate, particularly from a marketing perspective.

Most sports bettors would be very set in their ways – perhaps only wagering on horses for big events like the Cheltenham Festival, but just to win, or maybe they would fill out a 15 team accumulator at a low stake as a way of enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Following the dawn of the new millennium, we saw the gambling industry revolutionised with the emergence of websites, which saw current bookmakers move online to be able to compete as well as the formation of many new sportsbooks. Many of which very quickly turned into behemoths, such as Bet365, 888 or BetVictor.

Online sportsbooks provided interested customers with far greater scope to be successful, especially a quicker and more effective way to reach their target audience with more attractive promotions that were only realistically possible via a website.

The development of apps made it even more convenient for sportsbooks to reach their target audience and quicker for customers to place a bet. While some were resistant to change and stayed loyal to the ‘high street’, many were attracted to the ease and convenience of being able to wager online, with some of these being interested converts or the tech savvy of a younger demographic.

Of course, people have since established their own unique betting preferences, which we have split into various categories below. So, keep reading to find out if you can relate to any of these!

Betting On The Favourites

Sometimes, this can be an effective tactic, because the chances of winning are higher, though invariably, it means that the odds will be lower. In order to make it worthwhile, if a customer is that sure that a selection justifies being labelled the favourite and they believe with near certainty that it will win, then they often wager a significant amount, which has to be done to get a high return.

However, this can set a dangerous precedent. If a customer is successful once betting on the favourites, they can easily get drawn into thinking that this is a foolproof tactic and that it will work every time.

Another way in which people use the ‘betting on the favourite’ tactic is to try and increase their bankroll incrementally and, as a result, bet small – of course there are no guarantees. Though, using this method, it is relatively risk-free, while having a great chance of being successful.

It could be that a customer does this multiple times in a week in order to try and build up to a target, such as the minimum withdrawal amount, or in order to place a bet on a selection that they have a good feeling about which may provide a greater return, potentially on higher odds.

People may also use the ‘betting on the favourites’ method as a hedging strategy. They may have a wager on a selection that has higher odds, with less of a chance of winning and, in order to reduce potential losses, they may bet on a favourite. This is a popular strategy in horse racing that has been really successful for many people over the years – however, again, there are no guarantees of this working.

Taking the example of horse racing favourites win around 30% of the time, for a race like the Grand National it is as low as 15%.  Generally the favourites will have lower odds, even a Grand National favourite will only be around 5/1 to 8/1.  If you always backed the favourite you will win many bets but you will almost certainly lose overall.  Of course, the trick is to back the right favourites and there is no magic way to do that.

Betting On The Big Selections

These don’t necessarily have to be the favourites, but taking football as an example, the clubs that are regarded as ‘big’ based on their history and success over the years have made them a recognisable, global brand.

Over the years, there have been some shocks against the so-called ‘big’ teams that experienced a decline, though to some bettors, the status of these clubs is likely to still have been attractive. Especially if they regarded the opposition as a smaller club that they didn’t know much about.

A lot of the time, people often do accumulators like this, if they can’t be bothered to do any research – they will just go for the club that they recognise the most, thinking that because they are a ‘big club’, they will invariably win.

Of course, on many occasions, the ‘big’ selections are often the favourites, so this can pay off, though it can be a risky tactic to implement.

Betting Based On Research

There are those who take betting seriously and, as a result, will ‘study the form’ in as much detail as possible to try and increase their chances of winning. Often you would see people in betting shops poring over the Racing Post; a popular read for those that frequented these on a daily basis.

For years, this has provided in-depth insight about the form and statistics of horses and various sports teams, which help punters to make a decision.

However, with the birth of the internet, for those who bet online, there are multiple ‘tipping sites’ that provide customers with as much information as they can handle – often too much to be able to make an informed bet.

Some sportsbooks actually do provide their own statistics that give information about head-to-head history and current form, which makes for an attractive selling point for customers.

However, sometimes, regardless of the level of research that goes into a bet and you believe that you have essentially done enough to guarantee success, something can go wrong that affects the outcome. It could be a horse race where the horse that you have researched, falls unexpectedly, a football team that has an ‘off-day’ or a tennis player that twists an ankle after a bad foot placement.

Betting On Your Favourites

For a lot of people, this can often be their downfall. They may be emotionally attached to several particular sports teams or athletes and in an ideal world imagine that these selections will be successful.

It doesn’t necessarily need to be a team that you support, but maybe one that you admire, if you are a fan of a team because they play attractively, though sometimes this is where a bet can let you down, if these teams are up against opposition that makes it hard for them to score.

Betting based on emotions can be dangerous due to the fact that logic doesn’t play any part in the decision-making process as there is more of an idealistic angle.

Conservative Bettor

There are some who are more risk-averse when it comes to betting. As a result, instead of betting to win outright, they may try and increase their chances of at least winning. For example, in an accumulator, they may choose a betting market where they can still win if one selection isn’t successful.

In horse racing, choosing ‘each-way’ can also be effective, because you still win something if the horse finishes in the ‘top 3’ (sometimes top 4 or 5). It can also work for sports tournaments, where you can win on a team that finishes second, third and sometimes fourth, if you bet on them ‘each-way’ – such as Croatia finishing third in the 2022 World Cup.

Although there are no guarantees of winning from an ‘each-way’ bet, it can greatly reduce the overall risk, while still generating a respectable return.

High Risk Bettor

In many cases, those who take greater risks and wager a higher amount, often can afford to lose this, though, it’s a nice bonus if they win. Usually they will place sizable bets on one or more of the favourites to win.

This is an ill-advised approach though – especially if you do not know what you are doing and cannot afford to lose a substantial amount. There are no guarantees that favourites will win and adopting a high-risk strategy can backfire with dangerous repercussions, to the point where people often chase their losses to win back their funds and end up getting into debt.

Of course, alcohol can play a major part influencing high risk bets as it produces a feeling of euphoria and the belief that an ambitious bet can be successful. This is definitely advised against.

What Is The Best Sports Betting Strategy?

Ultimately, there isn’t a right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing an approach to sports betting, as you could be a mix of the above. The most important thing is to consider some very important elements that centre around responsible gambling.

Approaching a bet with an attitude that you know that there are no guarantees of winning and not wagering more than you can afford to lose is a healthy way of doing this. Having the discipline to be able to walk away if things aren’t going in your favour, instead of chasing your losses is also a sensible attitude to have.

It could be that you set a weekly limit to how much you wager and you only earmark specific events to bet on so you do not get distracted by various promotions. This can be a good way to approach sports betting.