Patience – The Most Profitable Betting Strategy

The people who bet on sports for a living take the same approach that any business person would when launching a new enterprise. The best is to to borrow an old phrase, they know that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

There is no such thing in sports betting as an overnight success story, and this is especially prudent to remember when wagering horse racing or building the best betting football strategy. 

There are many popular betting systems. However, there are some rules (call them advices) that we wanted you to bear in mind when searching for the best betting strategy in football, hockey or any other sport you bet on regularly.    

Can you win all the time when betting on sport?

Winning when betting on sports is no different than any other startup company you might opt to invest your money in, seeking a future return on that investment. Time, diligence, hard work, and most importantly of all, patience will be required in order to turn this dream into a reality. 

The actual bet itself is the last part of a long, drawn out process that involves research and the dedication of time and effort in order to find the best play of that particular day. 

There are no get-rich-quick schemes in the land of professional sports betting. Those who win more than they lose do so because they are willing to input the time and effort required to be a success story.

Make a budget 

Want to profit when betting on sports? Make a budget, learn to manage your bankroll. Every business draws up a blueprint when starting out, and sports bettors should follow the same approach. You must come up with a plan of attack prior to making that first bet.

Allocate the amount of money you will be putting into your account. Secondly, determine how much of that you want to wager on a regular basis. Set limits and don’t stray from them.

Standard practice is that a bet – known in the industry as a unit – should never exceed 1-3 percent of the total amount of money in your account. That would mean if there were $1,000 in your account, a unit would be between $10-30.

Stay with the program

Whatever amount a unit works out to be in your sports betting world, that must be the protocol you continue to follow as you place wagers, even during lean periods. Sounds like a good betting strategy?

Look, just as baseball players endure batting slumps, bettors will fall into losing streaks that they will find to be extremely frustrating and taxing on their psyches. No one likes to lose but if you choose sports betting as your game, then you must accept that it will happen. And it will happen a lot.

It’s estimated that even the top sports bettors in the world generally hit for a success rate of between 53-54 percent. 

Again, like those slumping hitters struggling at the plate, the best advice for the sports bettor enduring a thin stretch is to stick with the program. Continue to follow the process you laid out when you got into the game. Don’t deviate from the plan, and heaven forbid, don’t even think about seeking out a quick fix by changing your approach. Robbing Peter to try and make a payday for Paul will only leave both Peter and Paul broke and broken.

Stay with what’s worked for you in the past, and whether you’re a professional batter or a professional bettor, eventually the hits will once more start coming through again.

If today wasn’t your day, remember that there’s always tomorrow. 

Never bet with your heart

So much of sports betting is determined by elements that are completely out of our control. All the research in the world can’t determine when the starting pitcher is going to develop a blister on his finger and leave the game in the second inning. 

That’s why you must take the emotion out of the equation. And this will be among the hardest things you’ll do when betting on sports but it is mandatory that you do so. Otherwise, success will always remain elusive.

The dopamine rush that comes with a winning wager is the elixir that drives all bettors. It is at the extreme opposite end of the emotional spectrum from the crushing devastation that a loss leaves you feeling.

The greatest challenge facing the sports bettor is the willing acceptance that this pursuit is one that it will take you on a roller-coaster ride capable of exultant joy and soul-crushing loss. And yet to succeed in the long run, you mustn’t react like a screaming teenager but instead roll with the ups and downs, remained focused on the objective and always stay the course.

The big score is a myth

We’ve all read and seen the tales of the bettor who makes the big score. What betting strategy do they use?

A most recent example of this was Scott Berry. In January of 2019, he wagered $400 on the St. Louis Blues to win the Stanley Cup that spring. At the time, the Blues were mired at the bottom of the NHL standings, so he got 250-1 odds.

Of course, the Blues did win the Cup, and Berry pocketed a cool $100,000. 

Scott Berry placed a $400 wager on the Blues in January.

He got $100K richer tonight 💰 pic.twitter.com/Jpud70G9HS

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 13, 2019

Whether you bet or not, everyone is enthralled by these tales. They are the completion of the elusive dream but they are also unicorns. You hear about them. You read about them. But have you ever met someone who’s experienced this sensation first-hand?

That’s why it’s best to put the thought of the huge payday out of your mind. Think of yourself as an Olympic diver. They don’t win the gold medal by making the big splash. They achieve their objective via their steady incursions into the water that might not make a ripple at the time of entry but add up to great success in the long run.

Think in terms of the long game

Sports betting is exciting. Successful sports betting not so much. But by downplaying the sexiness and not getting all caught up in chasing the rainbow of that elusive pot of gold by making a major play on a significant longshot, you’ll find that true happiness comes from taking a patient approach to wagering on the games people play.

If you roll a snowball downhill, it only gets larger until it causes an avalanche of disaster. That’s what will happen to your bankroll if you try to break a slump by throwing good money after bad. You need to ride out the rough times. You must accept that by staying the course, it will all even out in the long run. The odds will again turn in your favor.

Stick with the plan. Stay with the process. Play the patient game, and you’ll be rewarded in the long run. This could appear to be the most profitable betting strategy.