5 Bad Betting Habits That Are Losing You Money

If any of this describes you, it's costing you money! Drop these bad habits today!

Aug 23, 2024

There are traps that almost all bettors fall into at some point, especially if they’re newer to betting. Learn from our experience and drop these bad habits to instantly become more profitable

Only betting favorites and overs

Listen, I get it. An under can be dead in the first quarter, while an over doesn’t die until the final whistle. I distinctly remember saying that to my buddy, AF, when I was a baby bettor. But the fact that so many casual bettors feel that way is why there tends to be a little more value on unders. And same goes for favorites. If Ohio State is playing Rutgers, your first instinct is probably “OSU is going to kill them”, and you’re probably right. But that’s why point spreads were invented. Don’t get too attached to the better team.

Now, I’m not saying you can blindly bet dogs and unders, but if you’re not betting any, then you definitely need to re-evaluate your process

Waiting until game day to place your bets

Betting lines are markets and markets tend towards efficiency. Every bet that’s placed over the week brings more information to the market and drives the line towards the true price. That means you’re almost always going to get a better number on Monday or Tuesday, compared to waiting until Saturday or Sunday morning.

Of course, there are exceptions to this, like if you have inside information that the market doesn’t have. But unless you have someone inside the locker room feeding you that information, assume you aren’t the first to know. By the time you read it on X, you’re already too late.

Playing too many lotto ticket parlays

I certainly understand why people play these. It’s the same reason that people play the lottery. For just a little bit, you get to dream about what your life would be like with all of that cash. But there’s also a reason that books love to show everyone these stories. They make so much money off of them. For every one person that wins one, there are thousands of people who have slowly wasted away their bankroll, a few dollars at a time.

And while I’m never going to tell you that lotto ticket parlays are a good bet, I’m also not going to tell you not to play them. You’re betting for fun, and lotto ticket parlays are fun. Just make sure that you’re limiting them, in both the frequency and the amount. One or two per week, for about 5% of your usual bet is a good rule of thumb. So if you normally bet size is $10, then your lotto ticket parlay should only be for $0.50. If you normally bet $100, then $5 is a good size.

(While we’re here, same goes for parlaying a bunch of huge favorites. Danny likes to call this “Picking up pennies in front of a steam roller”. Sure, you might make a few cents here and there, but it only takes one bad one to lose everything.)

Paying for picks

Betting is already hard. Because of the vig charged by the sportsbooks, you actually need to hit around 53% of your bets, just to break even. Every time you pay for picks, you’re driving that number up. So even if the picks are pure gold (hint: they aren’t), you’re still going to have a hard time breaking even.

So if you don’t have time to make your own picks (or you’ve been trying for years and you’re ready to admit that you’re bad at it), what are you supposed to do?

Well, that’s easy. Find someone who gives picks out for free. Now, don’t just follow random people on X, but there are plenty of good blogs, websites and podcasts (ahem) that give out free picks. I would take some time to find someone who’s style you vibe with, and then commit to following them for a full season. That’s how I started out and over time, I learned from them, honed my craft, and now I’m a profitable sports bettor on my own.

Betting money you can’t afford to lose

This one is probably closer to life advice than betting advice, but never bet with money you can’t afford to lose. Your betting bankroll should be funded with entertainment money. As in, money you would have spent going to the movies or out to eat, not money you need to pay your mortgage or buy food for your family.

This is one that I had to learn the hard way, but I feel fortunate that it was before I had a family or other people depending on me. I promise you that there’s nothing worse than losing money you were depending on.

And if betting more than you can afford is the only way to get the rush you’re looking for, it may be time to examine your gambling and seek some help.

To recap, don’t do the following things when betting:

Only betting favorites and overs
Waiting until gameday to place bets
Playing too many lotto ticket parlays
Paying for picks
Betting more than you can afford

There you have it. 5 easy things you can stop doing today to put yourself on the road to being a profitable sports bettor. And while you’re here, check out our free picks for college football and EPL this week, with NFL right around the corner!

Let us know if you have any bad habits that you’ve gotten rid of to make yourself a more profitable sports bettor.

And we’ll be back soon with our 5 Good Betting Habits, so stay tuned!