Four Common Mistakes Betting on Football

If you are a die-hard football fan and you bet through the entire season, you probably have a pretty good idea what you are doing, even if you are just starting out.  But if you are the casual football fan who just wants to take a shot at betting on the World Cup or one of the other major tournaments, you will want to steer clear of some common newbie mistakes.

1. Putting too much emphasis on public hype

The hype surrounding a football tournament like the World Cup, Euro Championship etc is going to be huge, and there is a lot of pressure to back the favourite and devalue the underdog.  Remember that some football games only involve a few goals being scored, so these matches can be closer and more competitive than you expect, even when there seems to be a massive skill gap between teams.  Flukes can have a huge influence on the outcome. 

So conduct your own analysis carefully before you wager, and don’t take all the hype for granted.  At that rate, don’t get caught up in your own passions and emotions.  Always betting on your own favourite team isn’t a winning betting strategy (although, it can certainly be a fun one).

2. Judging a team purely by where they are from

It is tempting to believe that every team from Brazil or Germany or England is going to own the football field, but these reputation stereotypes can be misleading.  Sometimes there are massive changes in rosters and other factors which can have an adverse impact on a team that played really well in previous years.  Sometimes those Brazilian players aren’t going to emerge on top, and occasionally a country you don’t expect to win will have an incredible team.

3. Not betting on a draw when it makes sense to do so

This is more likely to be a mistake made by bettors from North America than punters from the UK or elsewhere in Europe, but it is worth mentioning that draws are fairly common in this sport, especially in games which teams are not taking all that seriously.  This also happens surprisingly often in football.  Not every team will treat every match like it matters.

4. Expecting heaps of goals

This is another error commonly made by football betting newbies who are used to wagering on other sports where teams rack up a ton of goals in a typical game.  Many football matches involve very low goal scores on both sides.  You cannot evaluate a team’s offence in football the way you would with other games.  A team that consistently scores even a few goals may actually have a really strong offence. 

Now you know some common newbie mistakes to avoid when you are wagering casually on a football tournament.  Draws are common in a game where teams often don’t rack up huge scores, and the hype surrounding teams, players and countries needs to be kept firmly in perspective.  Find out what the professional handicappers are saying, but conduct your own handicapping too.  Good luck, and have fun!