How the fear of losing a bet decreases our chances of winning?

 (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

We all have that one friend who’s always overly cautious with their betting selections. After carefully researching together and reaching a common decision on the teams to bet on, he would still want to review the selections over and over again, to weed out games that carry too many risks. 

In the process, he would remove highly valuable odds and replace them with “safe and smaller odds.” And if you ask him why he doesn’t want to back the same selections as you, he would say, "I prefer to play safe and win than to risk too much and lose."

But your co-bettor is not alone in this act. There are so many bettors out there who are scared of losing, so much so that they would trade their chances of winning big profits off for a more guaranteed chance of winning even if it means they have to settle for the smaller winnings.  

But one thing that these types of bettors fail to understand is that there are no outright safe bets. Yes, he has decided to remove those selections he perceived as being risky, but who’s to say that the ones he considered safe and less-risky won’t turn out as losing bets? 

Yes, we get it, some games are less risky than others, but even these so-called lesser-risk games don’t always produce winning bets. Oftentimes, we’ve seen hot favorites – with odds as small as 1.18 – lose to stark underdogs – with odds as high as 8.0. 

Having said that, we’re not here to castigate anyone or to highlight why one style of betting is better than the other. Instead, we’re here to discuss how the fear of losing a bet can hinder you from making money from sports betting.

What is the fear of losing a bet?

The fear of losing a bet is a situation whereby a bettor becomes too afraid of making calculated decisions because of the perceived risks involved. When gripped by this fear, a bettor becomes too timid and unnecessary cautious in making decisions – decisions that could fetch him a huge amount of profits.

How to beat the fear of losing a bet?

If you’re one of those bettors that are always too scared to take on risks in sports betting, I’m sorry to inform you that even if you keep betting for the next 100 years, you might never really earn anything substantial from sports betting. Because in your attempt to always play safe, you’d miss out on opportunities and value bets that could help you transform a simple stake into multimillions.

To curb your fear and go for the big win, here are some steps you need to follow.

#1 Use tipsters 

If you’re always scared of losing a bet, the chances are that you don’t trust your forecasting power. But you need not lose sleep over that because there are so many punters out there with poor forecasting power. But instead of trying to forecast and select games themselves, they would call upon the help of a reliable tipster service. Tipsters are reliable betting experts who're renowned for their abilities to predict a greater percentage of the outcomes of a sporting event accurately. Now, once you and your friends have done your research and have drawn out a list of games you want to bet on, you can crosscheck these selections with the predictions on the tipster websites. Not only will this give you the second opinion, you need to ascertain the probability of your bet coming out fine, but it will also improve your forecasting power in the future.

#2 Go for the big win but stake little

There is no other explanation for the reason why people fear the loss of a bet other than the thoughts of how much they’re going to lose if they lose a bet. So if that be the case, then you can cut your fears by reducing the amount of money you put on the line. 

Do your research, select your games, crosscheck with a reliable tipster service, and once you’re done, stake your bet, but don’t stake big. Remember, if what you stand to lose isn’t so huge, you’ll be less bothered or scared to go for the big win. 

By and large, if you want to bet freely and without the fear of losing your money, bet with low stakes. That is, stakes that wouldn’t make you lose sleep even if they turn out to be losing bets. For example, if you have a hundred-odd parlay bet selection, you can stake just $1 on it so that regardless of what happens, you won’t be too bothered.

#3 Use money you don’t need

Like we mentioned in #2 above, if you're scared of losing bets, it is most likely because you cannot afford to lose your money. But what if you play with money you don't need? And by "money you don't need," I mean, money reserved mainly for entertainment, the money you got as gifts, the money you weren't expecting to receive.

Betting with money saved for house rent, debt repayment, transport fare, feeding allowance, and other basic needs can create psychological pressure on you, thereby making you overly cautious with your bets – an act that prevents you from turning enough profits in sports betting.

#4 Do not forget to play with bonuses: matched betting

Another way to bet without the fear of losing is to bet using free bets and promos. Usually, many sports betting sites out there offer new players lots of free bets and bonuses – such as real money bonuses, bonus percentage, refund options, cashback options, and so much more. 

With these bonus offers, you can play for real money without putting any of your money on the line. Shop around for as many casino sites as you can find. And take advantage of all the bonus offers you find on their sites. But when you’re looking for sites to sign up with, always opt for a bandar bola terpercaya because there are many scam sports betting websites out there today. 

#5 Bet with “sure banker” strategies

Instead of settling for small odds because you're scared of taking on the large high-risk odds, why not change your betting strategies. Usually, there are at least two sports betting strategies that are known to guarantee success with almost little to zero chance of losing. These strategies are called "value betting" and 'arbitrage betting." Their implementation is purely mathematical, and they guarantee you success every time you adopt them.