What is a betting strategy?
A betting strategy is a pre-planned systematic approach to betting.
If you take time to plan ahead with a betting strategy, you will make decisions according to your plan, rather than based on emotions or ‘gut feel’.
Why have a betting strategy?
Betting strategies help you:
- Concentrate on a bigger picture approach
- Set limits on what you’re willing to risk
- Prepare for all eventualities
- Plan for success
- Look for value by seeking betting opportunities that give you better odds than probability suggests
- Better manage exposure and limit your losses
Creating a betting strategy
Your betting strategy can be a simple one page document or a more detailed plan. Some elements to include are:
- Your goal – to bet profitably
- Your approach – what betting techniques you will follow
- Your tools – your use of calculators
- Your tracking – how you will monitor your progress
- Your results – if you achieved your goal and how you achieved it
- Your modification – how you will change your approach according to your results
Types of betting strategies
There are a number of betting strategies you can follow. These include:
- Staking plans a policy that indicates how much money you’ll bet. Staking plans include:
- Kelly Criterion identifying and exploiting discrepancies between probability and actual odds offered by bookmakers
- Martingale system doubling your betting stake following a loss
- Dutch betting backing a number of different outcomes
- Arbitrage betting backing a number of different outcomes to secure a guaranteed win
- Matched betting using bonus bets to back two different outcomes
- Hedge betting taking advantage of fluctuations in the changing odds market
