When online gambling became widely available it was revolutionary in many ways. It was suddenly easy to place a bet on your favorite game because you didn’t have to find a land based casino. But there are a few downsides as well.
Just like gambling in land based casinos, there are many mistakes that online gamblers can make. And when you make these mistakes they can cost you money.
This list of 6 mistakes that online gamblers make is not a complete list of every mistake that you can make. But if you learn how to not make these 6 mistakes you’re bankroll will be better off.
1 – Not Considering All of Your Gambling Options
When you think about gambling, what do you think about first? Most people think about casinos and casino games, but these only make up 1 part of what’s available to gamble on online.
You can find gambling opportunities in online casinos, online poker rooms, online sportsbooks, and betting on horse racing online.
While you probably already have a favorite gambling activity, it never hurts to evaluate all of your options. Every online gambling option is supposed to make a profit for the owner, but this doesn’t mean you have to make taking your money easy.
Online poker rooms make money by taking a fee from each tournament entry or hand dealt at a cash game table. You compete with other poker players, so you have a chance to win when you’re a good player.
Online sportsbooks charge a fee to place wagers, but good handicappers can beat this fee in the long run. The same is true for betting on horses online. Online casinos are the worst option for most online gamblers, yet they tend to be the most popular.
Take some time to consider all of your online gambling options. You just might find that there are better options than you’re playing now.
2 – Forgetting About Safe Gambling Practices
Online gambling is safer now than ever before, but you still need to use some common sense to stay safe. Anytime that I’m making financial transactions online I do my best to stay safe, and you should too.
The first thing I do is investigate the gambling establishment where I’m considering placing a wager. Do they have a long record of treating gamblers fairly, or are they new? Where are they located and do they answer to any particular body of law?
This information is easy to find, and you can avoid a lot of problems by doing a quick search.
The next step that I recommend is insulating your personal financial details as much as possible when you gamble online. The best way I know to do this is to set up a bank account that you only use with online gambling.
I have an account that I only use for online gambling and I only put the money in that I plan to gamble with. All of my normal financial transactions use a different account.
Don’t get in a hurry when you want to gamble online. A small amount of caution can save you a lot of money and trouble in the long run.
3 – Over Betting Your Bankroll
Do you know how much of your bankroll you should bet when you gamble? Do you even have a bankroll for online gambling? If you can’t answer both of these questions with a yes, you shouldn’t be gambling online yet.
The first thing is that you must have a bankroll for online gambling. I know that you might not think separating your online gambling bankroll from the rest of your money is important, but trust me and do it anyway.
Your online gambling bankroll doesn’t have to be big. The important thing is to keep it spate so you can track your results.
The next question is how much of your online gambling bankroll you should be comfortable risking when you play. This depends on what gambling activities you use online and on your goals. If you want to gamble online for as long as possible you need to use a small percentage if your bankroll when you gamble.
On the other hand, if you’re just taking a gamble on hitting a big jackpot, you might want to use all of your bankroll money in 1 shot.
The important thing is to have a plan for your bankroll and don’t bet too much at 1 time. When you make bets that are too big you’re over betting your bankroll and are going to run out of money to fast.
4 – You Don’t Know How Money Moves Online
This might seem like a simple thing, especially if you use services like PayPal. And if you’ve never tried to take money out of an online gambling establishment, you might not know all of the difficulties that you can run into.
Depending on where you live, moving money in and out of online gambling establishments is either really easy or overly complicated. Most online gambling establishments make it as easy as possible to get money in. But getting money out can be challenging.
The most important thing to do is look at all of the deposit and withdrawal options for any gambling establishment before you start gambling. Make sure there’s an easy way to get money back out. Just because you get money in using 1 method doesn’t mean you can use the same method to take money back out.
I know that some online gambling businesses say they can send you a check, but I recommend avoiding checks as much as possible. They tend to take forever to get, and sometimes they’re drawn on foreign accounts. This can cause delays.
The worst check situation I ever ran into was receiving check from a gambling establishment in a foreign language from a foreign bank. It took me over 6 months to get my money after I received the check.
5 – Completely Understanding Online Gambling Bonuses
A big part of gambling online is the ability to get bonuses when you make a deposit to play for real money. But not all online gambling bonuses are the same, and some are not worth taking at all.
You have to learn exactly how each online gambling bonus works. The only way to do this is to read the terms that come along with each bonus. These documents are long and painful to read, but if you don’t take the time to read them you’re going to get taken advantage of.
The key terms you need to look for are what games or activities are allowed and restricted and what you have to do to clear the bonus. You’re not going to be able to get money out until you clear your bonus. You also need to find out if you get to keep the bonus after clearing it or if the casino takes it back.
Don’t make an online gambling deposit until you understand the terms completely.
6 – Only a Few Activities You Can Beat
Online gambling isn’t designed for you to make money. The only people that are supposed to make money from online gambling are the people who own the gambling establishments.
The good news is that all hope isn’t lost. You do have a chance to make money gambling online. But there are only a few activities that you can play.
You can skip all of the online casinos. Unlike land based casinos, in real money online casinos there aren’t any advantage plays that work.
The online gambling establishments to consider are online poker rooms, online horse racing sites, and online sportsbooks. And the best choice is usually online poker rooms. Not because it’s easier to beat poker than the other games, but sometimes successful sports gamblers get their access limited.
You can win if you master the required skills of these 3 activities, but it’s far from easy. In fact, some gamblers never master the skills they need. And if you can master these skills, it might take years.
Conclusion
Online gambling mistakes cost you money, but there’s no need to continue making the same mistakes over and over. The first step is identifying the worst mistakes that you’re making, and the next step is to eliminate these mistakes as quickly as possible.
Have you considered all of your gambling options? Maybe there’s a game that offers higher returns. You’re not going to find out if you don’t look into other options.
It’s not hard to practice safe gambling; it just takes a little time. Stay within your bankroll, understand online bonus opportunities, and learn how to safely move your money online.
Michael Stevens
Michael Stevens has been researching and writing topics involving the gambling industry for well over a decade now and is considered an expert on all things casino and sports betting. Michael has been writing for GamblingSites.org since early 2016. …