It’s the start of a new year.
If you’re reading this post, you’ve probably been trying to make money from betting for a while and if you’re like most people, you’re ready to stop losing money and start MAKING some this year.
Or maybe you are not losing money but are looking to really make this the year that your profits take off… and jump to the next level.
Either way, here are some insights – my thoughts on what might make the difference to your betting and trading in 2010… what might take your betting profits to the next level, FINALLY!
1. Gambling
Firstly it is important to understand that gambling is a mugs game and for idiots, who try to guess the next number to feature in Roulette or alternatively waste money by gambling in 12+ Runner Handicaps in Horse Racing. So if you remain in this camp then the overall outlook for you this year is continued misery. Lots of it!
2. Betting
This is for arithmeticians who use betting odds in their favour to calculate a win. However the win will not be as big as a gambler finding the odd high priced winner but as win results will be more plentiful the overall outlook is much more happiness in 2010 for these people. Lots of it!
3. Trading
This is for those of us who want to make a smaller profit in an event by making changes to the initial bet after the start. Trading is for those who like to run their affairs with a limited loss liability and a decent opportunity of maximising their profits. The future!
4. Hedging
‘We have never had it so good’ said Harold Macmillan – and that was before BETFAIR, which has been the key to unlocking my profits. Reducing any controllable losses and protecting your potential profits almost like a reverse bookmaker, is the key to profitable betting and will enable you to protect your stakes and build your betting banks. I attach great importance in using Betfair to hedge whenever I am betting and trading.
5. Betting Banks
Sadly the vast majority of all losing gamblers fail to realise that the best way to deliver consistent long-term profits from betting is to specifically set aside a sum of money away from their main finances, solely for the purposes of betting.
As a consequence of this they end up betting randomly with whatever spare money they have available and this approach all to often leads to inconsistent staking with too much being staked on the losers and inevitably not enough being placed on the winners.
So whatever method or system you are using, whichever service you are following or subscribing to or however your own bets are being calculated, to enable you to succeed long-term when betting it is vital that you set up a separate ‘Betting Bank’.
Your Betting Bank should be money that is completely independent from your own personal finances and is money you set aside specifically for betting, it should be money that you will not miss and it is absolutely ESSENTIAL that you are able to remove ALL emotional and psychological attachment from it.
Then having arranged the capital your modus operandi is simple. Your MAXIMUM bet even if its Boxing Day to follow Christmas Day is 5%. NO MORE. By all means use an ongoing bank, which takes all profits and losses into account but that 5% limit is PARAMOUNT.
6. Betting with Portfolio Approach
The very nature of betting dictates that even proven strategies will over time experience winning and losing streaks, so the danger of relying on just one betting method is that if that strategy is not currently returning a profit, then you have no income.
However by investing into a diverse range of betting strategies, you will ensure that the likely hood of one strategy experiencing a losing streak is offset by the likelihood of others experiencing winning streaks.
7. Following the market
The advent of the betting exchanges has opened up a whole new facet of reliable ‘information’.
Reading the ‘smoke signals’ being given off by the betting exchanges and the market in general has now granted astute punters an almost unfair advantage over the majority, who are still only concentrating on reading the old ‘traditional’ lines of form. So whilst ‘classic’ line of form reading still has its place, the betting exchanges have now changed everything forever and reading the market has to become a fundamental part of any future betting strategy.
8. Selective Betting Approach
One of the most powerful weapons we hold is choice. The bookmakers and exchanges are committed to offering prices on virtually every single sporting event, but there are undoubtedly horse racing frames, football matches and other sporting events which are less “bookmaker friendly” than others. So betting successfully involves the discipline of being selective and keeping your powder dry until the opportunities arise in the ‘right kind’ of punter friendly races and sporting events.
9. Approach Betting as a Business
Make no mistake about this “Betting for profit Is a serious business and gambling is for thrill seekers” there is a HUGE difference. If you simply want to bet for the fun or for the thrill of it, then you will have to accept your losses as the cost of your entertainment. However when approached with a business like attitude your mindset will change as your sole reason for betting becomes generating those elusive steady long-term profits.
10. Failing to Take a Long-Term View
I don’t use the phrase ‘long-term’ lightly, because it is essential that you understand that it takes this long-term approach in order to succeed with any betting strategy be that mine or anyone else’s.
Far too many punters change their betting approach at a whim – so quickly that they don’t give any new method a fair test. For instance should they find a strategy which works, often they fail to continue with the same method after just a short run of losing results or after one comparatively poor month.
That’s it!
If you can integrate some of these 10 things into your mindset and your betting this year, I’m confident this year could be the one you look back on in 10 years time and say “THAT was the year that I transformed my betting forever. After 2010 I was never the same!”
Here’s to higher profits in 2010!
Mike Marsland FCA
Mike Marsland FCA is the internets leading authority on strategic betting techniques. Visit his blog and signup free to get blog updates by email, along with profit-boosting tips, tried and tested betting strategies along with free advice, live blog bets, additional resources and a lot more! Go now to www.bigmikebetting.com
