Winning at sports betting is learned! Professional bettors know that success in sports betting is achieved through self-control, a good dose of knowledge, certain techniques, and perseverance. If you’re ready to take that path, our pro guide is for you! You won’t find a magic formula, but you will understand how the pros make a living in sports betting.While there are many myths surrounding the world of sports betting, the day-to-day life of money-making bettors is less romantic… But more accessible. Professional bettors choose only the best of the best sports betting sites to place their bets. Start there to do as well as they do and increase your chances of winning.

Winning sports bets? First of all a question of mind

Let’s get your mind right about how to approach sports betting. No, sports betting is not just a matter of inspiration, anticipation and prediction. At its core, winning sports betting is about discipline and self-control. It’s a journey to develop a winning attitude in the way you approach betting. The sooner you learn the psychology of the successful bettor, the sooner you will be able to win at sports betting.

In sports betting, it’s unbelievable, but true: the same mistakes are often repeated. One bettor will continue to bet on his favorite team to win, even though they’re in the bottom of the standings and taking a beating. Another will bet to try to make up for the previous day’s loss, thus making one negative bet after another without knowing how to manage his budget. The common thread of losing attitudes in sports betting is often the inability to take a step back and recognize one’s own mistakes… and put a stop to them. At the heart of the problem: cognitive bias.

Knowing yourself well

Cognitive biases are ways of thinking, acting or reacting, which deviate a little, sometimes a lot, from a realistic, adequate behavior, in logical relation with reality. These deviations are deeply human, rooted in our psychology, our history, our emotions, our prejudices…

5 cognitive biases that prevent good betting

No need to go see a psychologist if you don’t suffer from them! But for what we are interested in, sports betting, identifying these biases is an important step to neutralize them.

Emotional involvement

You love your favorite club since you were a child? You can’t stand that athlete because his long, greasy hair reminds you of an old acquaintance who caused you trouble in high school? This may influence your approach to the game, causing you to gamble on a win or loss for reasons that should remain outside your scope of analysis.

Risk attraction or risk aversion

Your natural tendency to accept or reject risk can have a negative impact on your betting. If you always bet on the favorite for fear of betting on an underdog, you will have a hard time winning bets with good odds. If you always bet on the underdog because it’s exciting, you’ll lose more often than not.

Conformity or non-conformity

There are no sheep among pro bettors. If you always follow the general opinion, out of habit, you will miss out on juicy betting opportunities. On the other hand, if you are too fond of bucking the trend, simply for the sake of standing out, you will too often make inconsistent and ultimately losing bets.

Superstitions

Do you always bet in a certain way because it has worked for you in the past? Do you incorporate the color of the tie worn by the coach the day before the game into your thinking? Watch out! Spotting trends and clues has its place in sports prediction. But they must be tangible and related to the sport and the results, not just coincidental or believed.

Confirmation bias

You instinctively leaned towards a surprise win for this newcomer in boxing. And the more you find out about the fight, the more you find elements that confirm your intuition! You may be on to something…or you may just be trying to convince yourself! Keep in mind that we have a natural tendency to give a little too much importance to anything that confirms our own opinion.

How to win at sports betting? Be a ZEN bettor

Taking control of your cognitive biases is one of the keys to knowing how to win at sports betting. It requires work on yourself to discover the traps you tend to fall into. And continuous attention to keep yourself out of them when betting. But, mentally, you are not at the end of your efforts – even if the game is worth the candle.

A last bias, more diffuse and multifactorial, can make you lose your sagacity, and your bets: psychological instability. To counteract it, you don’t need to listen to Zazie’s “Zen” 10 times a day. Just remember the main message: zen, let’s stay zen! It is a fact that we bet badly when we are in a bad mood, euphoric, obsessed with victory, defeat, or lack of sleep. Don’t take these aspects lightly as they are quite pernicious! Beginning bettors are not confronted with them very often. On the other hand, over time, the more involved you become in sports betting, the higher the stakes, and the more your sanity may suffer.

5 habits to keep you mentally fresh:

• Control your excitement. If the Tour de France is passing under your window this year, don’t let it disrupt your routine of analyzing sporting events.
• Temper your impatience. If you make one failed prediction after another, you will tend to multiply them to finally win. Betting fast means betting less well!
• Avoid losses. You did lose that bet you thought was the value bet you were rubbing your hands on at the last minute! Learn to put things in perspective and be yourself.
• Maintain a balance. Good betting takes time, but spending all day with your head in the game is not good. Set limits on the amount of time you spend on it.
• Identify when you’re off course. It’s not so bad if you fall off the wagon on a few bets because your mind was a bit freewheeling. But take the time to analyze what happened.

When you bet in a bad mental state, the result is often negative. You can’t change the past, but in order to win at sports betting, you have to realize it and react quickly. This way, you can set up a routine or rules to make sure that your brain is tuned to “on”, and that you are calm and rested, when you devote yourself to sports betting.

Unibet, the bookmaker to stay in control

In order to keep a cool head on your sports bets, some bookmakers have developed specific tools that are very effective. This is the case with Unibet. This boomaker makes great efforts to help you bet in the best conditions. Advice, evaluation tools, moderation functions for responsible gambling, prevention of risky practices… This is a first choice operator to bet to win while remaining calm!