A-Z Rules of Betting

A - Achieve your dream to have a profitable betting business: To achieve this dream, the key is to treat your betting as a business, not as a hobby. When you run a business, you aim to make a profit in each business transaction. You do not enter into a business contract just for fun sake. The same should apply to sports betting. The winning punters devote much efforts and time to running their betting campaign as a business. They will do utmost to maximize profit and to stay solvent.

B - Bet only that which you know: Even in a league which you are very knowledgeable in, such as EPL, there are times when it has been difficult to obtain reliable information on key players, a factor which may influence your betting decision. Do not be tempted to bet on a match of a league you know little about, and just because the match is televised live on TV or highly recommended by some sports experts.

C - Cut loss when necessary: This is crucial mainly in live betting. The typical mind-set of most punters is to hand on till the last minute, hoping that your bets will come good. Be decisive and cut your loss as soon as you realize the match is not going as per your expectation. Such decisiveness can save you bigger losses in the end.

D – Discipline: You must discipline yourself if you really want to make profit in business of this nature. In betting, discipline is the will to religiously follow pre-set rules and criteria regardless of one's emotion at that moment, even when the punter is on a winning streak or on a losing run.

How important is discipline?

Because without discipline:

✔ even a successful punter can lose all his winnings if few minutes

✔ a losing punter can lose even more

✔ the punter cannot win in the long run

It is impossible to make everyday a winning day BUT it is possible to make everyday a losing day if the punter is not disciplined.

E - Enjoy your betting business: Enjoy punting on each betting day. Enjoy your business. The mind works wonders. People who enjoy what they are doing invariably do it well. However, on those days when you do not find your punting enjoyable due to some reasons, then it is time to TAKE A BREAK. Step back from betting for a while. Return when you are refreshed.

F – Focus: Do keep a cool mind and remain focused most especially in live betting. Watching a match, or tracking the odds movements, is an emotional roller coaster. When the chips
are down, guard against being swayed by emotion. Stay calm and assess the situation objectively.

G – Greed: It is human nature to want to make a fast buck. But be mindful of the wise

saying "there's no free lunch, not even in free town". When the bookmakers make you an offer that's "too good to be true', it probably is. They are in the business to make your money, not to dish out charity. They do not make mistakes. Such offer is a trap to entice the greedy ones to part with their money. Also, do not be tempted by the big pay-outs for a combo bet (accumulator) as the risks are also multiplied many folds. Unless you are an extremely lucky punter, you are unlikely to win often.

H - Have a betting game plan:  Always have at least one thing in common, and that is a strong game plan. The plan can be for a year, or five years, etc. And they will work steadfastly towards their plan with discipline and perseverance. All punters should also have their own betting game plan. The pros stick to their plan at all time. Of course this is easier said than done. We are human beings and there are always temptations to stray from the plan. And we usually can come up with a good reason to justify it. The winning punters know what they want to achieve from their betting plan, and steadfastly adhere to it. One thing is certain. We can never find our betting fortune in a cookie.

I - Ignore distraction: Be very clear with the punting goals you have set. Be diligent in following them through. Do not allow distractions along the way.

J - Just do it if there is value: If your analysis reveals the value lies in the underdog (for example, Aston Villa having a +1 goal advantage playing against the reigning Champion Chelsea), be courageous and follow your conviction. Just do it. Of course, it is a nervy decision as the whole world is putting their money on Chelsea.

K - Know your bets: Be sure you understand everything about the bets you are placing, for example, fixed odds betting, Asian handicap betting, special bets like total goals, number of corners, etc.

L – Losing runs: A losing run is inevitable even for a pro in his betting business. During a bad run, do not be tempted to chase your losses. This is a sure-fire way to disaster. Be disciplined and patient. Take a break from punting when necessary.

M – Money Management: Money management is essentially on how to manage your betting fund and staking plan wisely. The longer you are solvent, the more punting chances for

you to be profitable. Your betting fund must consist of money set aside for your betting business,

the money you do not need for anything else. Next you should decide on an efficient staking plan taking into consideration your risk profile. The higher the risk, the bigger the stake. Conversely, the Smaller the stake, the lower the risk. There is a delicate line between the desire to achieve higher profit and the discipline to manage your risk. The bottom-line is, whatever betting fund and staking plan you choose, they should be within your comfort zone. So, efficient money management is important as it reduces the chances of wiping out your betting fund, while maximizing the chances of making a profit.

N - No 'sure win' tips: 'Sure win' and 'Insider' tips are often disseminated over the Internet. Guard against such tips as they may be 'leaked out' by interested parties to influence the market to move in a certain way. Any information gathered from the Internet must be thoroughly vetted. Do your own analysis and research. It's your hard earned money on the line. Following blindly is the most foolish mistake any punter can make.

O – Optimism: Dealing with several losses in a row is a real test on our optimism in betting business. Many punters do not understand that one essential element of winning is to remain optimistic and manage our emotions. The inability to do so can lead to serious problems such as ill-discipline and poor money management. All successful punters accept losing streak is part of the game. They will not lose sight that their main objective is to stay in the betting business longest possible. Irrespective of whether they are 10 down (10 losses) or 10 up (10 wins), they will act the same way according to their pre-set plan.

