In the latest in our series of Things to Avoid when Betting we’re going to speak about something that no bettor should ever do under any circumstances if they really want to take betting seriously.

In Part I (Click Here) we spoke about Chasing Losses and why it’s a one way street to two destinations; the poor house and the doghouse. If you’re chasing losses you’re on a slippery slope and you would be better served to take a clinical look at your bets and get to the bottom of why you’re making bad betting decisions. Take a break from betting and go back over your betting history and get to know why you’re making bad decisions so you can start to make better bets on football.

In Part II (Click Here) we wrote about Betting for the Sake of it. Let’s put this simply; there are thousands and thousands of football matches per week to bet on. You don’t need to be making ten bets per day when one will suffice. Learn to take your time and be more analytical with your bets, keep a cool head and make better decisions.

Avoid Mixing Betting and Alcohol

With chasing losses and betting for the sake of it these are lessons easily learned. You do it once or twice and end up with a depleted bankroll and you quickly learn to not do it again. Avoiding betting when you’ve had a few beers isn’t easy, unless you don’t drink obviously. We can safely say that most of us have been in the situation where we’re in the pub for a Super Sunday and we’re all on our smartphones placing bets on the big match. But here’s the thing, we’re not really betting against the bookmakers in those situations, we’re just betting against our mates for bragging rights. It’s not even about winning money, it’s about appearing to be more of a football mystic than Roy from Accounting. Forget Roy, Roy’s not the enemy here. Sure, he’s boring and wears oversized, nasty suits but would you rather get one over him, or would you rather add a few more shillings to your bankroll? In those situations you’re better off putting a few quid into a kitty and betting between yourselves at the table.

Alcohol makes us all brave. It gives us confidence to do, and say, things we normally wouldn’t. And that’s great, some times, it can help give some dutch courage so you can finally ask out Amy from PR, but we’re here to talk football betting, being too brave when betting isn’t a good thing. Look, think of it like a business, sometimes it’s good to take a punt and buy in some stock for cheap, you might be able to offload it quickly and make a fast profit or you might be stuck with it for two years and make a slow, steady profit, or it could go belly up and you’ll make a loss. In business it actually pays to err on the side of caution and to take less risks. You see, when you make calculated decisions, they aren’t risks and to be successful at betting you need to think be more calculated in your decisions.

Let’s say you’re having a few pints in a pub and Liverpool are away to Napoli in the second last Champions League Group E match. Your colleagues are all going for Both Teams to Score, or Over 3.5 goals. And sure, on the face of it they look like decent bets, both teams score a good bit, recent results have hit Over 3.5 goals for both, but, Mo Salah and Lorenzo Insigne are both injured. Allison is back in goal for Liverpool and he’s not conceded a goal in his last four matches in all competitions. Add to this that both teams are on top of the group having beaten both Salzburg and Genk so far and they don’t really need to exert themselves seeing as they’ve pretty much wrapped up qualification. Does Over 3.5 goals look so good now? A mind clouded with alcohol would probably go for the bet and dismiss the negativity.

This is a light-hearted example obviously. But betting while drunk can lead to some terrible places and can spiral out of control. If you need help seek it out, there are many great organisations who can help you. So the next time you’re betting in the pub, put down the smartphone and just bet between your mates for small stakes and bragging rights rather than risk making bad betting decisions with you bookie.