Discover the Best Betting Strategy for You

Betting on your favourite sporting events brings additional excitement to the competition itself. Many UK bookmakers have been around for a long time and have already earned their customers' trust. Today, most of them have online platforms which provide hundreds of additional betting options. Here we introduce them to you, hoping to help you enjoy the best online betting experience. The information you'll find on this site is helpful for beginners, but experienced bettors can also learn something new. We introduce you to online betting, as firstly we are going to explain everything the initial steps you should make and then go all the way to the more interesting and specific topics of Bankroll Management and picking a betting strategy that will help you win big.

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Choosing The Right Bet – Singles, Multiples or a System?

Choosing the right type of bet Regardless if you are an experienced punter or new to sports betting, strategy is vital for long-term success. Discovering types of bets and finding the right one for you based on the desired profit, bet value and risk amount is a good place to start. The most famous types are single, multiple and system bets. We introduce them briefly to you, so you can get a better idea about the essence of sports betting. Single bets are recommended for beginners, due to their high probability of winning and the low risk level they bring to your stake. That is why singles are recommended as the safest bets, concerning long-term success. There, you have to predict the outcome of just one selection and you are guaranteed some profit. Another appealing characteristic is the simple calculation of your winnings. However, to claim big profits in that type, you have to place bigger stakes, compared to accumulator bets. Multiples, on the other hand, are way riskier, but significantly more valuable than singles. Calculating profits from accumulator bets is a bit tricky. First, the odds for all selections are multiplied. After that, this number is multiplied one more time by the bet value. This betting method may be very profitable, but is also very risky, as already mentioned. A multiple bet will result in profit only if all its selections are winning. If you consider placing multiple bets, we suggest you start with a bigger bankroll, because you may suffer some losses between your winnings. In case you want some insurance and bigger profits, you can try placing a System Bet. With that kind of bet you can still win, even if some legs of your selection let you down. The system bet is actually a set of multiple bets, combining your selections based on their number and the amount of predicted outcomes in the bet slip. The main disadvantage of system bets is their price, which is rather high compared to singles and multiples.

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Understanding Odds – Key for Successful Betting

All successful punters have to know how to calculate their profits based on odds and bet value. There are three popular types of odds presentation: Fractional, Decimal and American. Fractional odds are the most commonly used in the UK. The meaning behind the system is easy to understand. The first number indicates the profit amount that the bettor will receive, while on the other side of the slash is the unit stake. For instance: a bet at odds 5/1 will pay you £5 for any £1 wagered. So, a £100 bet will return you £600, making £500 profit.

You can use the following formula:

Winnings = Bet value x (First Number + Second Number) / Second number

Let me show you a simple example. Arsenal entertain West Ham and we put £10 the following odds:

Payout Rate and Profit Margin Explained

Payout rate and Profit margin are other essential things you have to keep in mind when choosing a bookmaker. The payout rate, or simply Payout is an indicator which concerns the profit margin of any sports betting operator. The higher the rate is, the lower the profit margin of the operator. That automatically results in bigger winnings for their customers. Regarding the leading UK betting companies, their payout rates vary between 90 – 95% and is calculated using a formula based on odds for probable outcomes.

Knowing the payout of the bookie, you can easily calculate the Profit margin. Subtract the payout rate from 100 and the result will show you the operator profit margin in percentage. With this indicator a lower number is in the customer's interest, as it means higher winnings. Profit margins usually vary between 5% and 10%, corresponding to payout rates of 90-95%.

Profit margin = 100 – Payout Rate

Finding the Best Betting Operator

After discovering all about odds and profit margins, it's time to set up an account at a reliable bookmaker. The available choices are vast, but we will narrow them down to the best ones for you. One of the main features of sports betting operators is their Welcome Bonus. It's either a Free Bet or a First Deposit Bonus and is available only for new customers. Every offer appears on the respective bookmaker's website and it's often the very first thing you notice when you open it. We tested them all and present you our Top 3 welcome offers for sports betting. If you are interested in details, you can find them on our 'Bonus' page. Every offer was examined under a microscope, so to say, and we guarantee that there you will find full and accurate information regarding terms and conditions.

If you feel you need a better notion about the bookmakers, we've prepared a detailed comparison of them. It can be found on our 'Betting Operators' page and it's based on a certain criteria, which features indicators like odds, sports selection, live betting, payment methods, and of course, bonus offers. On our featured bookmakers page we're providing deeper insight into the leading UK sports betting operators and all their characteristics.

Bankroll Management and Betting Strategies

Just like in life, sports betting knows some highs and lows. Winning and losing streaks are part of the game and it's impossible to eliminate losses completely. Discovering a proper betting strategy and carefully considering stakes, though, sounds like a good idea for improving your betting results. If you are thinking about betting seriously on sports, you need to have proper bankroll management skills. It's important for every successful bettor. Bankroll management will help you maximize your profits while minimizing the risk of total loss. It's important to always adhere to the established rules in order to prevent big downswing in your bankroll. One of the most common problems for punters is placing more money at stake than they can actually afford to lose. That way things can easily turn against you and your bankroll will suffer a crushing blow. To prevent such events, most tipsters suggest you don't put more than 5% of your total funds on a single bet. That attitude will not grant you enormous profits overnight, but will keep you safe from bankruptcy and still get you cash in some money.

Here we can show you an example of bankroll management:

Our entire betting capital is £100 and we decide to place a bet on England to beat France. We keep in mind that we have to stick with our money management principles. It is not a definite rule, but it will be good for our bankroll if we don't risk more than 5% of it. In case we want to take a more conservative approach or place a multiple or a system bet, the bet can even go down to 1%. Considering the odds, the current form of teams and a reasonable sentiment, we opt for the upper limit of 5%, which translates to a value of £5.

Kelly system:

However, there are some more risky betting strategies. The Kelly system is a famous, yet controversial method for managing your funds and is primarily intended for players with some experience. The system was introduced back in 1956 by John L. Kelly, Jr. and its main idea is to risk more money on bets with high outcome probability and logically to place lesser stakes on more uncertain predictions. To successfully implement the Kelly system you have to use odds that in your opinion are high. In the long run, this system maximizes profit amounts and is useful to experienced punters for odds assessment. The calculation is made as follows:

An example of the Kelly system:

Again, the credit balance of our account is £100 and we still back England for a win at Decimal odds of 1.85. This price translates mathematically into a winning probability of 1 / 1,85 = 54%. However, side factors such as the teams' current form, the number of injured players and even the weather conditions narrow down the outcome probability to, let's say, 70%. Having that in mind, we can use the Kelly formula to calculate the optimal bet value, related to our credit balance. To do so, always calculate your winning advantage first.

Advantage = (probability x rate) – For instance: (0.70 x 1.85) -1 = 0.295.

So, we have a bankroll of £100 and the advantage is 0.295 or 29.5%. Knowing these values, we can calculate the optimal bet using the Kelly formula:

bet = (Credit Balance x Winning Advantage) / (odds-1)

Example: (£100 x 0.295) / (1,85-1) = £34,71.

As you can see, the result is over a third of the total funds, which is way too much to risk on a single bet. It is very probable that the system doesn't fit your betting profile. Even veteran bettors may experience difficulties trying to find valuable betting options using the Kelly system. For novices in betting, using it may cause catastrophic results in terms of money losses. Bottom line, we suggest you take the conservative approach and follow strict money management rules, especially if you are new to sports betting.

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