7 Mistakes Gamblers Make Betting on Football

Football is commonly regarded as one of the easiest sports to bet on. The NFL is king when it comes to TV ratings, fan interest, and sports betting within the US. Because of this, there is a great deal of information out there to help you make the best bets possible. While it may be true that it’s easier to win money on football than other, more complicated sports, mistakes are still likely.

The football season is still young, and there is a ton of action in front of you. If you’ve gotten off to a bad start, there’s still plenty of time to dig yourself out of a hole. To make better bets with a higher chance of profit, there are a few things you should consider avoiding.

Here are seven mistakes gamblers, especially newer ones, make while betting on football.

1 ‒ Jumping on a Line Right After It’s Released

If you’re fresh off a tough week of betting, the easiest way to wash the taste of defeat from your mouth is to jump into the next week of games. Oddsmakers can release their lines at various times, depending on the sportsbook or betting site in question. Some gamblers think it’s best to immediately place a wager on certain lines right after opening to the public.

Those lines give gamblers the best idea of how oddsmakers feel about the potential outcome of future matchups.

Professional oddsmakers are some of the most informed professionals in the industry. They typically have certain information that you might not have access to, and their methods of analyzing a matchup are more advanced.

Picking up a line upon a release is inadvisable for the most part. Unless you’re privy to some piece of information oddsmakers aren’t, I recommend letting the line sit for a few days. Tracking line movement gives you an indication of how the public is betting. Sometimes, that movement will benefit you in the long run, making it worth the wait.

2 ‒ Betting Heavy on One Wager

Occasionally, certain lines are hard to believe, especially during the first few weeks of the season. Oddsmakers are still getting a feel for certain teams, and sometimes, they can be off in their predictions. When you notice one of these lines, you might feel inclined to put a couple of units on a single wager.

While the logic is sound, you need to remind yourself that just because you’re confident about a bet doesn’t mean it will win. The first few weeks of the football season are incredibly unpredictable. It can take around a month to get a good feel for which teams are legitimate contenders and which ones aren’t.

Regardless of how tantalizing a line seems, devoting a good chunk of your bankroll is risky. High-risk, high-reward bets are exciting, but they can also be devastating. Instead of unloading on a single bet, consider raising your standard bet a few percentage points, and save the rest for future bets.

3 ‒ Ignoring Heavy Favorites

You might be among the many gamblers who think betting on heavy favorites is boring and doesn’t have much upside. You’re not wrong about the lack of excitement compared to other types of bets. However, I wouldn’t be so sure about the lack of upside.

Heavy favorites are favored for a reason. Suppose you’re an attentive football fan, you know which teams will be at the bottom of the division at the season.

Conversely, you can probably make an educated guess about future division winners. When two of these teams match up, taking a heavy favorite moneyline can virtually guarantee a win.

I’m not advocating for only betting on heavy favorites. While your winning percentage will be high, your return on investments will be low. Additionally, it only takes a few losses to wipe out the small profits you’ll see. But ignoring these heavy favorites altogether isn’t advisable, despite the lack of appeal betting on them has.

4 ‒ Betting With Your Heart, Not Your Brain

Of all the kinds of gambling stereotypes that exist, one of the most common and unfortunate is the meathead sports fan masquerading as a sports bettor. This gambler most likely got into gambling because he wanted to bet some money on his hometown squad. If I’m describing you, consider altering your approach to real money sports betting.

Some experts believe you should never bet on a team you’re a fan of. That’s because your opinions can be influenced by your feelings towards a team, instead of fact-based analysis. I’m not entirely against the idea of betting on your team, but it should be done on the rarest of occasions.

Every potential bet should be selected based on a particular strategy or system you have in place. Betting on your favorite teams or players is inadvisable. Certain gamblers want their teams to win so badly they talk themselves into bad bets. Not only can you lose money by listening to your heart instead of your brain, but you can ruin your experience watching your favorite teams play.

5 ‒ Listening to Talking Heads

When gamblers make decisions about the games they’re going to bet on, they typically base it on several factors. One of the most influential factors is popular media pundits and personalities around the internet and on television. As sports gambling continues to increase in popularity, television networks have taken notice.

Now, popular sports channels have segments and even entire programs dedicated to gambling. Media members, just like any other fan of sports, are biased. While journalistic standards require journalists to remain objective, that’s not always the case. Those biases can lead to shoddy gambling tips.

Several talking heads and “experts” in the industry don’t come from a gambling background. Instead, they have been thrust into a role they’re unfamiliar with and offer their underinformed takes on gambling.

If you blindly follow what one member of the media believes, you could be led astray. You might be a fan of a particular media personality, but always take their advice with a grain of salt.

6 ‒ Placing New Bets Halfway Through Sunday

One of the best things about football is the number of opportunities you have to watch the game you love. There’s football on Thursday nights, all day Sunday, and even Monday night. The number of gambling opportunities you have can be both a blessing and a curse.

If things start going south during the first slate of games on Sundays, some gamblers feel a natural impulse to stop the bleeding. The smart thing to do is avoid in-game betting if your wagers aren’t winning, and avoid chasing losses. But that’s easier said than done.

I would like to say I’ve avoided this temptation in the past, but that would be a lie. I’ve gone winless several times in the early games only to turn around and make some last-minute bets on the late afternoon games.

These bets are typically half-baked wagers I wouldn’t have bet on if I wasn’t in a hole. More often than not, those bets lose and make a terrible day of gambling even worse.

7 ‒ Betting on Sweetheart Teams

Like betting on your favorite team, betting on the more popular league teams can be inadvisable. Take week 1 of the 2020 football season as an example. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you know that Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the offseason.

On paper, the Bucs have a powerhouse’s makings, and the average football fan fell in love with the team before the season. Several popular talking heads had Tampa Bay listed as a possible Super Bowl contender.

Coming into week 1, the Bucs were 3.5-point underdogs to the Saints, which looked like a steal for many gamblers. However, the Bucs ended up losing by 11 in a game where Tampa Bay looked sloppy, and Brady looked utterly lost.

Before you fall into the trap of making a bet based on public opinion and media narratives, make sure to logically approach each bet.

It’s easy to buy into a team or a player if you’re always hearing about them on TV or reading about them on your favorite blogs and sports sites. The betting public is full of bad bettors; don’t be one of them.

Conclusion

There’s a lot of money up for grabs in gambling on football if you do it the right way. Don’t be tricked into thinking you’ll be able to wake up an hour before kickoff on Sunday and select profitable bets. Even though it’s widely known to be one of the easier sports to bet on, it still requires work.

To make sure you’re placing sharp bets, avoid all the mistakes mentioned in this post. Always monitor line movement, and don’t drop too much of your bankroll on one bet.

Even if you fall in love with a line, there’s a chance it won’t fall in your favor. Always make decisions based on facts and statistics instead of emotions.

Finally, make sure to get out of your echo chamber before placing a wager. Certain media personalities, while entertaining, don’t consistently offer the best gambling advice.