Sports betting and poker may seem to be from different worlds, although if you are in one of the domains for long, you may notice that the two activities require some special traits of a human character for success.
Among thousands of articles on the resources dedicated to sports betting, like FIRST, you will find tons of advice on how to refine yourself as a sports bettor. And many of them have much to do with poker.
In this article, we shall discuss some shared features between sports betting and poker that may actually help bettors become better.
Let’s get started!
Finance Strategy Is Everything
Poker players live or die by their bankroll management. They know that if they have a solid edge, the short-term variance can be brutal. That is why professional poker players carefully choose stakes to minimize losses in the worst-case scenario and to maximize long-term profitability.
The same principle applies to sports betting. Without a long-term strategy, many individuals go broke, as they tend to lose everything after betting on a player following a single successful streak. That is why the first thing sports bettors can learn from poker players is building a healthy financial strategy.
Like a poker player that doesn’t put half of their bankroll on one hand, smart sports bettors don’t spend more than 1-3% of their bankroll on one wager.
So, a sports bettor should treat their bankroll as a business budget, not allowing any single bet to make them broke or rich.
The Long Game Matters More than a Short Game
What poker players know is that one game can be lost due to bad luck, even if you do everything right. But what really matters is that over one thousand games, skills are what really matter.
The same applies to sports bettors. Sometimes, they can fall into the trap of judging their skill by a few recent wins or losses. One bad beat can ruin their week. But if they have a proven long-term strategy that works, they will profit.
What we mean here is that it is essential to keep a level head, develop a strategy, and adhere to it without becoming overly emotional about wins and losses.
Therefore, we recommend focusing on positions with a positive expected value. As a result, the good strategy can pay out in volume.
Emotions Kill Success
Emotional frustration leads to bad decisions – that’s a law. Therefore, poker players train themselves to avoid tilt and remain calm, regardless of what happens. This is also a good strategy for sports bettors.
The range of bad games can lead to bad decisions for sports bettors as well. When bettors become emotionally invested, especially after their favorite teams lose, they are more likely to chase losses or deviate from their planned approach. Such a situation often results in poor bankroll management and increased risk. To avoid this, it is generally recommended to stay emotionally detached and stick to your strategy, regardless of what happens.
Know Your Opponents and Your Market
In poker, the key to success is understanding your opponents: their strengths and weaknesses, trends and tendencies, and exploiting their weaknesses. Thanks to the core of any business or any other activity.
In sports betting, your opponent is the market. You should understand how lines operate, why they move, and where public money is being spent.
While a poker pro targets weak players, a savvy bettor looks for soft lines, overreactions, and market inefficiencies. Knowing all of this helps bettors make informed decisions, build effective strategies, and develop their personal styles accordingly. This is the way to become a pro.
Data and Technology Are Weapons to Use
Few people are aware that poker players utilize solvers, simulations, and extensive study to stay sharp. Like in any other sport, they are training. In sports betting, analytics is important, likewise.
Blind betting based on gut feelings or team loyalty is not a good strategy. Today, the growth of technology has created an unprecedented situation: a vast pool of information and historical records on games from all seasons is now available online.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning create unprecedented possibilities for extracting hidden trends and insights into seasonal trends, team-specific trends, and more.
Many custom and ready-made solutions can help you dive into the data and gain valuable insights.
For example, tools like Dimers, Rithmm, and Sportsradar either offer AI-driven betting models, predictive analytics, simulations, and data-driven insights, or provide the basis for building custom AI tools.
There are also synthetic data generators and agent-based models like Bristol Betting Exchange (BBE), which are used in academic research contexts so you can build and test strategies, including how well they work over seasons.
Always Be Learning
With all of that, it is essential to remember that strategies that were effective five years ago may no longer be productive today. Poker players consistently study new formats, hire coaches, and review their own play in historical context.
For sports bettors, it is also important to stay agile in their trade. For this, various practices can be used.
For example, you can use a simulator to test your assumptions and different strategies. Tools like Betstamp or Action Network will greatly assist with this.
For a better understanding of the environment, it is recommended to study the market daily, like a trader, which presupposes tracking the opening and closing lines, line movements before and after the injury, and weather moves, and comparing different sports books.
It is also recommended to keep a detailed betting journal to discipline yourself and test your former betting strategies (were they successful or not, were you chasing, confident, or tilted? etc.)
Learning and improving on how you manage a bankroll is also important. It is recommended to keep a payroll spreadsheet or use an app, which will provide better visibility into your betting strategy and help you manage finances more effectively.
Summing up
As we see, in any activity, you depend on good luck and a lot of training and strategy to achieve success, whether it is poker playing, gambling, or sports betting. Therefore, while hoping for better, never forget to invest time into personal improvement, refining your strategies and training, as these habits will always pay off.
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