Want to make the game all that more exciting, while at the same time potentially earning a little cash?

Then why not bet on the next game you watch? That way you can increase the stakes literally, and potentially turn something you enjoy into a way earning some pocket money.
So now the question is: how do you go about getting started? This article will share the steps and tips you need to take in order to begin.
Find the Betting Site
The first thing you need to do, is to find a betting site or a bookie that you want to place a bet with. These days, betting online is often an easier way to go about it, as that will let you place as many bets as you like from the comfort of your home. Often these sites offer better rates and pay outs too, seeing as they don’t have the overheads of a highstreet bookies. Your chances are even higher when you choose one of the betting sites rated on bestbettingsites.co.uk
Shop Around
Don’t just stick with one book maker though. Shop around and look for different options. That’s another reason to do your betting online, as it means you can much more easily compare the rates from multiple different companies and see them side-by-side without feeling pressured into choosing one or the other.
This way, you can find the site willing to offer you the very best odds.
Bet on the Right Games
Finding the best opportunities is often a matter of looking at smaller games. Often the games that are getting less attention will be easier for you to find appealing odds on, especially if you happen to have insider knowledge. This is where it can be very useful for instance to use your home-grown knowledge as a fan of a smaller local team. You might have picked up on a recent winning streak for your hometown, or maybe you’ve noticed that a player is underperforming due to an injury. Out of the media’s spotlight, you might this way be able to anticipate surprises that others will miss.
Don’t Always Vote for the Favourite
It’s very common to feel persuaded to bet on the favourites. Bookies will offer specific prices and it is hard to bet against that. But as WalesOnline points out, often the favourite isn’t the victor. Take a look at when Rafael Nadal played Fabio Fognini at the Barcelona Barcelona Open. He had very short odds, but someone willing to do their research would have found that Nadal had previously lost to Fognini on clay jus a few months earlier at Rio De Janeiro.
Good betting isn’t just about betting smart, it’s about betting smarter than the bookie. It’s about knowing when to go against the bookie.
Likewise, you might look at England’s recent performance in the World Cup. They exceeded expectations and this surprised many, but it makes sense when you consider that these were young and hungry players (not the same tired old team) that had been trained as more of a cohesive team than their predecessors. Their odds were long because they were a relatively unknown quantity – and that is often a good place to look.
Again, this is a good reason to shop around. Because you might find that some bookies miss what others twig (and vice versa).
Know Your Football
Knowing your football is what will ultimately make a lot of difference. The more you watch football, the more you’ll get to learn not only what works and what doesn’t on paper, but also how to get a feel for a game. You’ll develop a ‘gut instinct’ based on watching countless games, and this will help you to pick up on subtle cues – like the mood of the manager.
This is something you can’t fake, it comes from loving the beautiful game, reading about it, watching it, and living it.
Make sites like The Telegraph a staple in your reading and try to source conflicting views and opinions to avoid bias that could ultimately lead to your making the wrong calls.
Go Long
Finally, we recommend that you go long where possible. Look for those lower odds and bet smaller amounts of money. This will allow you to avoid spending crippling amounts while potentially still winning big. While a bit of added tension is always fun when watching the game, this has a limit: it’s not fun to watch a game with your mortgage hanging in the balance!
That said, if you want to go pro, then you can always use spread betting. That means creating a portfolio of sorts including short and long odds – using ‘sure thing’ wins in order to absorb the cost of longer odds and vice versa.
But that also brings us to the most important tip of all: know when to call it quits!

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