10 Online Betting Tips for Beginners: Learn How to Make Good Bets

Tip #1: Choose a Trusted Betting Site

If you have any experience betting on sports via traditional betting shops/parlors, you will know that not every bookmaker is the same. This holds true on the internet as well. In fact, the variance on the internet is even more amplified. Some online betting websites are safe, licensed and offer the best odds, while on the other end of the spectrum, there are unregulated websites that might straight out cheat you and swindle money. 

If you want to have a safe and pleasant sports betting experience online, the first thing you need to pay attention to is the sports betting website you choose. It is important to only play at licensed, tried and tested sportsbooks. 

Not sure how to identify good sportsbook websites? Worry not, for we’ve done all the groundwork for you! Here’s a list of our top online sportsbook websites particularly for South African punters. These are all licensed and thoroughly tested by our team of sports betting experts. 

Tip #2: Start Small

Betting on sports is all fun and games, but there is real money at stake. With the right strategies and sound decision-making skills, you stand to make a lot of money, but you could also lose a lot of money in the chase. Inexperienced bettors should not start right away with bigger bets, especially when they are still on the learning curve. 

It is much more sustainable and easier on your pockets to bet small until you are comfortable with how the betslip works, which bet markets mean what, how to read odds and various other nuances. Once you’ve learned the ropes and feel confident backing a team or bet market, you can certainly up the ante. 

Tip #3: Learn the Terms

When you start online sports betting, you might come across plenty of nomenclature that may sound all Greek to you. You will naturally pick up the terminology as you continue betting, but it is even better to proactively seek the meaning of these terms and understand them. This way, your odds of finding and placing winning bets gets a slight boost. Below, we’ve chosen only a few fundamental sports betting terms to familiarize yourself with even before you get the ball rolling. 

• Bookmaker/Bookie: A website or organization that accepts bets and pays out winnings as per the published odds 
• Bet/wager/stake: Backing a prediction with a sum of money in order to win money if true 
• Bet amount: The dollar amount of the bet 
• Betslip: A ticket that contains your bet/s information such as market, odds, stake, potential payout 
• Odds: The ratio of bet amounts that each party has placed, depending on the predicted likelihood in either direction.
• Parlay: A string of wagers in which each subsequent wager includes both the initial stake and any gains. Typically, all bets have to win in order for payouts to occur.
• Bet limit: The maximum bet value allowed on a single bet 
• Live betting: Betting on sporting events that are underway or in progress at the time the bet is placed
• In-play Betting: Same as live betting
• House: Same as bookmaker 
• Over under: The odds on how many points or goals will be scored overall during a sporting event, with bets placed on whether there will be more (over) or less (under) goals or points scored.
• Point Spread: Commonly known as simply the "spread." To odds or betting line used to figure out the favorite and the underdog. 
• Hedge: Most frequently used as a risk control strategy and with parlay betting. By placing a bet on the opposing side of the initial wager, you may secure a profit by hedging your bet. Another option is to place a hedge bet to mitigate the loss of a potentially unsuccessful gamble.

These terms are just the tip of the iceberg and some of the most basic ones to start with. There are lots of terms for each sport and bet type which one will grow familiar with as they start betting and learning. 

Tip #4: Understand Odds

In gambling, odds refer to the proportion of stakes made by participants in a wager or bet. Odds of 3 to 1 therefore indicate that the bookie has invested three times as much as the bettor. British fractional odds, European decimal odds, and American moneyline odds are the three primary categories of betting odds. These variants present the same information in different ways or formats. 

Decimal vs Fractional Odds

Decimal odds basically tell you how much money you will win if your bet wins for every $1 or 1ZAR you wager. The total payout = wager amount * decimal odds number 

Example: The decimal odds for Arsenal to win a football match are 2.5 and you back it with a $100 wager. If Arsenal ends up winning you will receive 2.5 times $100 = $250 winning. 

Fractional odds, on the other hand, represent the ratio of profit to the wager. British and Irish bookmakers frequently use fractional odds. In fact, fractional odds are also known as British odds. Usually, a slash or hyphen is used while writing fractional odds. A fractional odds of 3/1 entails that you win $3 for every $1 wagered and you also get your wager amount back. 

Example: The fractional odds for Arsenal to win a football match are 5/1 and you back it with a $100 wager. If Arsenal wins the match, you will get a $500 profit and your $100 wager back, so the total payout is $600. 

Tip #5: Learn the Bet Types

In sports betting, there are several ways to skin a cat. You don’t always have to simply bet on who will win. There are hundreds of different types of bets you can take depending on which sport you are betting on. You could bet on the exact score, you could bet on who would score first, you could bet on what the score would be at half-time and lots more. 

Below, we go over some of the most basic sports betting bet types, which is a good place for beginners to get going. 

Tip #6: Have a Bankroll and Use a Staking Plan

Betting should be for entertainment and must be done within one’s limits. Any form of gambling, sports betting included, can insidiously develop into a full-blown addiction. Right from the get go, it is vital for punters to have a planned budget even before they start betting and stick to that budget no matter if they are winning or losing. Very often, they may end up losing a lot of money trying to chase losses instead of throwing in the towel when their betting budget runs out. 

You can set yourself a betting budget for every session, day, week or month and play accordingly. Licensed sports betting websites will have various responsible gambling features that you can leverage to make sure you gamble within your limits. These features include custom deposit limits, wager limits, loss limits and even session time limits. If you reach the limit, you will not be able to play any more and you cannot change the limit at that moment either. 

Tip #7: Bet on Familiar Sports

Just because you got a tip or you have a hunch about something, it’s simply not a good enough reason to make a bet on a sporting event that you are not well versed with. If you’re someone that has in-depth knowledge about football, then stick to football and leave horse racing alone and vice versa. 

You may get lucky once or twice when you bet on a sport that you are not familiar with, but over the long run, you are only fighting a losing battle. If you are interested in betting on another sport, start with very small bets and spend time learning the sport, the teams, strategies, bet types and more before you make bigger bets. 

Tip #8: Research the Best Banking Methods

When betting online, you will need to be able to add and withdraw real funds. If you choose the wrong banking method, you might end up paying fees for each transaction and it might not be the fastest option either. Take some time to check which banking options are available and which ones are best for you. 

Some of the popular banking options offered at online sportsbooks include:

Tip #9: Stay Safe and Check Licenses

When you visit a sports betting website, make sure it is a licensed one. 

Usually, you can scroll down to the footer section of the website’s homepage and the licensing details are published there. You can then note the license number and confirm its validity directly with the issuer. 

Tip #10: Stay Disciplined

If you want to have a long and fruitful betting career, you need to be disciplined and follow the rules mentioned here. You’ll save a lot of money and have lots of fun along the way. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, just stick to these thumb rules and all will be well.