P – Patience: It can be really frustrating that after spending a hard day analyzing the weekend fixture of around 50 games, only ONE selection meets your selection criteria. So much time spent and only one value bet to make. Yes, it is indeed frustrating. But do exercise patience. Do not bet for the sake of it. You are investing, not gambling.

Q - Quitter never win: Yes, quitters never win, and winners never quit. So, if your soccer business report card is less than satisfactory, which camp would you be? The quitters or the winners? It's your call.

R - Record Keeping: Do you know how many of those teams that you betted on actually won? Which league is your weakest performer? Which period of the football season (beginning, mid or end of season) is your most glorious? You will have answers to the above if you document all your bets. Such record keeping will show you why you win, and why you lose. Do learn from your mistakes. Do not be the sad losers who remain clueless even as to why they have lost. This is what separates the winners from the losers. The winners learn from their mistakes and they know what they have to do to avoid making the same costly mistakes.

S – Specialize in your chosen leagues: The more you know a league, the better will be your grasp and 'feel' in whether a certain match in the league is of value for betting. Try not to be Mr Jack of all leagues. Specialize in your chosen leagues. You will have a betting edge if you know the leagues well. Knowledge is king.

T - Taking profitable chances in live betting: Live betting has now developed in such a way that it has been compared to stock investing. The Internet and live telecasting of matches have made live betting immensely popular. The greatest advantage in live betting is the punters have exactly the same information as the bookmakers as the matches are being played. in live betting, the odds tell a story. the movement in the odds is an indication of the performance of the teams playing at the time. so, if the punters have the ability to 'decode' the odds and 'read the game', there are countless money making opportunities on every betting day.

U - Unrealistic expectation: Most punters do not seem to realize that any betting system or guide is to be used for the long term. So, be realistic in your expectation. You cannot judge the system/guide profitability on a daily or weekly basis. Judge it at the end of the football season. This means you must have cash in your betting armoury. Apart from selecting winning bets from your system/guide, you need to have the most efficient betting fund and staking plan in place. you must always remain solvent. The liquidity means you always have money to bet with. a good system/guide can let you pick winners but you need the discipline to complement it with good money management to win consistently. An indiscipline punter who fiddles with his money management will usually end up with busting his betting fund, and he will then blame the system, even though the same system is producing tons of profits for the disciplined punters.

V – Value: Value hunting is universal. It is applicable to both life and business, and to football betting as well. in sports, the true value of the outcome of a match is expressed by the probability of that outcome happening. if the punter can get a price which is higher than the one indicated by the probability, then he has found value. The prices (or odds) offered by the bookmakers are related to the probability of that outcome happening according to the bookmakers. If you can 'fish out' those selections where your own estimations of the probability chance of winning are higher than that of the bookmakers', then you have found your value bets.

W - Wisdom in learning from your past mistakes: There's a football betting wisdom that one key to achieving long term profit is in the bets that you leave out rather than the ones you punted on. This simply means that if you miss out a good bet, you do not lose any money. However, if you back a losing selection, you are already some cash down. So, be wise to learn from your past punting mistakes and do less of what's wrong, and more of what's right.

X - Extra efforts: Some punters believe in luck. They believe they have the gift of an acute sixth sense, that they can always 'feel and smell' the winners. Simply, they are basing on hunches. Yes, hunches do win games, once in a while. But be realistic, how long can hunches win? There are dedicated punters who make the extra efforts to study, analyse and acquire knowledge, and THEN have good 'feel' for a certain game. This 'feel' is not 'luck'. It comes from the confidence they have from the extra efforts they put in. There is a saying that knowledge, diligence, discipline, patience and luck are the five jewels of success. When you have perfected the first four, the fifth, which is luck, will show itself. Some people consider luck the output of hard work.

Y – Yield: Many punters feel that any yield from their soccer investment at the end of the year which is better than putting the money in the bank is already an achievement. If you are looking for instant fortune, try the lottery.

Z - Zero in on your dreams: If you have followed the above A TILL Y, I am confident you have joined the elite group of punting winners. So what makes a punter profitable and successful? Simply, he aims to make money in his betting business in the long run. He does not want to win only from one match, or from one betting day, or from one betting weekend. His desire is to win at the end of the soccer season. And he will always be mindful that he must remain solvent. CASH is his King, Queen, Prince and Princess. Period Without cash, he is out of business, and without a chance to make a comeback.

CONCLUSION

I hope the above A To Z Do's and Don'ts pointers will be an inspiration in every punter's betting game plan. So let's clean out our betting closet. Let's address all that are not working, and achieve a more profitable betting investment. Remember, the more willing you are to explore proven strategies, the more willing you are to learn from the punting experiences of those who have spent thousands of hours going through the betting mill, the faster you will gain an edge in your punting chances. You will only regret what you didn't try, not what you did.