Sports betting is an enjoyable activity for many people. It provides entertainment, thrills, and the potential for some nice payouts. Yet if you’re new to sports betting, then you will want to avoid falling into certain pitfalls. In this guide, we will give you an insight into the most common mistakes to evade when engaging in sports betting in South Africa. As a result, you can hone your own betting skills as best you can.

Consider Your Bankroll First

Before we move on to the common mistakes, we also wanted to highlight the necessity of setting up a proper bankroll. You need to ensure you’re not depositing more money at a sportsbook than you can afford. Make sure you follow our guide to setting up your bankroll as a sports bettor in South Africa.

Mistake 1: Changing Unit Size

This mistake happens to link up with using your bankroll effectively. When you decide how much you can afford to deposit, you should also determine how much you should wager on each market you like. This is your unit size. Most of the time, a value of between 1% and 3% of your balance should be utilised. Once you determine this unit size, don’t deviate from it. Stick to it for your bets, whether wagering on cricket matches, soccer events, tennis games, or whatever.

Mistake 2: Placing Too Many Bets

Without a doubt, sports bettors love placing bets. Yet there should be no reason for placing bets just for the sake of it. Following this process can result in a massive downfall. It’s a massive risk and can see your bankroll decimated in the end. Stay disciplined and limit your plays to the games you feel the most confident about.

Mistake 3: Not Keeping Control of Your Expectations

This is something that affects many new bettors. They believe that they can become rich overnight by engaging in sports betting. It doesn’t work like that, though. Most professional bettors aren’t swimming in money. It’s not an ideal mindset to have when it comes to sports betting. The better way to go about wagering is to expect to break even at best. Then, if you do succeed beyond this, it will be even better.

Mistake 4: Not Conducting Proper Research

It’s not difficult to engage in research for your sports betting markets. You can look into legitimate tips and advice from proper channels, but you should also conduct your own research at the same time. This way, you are well-informed on the sports teams and/or players involved in a game.

You can compare your own research with the tips to ensure you’re on the same page this way. Make sure you check into the data from previous games played, the players on a team, the history of the players/teams involved in a game, and so on.

Mistake 5: Overreacting to Recent Trends

This point connects with doing appropriate research. It’s not uncommon for someone to see that a team has won its last five soccer matches and instantly believe they will win the next one. Novice bettors will automatically go with this mindset. At the same time, if a team isn’t doing so well, then it isn’t uncommon for newcomers to ignore them. It’s a mistake in both cases, though.

Teams coming off one or more wins often tend to be overvalued. This kind of overreaction can frequently lead to bad decisions being made. Learn as much as you can about all participants in a game, especially their form against each other in the past.

Mistake 6: Relying Too Much on Tipsters

We advocate getting information from sports betting tipsters. Yet we don’t advocate taking their word as gospel. Anyone can set up a tipster page online and claim that they know what will happen in a sporting event. Not everyone is as well-informed and professional with these hints, though.

You will often find both soccer betting and horse racing betting touts operating online with limited knowledge of their respective fields. So, take note of what tipsters are saying, but continue with your own research and make informed decisions on the bets you place.