How To Deal With Losses As A Sports Bettor
Mon, Mar 25, 2024
by
CapperTek
The number one rule of sports betting is to prepare for losses. They’re unavoidable; even the most successful gamblers of all time will lose now and then. What separates the true winners from the losers is their innate ability to deal with losses. To them, a loss isn’t that significant when looking at the bigger picture. It’s a minor setback, but it’s not something that drastically alters their betting mentality.
That’s what you need to learn!
Understanding how to deal with losses as a sports bettor sets you up for more success. Ironically, facing your losses and preparing for them will aid you in losing less money overall as well. Here are some tips and points to set you on your way.
Prepare For Losses With Credit Card Betting
This may sound crazy to some, but betting with a credit card is a smart way to prepare for upcoming losses. Hundreds of credit card betting sites at CasinoGam.uk let you use any major credit card provider to place bets and wagers.
Why does a credit card help you deal with losses?
Think about the way your credit card works:
You spend money using a credit card
Money gets taken from your credit card balance, but not your bank balance
You’re given a credit card bill with a due date in a month
The money you spend gambling won’t need to be paid for at least 21 days. This gives you ample time to budget accordingly and prepare for your losses. Until the credit card bill gets paid, you’ve not technically “lost” any money as your bank balance remains untouched. If you win, then you get your stake back and can easily cover the credit card payments while the winnings head to your main bank account.
Credit card betting gives you some added breathing room so the losses aren’t felt immediately. Some tactical saving or moving money between accounts will help you cover the losses so they’re not as troublesome as they might be if you lost money right away.
Follow A Bankroll Management Strategy To Mitigate Losses
Dealing with losses isn’t all about knowing what to do when they come - it’s also about reducing the amount of money you could lose. This is where a bankroll management strategy helps you mitigate losses and enjoy more sustainable, long-term, betting fun.
What is a bankroll? As per Medium, your “bankroll” is the amount of money you set aside for gambling. Already, this is a good habit as you’re carving out a separate portion of your earnings specifically for sports betting. Calculate your bankroll by doing the following:
Add up your total monthly income
Take away your essential bills and expenses
Take away your average grocery shop payments
Take away any additional lifestyle expenses
Take away money you put in savings
The money left is “recreational spending money” or money you use to enjoy fun things in life. That can include going to the cinema, having drinks with your mates or sports betting. Decide how much of this you want to dedicate to the latter and you’ve got a monthly bankroll. We recommend using the MoneyHelper tool to plan your budget if you’re struggling to make these calculations.
What Is A Bankroll Management Strategy?
Once you’ve calculated your bankroll, you can start a bankroll management strategy. This is the process of managing your bets based on how much money you have. Different bettors suggest different things, but a good rule for beginners is to bet between 1-2% of your total bankroll each time.
Doing this will a) limit how much you bet, and b) stop you from losing lots of money when you lose. The wins won’t be astronomical when they come through, but following a bankroll management strategy is proven to yield long-term betting profits.
Never Chase Your Losses (Set A Loss Limit)
Setting a loss limit is another way to keep your losses as minimal as can be. You need to get out of the habit of chasing losses - this is when you lose and then immediately try to recover the loss by placing another bet.
You might win and undo your loss, but the laws of chance prove that you’re most likely going to lose again. Instead of losing $10, you’ve lost 20 or 30.
A “loss limit” is a way of stopping yourself from betting after losing money. If you lose two bets in a row, stop. It’s as simple as that and you can stop a loss train in its tracks.
Keep Track Of Your Overall Wins/Losses
We’re very up-to-date with the latest betting trends and one thing that stands out is the lack of awareness some sports bettors have. Specifically, we’re talking about overall losses.
Most gamblers only remember their wins. During a month, you could place $200 worth of bets across countless sports. All of these bets lose. That’s $200 in losses, yet the final bet you place nets a win! You spent $10 and won $80 from the bet - a decent little profit.
Suddenly, you forget about all of the losses and only count the victory. It makes you feel like you’re being profitable, but the reality is that you’re still down over a hundred dollars. If you’re not careful, this lack of awareness will mean the losses pile up unexpectedly. Stop this by tallying up all of your wins and losses in a spreadsheet.
Use whichever spreadsheet app you like, but include columns for your stake, wins and losses. It’s the best way to have a proper overview of your sports betting habits and you calculate how much you win/lose overall.
Before implementing some of the tips from earlier in this guide, your spreadsheet will make for terrible reading. It’s a wake-up call; you finally see how much money you’re losing. Get ahead of your losses and be well-prepared for them and the spreadsheet will soon turn around. In a few months, you’ve made more from betting than you lost!
