The internet is awash with betting articles giving advice and sometimes it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. Of course there are some great people out there offering good advice but there’s a huge amount of stuff written by charlatans and snake-oil salesmen who are always trying to sell you some ‘inside information’ of a foolproof ‘system’ that promises a life on easy street. In this series of articles we’ll speak about some of the things to avoid when betting, we’re planning to put out one of these per week for the next few weeks.

Betting isn’t easy, if it was we’d all have given up work ages ago and we’d be sipping cocktails on a beach in the South Pacific by now but you can certainly earn a few extra bob from it and if you’re dedicated to really put in the work, and the hours, you can make a living from it, you just have to be prepared for the hard graft and remaining objective enough so that you can spot mistakes and take the emotion out of your betting decisions.

Previously we wrote an article about how to Be Less Biased When Betting, you can read it here (Click Here ) but today we want to speak about one critical mistake you can make when betting that will lead you not only to the poor house but probably the doghouse too.

Chasing Losses

Do not chase losses. Leave it alone, keep your betting bankroll balance for another day and come back with fresh eyes. This cannot really be stressed enough and it’s a very, very difficult thing to master. We’ve all been there. You’ve bet on Over 4.5 goals in the recent Man City vs Spurs Premier League match, you got a great price, 4.33 on Betfair so stuck a fiver on it. Eleation, Gabriel Jesus sticks the ball in the net in the dying moments of the clash! What? VAR! Ah, come on man! How is that a handball? OK, it’s a handball by the letter of the law, but seriously?

OK, it’s just a fiver, but to have victory torn away from your mits like that is hard to take. Do you A) get annoyed and try to win that fiver back? Corinthians play Botafogo later that evening. Over 2.5 is a tempting 2.50 or

B) wait until tomorrow and back Both Teams to Score when Leicester take on Chelsea away?

If you’d have gone with A, you’d have lost again, if you’d kept a clear head you would have reassessed your situation and hopefully picked a better bet on the following day. Don’t rush into making betting decisions. There are literally 100s of football matches played around the world every day of the week, there are more than enough opportunities to find value bets, so learn to take it slow and be clinical. Be more like Matt Le Tessier, cool, calm and clinical and be less like Ricky van Wolfswinkel, all bluster and missed chances.