The adoption of online sports betting in the state of New York has created plenty of new bettors in the state, and the development of the industry has gone relatively smoothly so far. The generally positive reception is enough to have piqued the interest of other potential iGaming customers, but it’s reasonable to point out that enthusiasm can be risky. While you’re well within your rights to consider giving betting a go, you should bear in mind that caution is always well-advised.
Since the first bet was placed at the first casino in Las Vegas, people have been making bets for the wrong reasons. If you start from a position of motivated reasoning, you could well end up in the same position as those first bettors. So it is essential to eliminate certain truisms from your mindset when you come to place a sports bet. A few examples of poor reasoning follow, and it’s recommended that you bear these in mind when betting.
Don’t bet on a team because they’re “due” a win
If a team has plenty of talented players and bags of potential it can be tempting to react to their losing streak by deciding to bet on them to win the next game. Say the Patriots have lost their last three games, and they’re coming into a weekend game with the Browns desperate to get back to winning ways. You may think they’re due to win one because good teams don’t keep losing. But they lost those games for a reason, and that reason hasn’t gone away; they’re vulnerable, and you can be sure the Browns have been watching the tape that shows them why.
Obviously, if a key player is returning after injury, that could change the picture somewhat, but no team is “due” a win until they’ve actually held a lead to the final gun.
Don’t get tempted by parlay betting
Parlays, also known as accumulator bets, are attractive to novice bettors because they represent the chance to win a lot of money for a small stake, You can pick five teams to win on a given weekend, and get much longer odds than you would bet on a single game. But there is a reason those odds are longer. Predicting one result correctly is commonplace, and if it’s a game like Tampa Bay vs Carolina, it’s almost inevitable. But predicting five right in one go is a lot harder, and the chances of it coming unstuck much greater.
If you want to put a dollar on the correct outcome of ten games in one weekend and are happy losing that dollar, then sure, give it a try. But don’t stake any more than the price of a good sandwich. Just buy the sandwich instead, it will probably last longer.
Don’t bet at an unlicensed site
This should be self-explanatory, but in case it’s not… there are plenty of legitimate online gambling websites in the USA since the laws were relaxed. It’s now possible to bet legally with licensed casinos and sportsbooks. Yet some of the most popular betting sites in the USA are still offshore without a state license. If you bet and win, and go to withdraw your winnings, it’s not unheard of for those sites to make it hard for you – sometimes to the point of flat refusing the transaction. Because they’re offshore, they’re hard to challenge legally, and they aren’t afraid of losing a license they don’t have.
Often the offshore sites have better odds, meaning bigger potential wins. But remember that it’s better to have a smaller amount you can withdraw than a bigger one you can’t.
