The odds usually favour the favourite in sports betting, but that doesn’t mean you should always go with the big-name team or player. Sometimes it’s better to back the underdog and try for a game that everyone wants to watch – or at least everyone else apart from the bookmakers!
Here are five ways that backing the underdog can stack the odds in your favour:
It Teaches You To Trust Your Instincts
It’s always fascinating when watching sports and betting on them, because it’s so easy to be mesmerised by the numbers thrown up on the big screens. Even an experienced fan can get easily carried away by what they see on TV and forget about what’s going on in the game itself. That may not be a problem when you back the favourite, as you’ll usually know what’s going on even if you aren’t particularly engaged in the action. When you back the underdog, however, you’re taking a blind bit of a gamble, as there’s no telling what could happen in the game that you don’t know anything about.
Betting on sports is all about having confidence in the outcome, and that means you have to trust your inner feelings rather than just what you see in front of you. You may not agree with what your gut is telling you, but at least you’ll know that you’re basically picking a winner, and you won’t feel too bad about it if you lose.
It Forces The Favorites To Work Harder
There’s no guarantee that just because a team or player is ‘favourite’ that they’ll perform well, but it certainly feels that way sometimes. When you back the underdog, however, you’re essentially gambling that the favourite will falter – and that can only be good for you, the sports fan.
It’s well known that favourites often play worse when they’re expected to win, and that’s why backing them is usually a bad idea. When you believe that a team or player is going to lose, however, you might just get the performance of their lives, as they’ll be spurred on by the knowledge that they have to – and that they want to!
It Confuses The Bookmakers
One of the things that make gambling so exciting is how unpredictable it can be. You might see a team or player that you like at a certain price, but the bookies might have them as 3-1 odds-on favourites, which means there’s a good chance they’ll lose. When you back the underdog, however, the odds will always be in your favour, as there’s no such thing as an impossible victory.
Even the most experienced of gamblers can sometimes get carried away by the excitement of betting, and that can make them make hasty, careless decisions that cost them money. When you back the underdog, however, that sort of thing won’t happen, as you’ll know exactly what is going on and make the right decision, no matter what.
It Provides Some Brilliant Bonus Opportunities
You might score some great successes when betting on favourites, as they’re usually the ones that the bookies favour and will often pay out on. One of the things that make sports so fascinating is the way the odds can change from one moment to the next, as a result of some unplanned event that happens in the middle of the game. The bonus opportunities that this presents can be great for the avid sports fan, who wants to have the advantage of betting when those magic odds change.
If you want to take advantage of those incredible betting opportunities, all you need to do is find an underdog that the majority of the public agree is going to win. This way, even if the bookies have them as long odds-on favourites, there will still be plenty of people backing their team, which will give you the advantage of making a quick and easy profit when the odds change in your favour.
It Provides An Opportunity To Gamble Responsibly
Anyone who gambles should always do so responsibly. This means avoiding all forms of problem gambling, not just in sports but in all forms of gambling. When you back the underdog, you’re essentially doing so as they might be considered a bit of a risk as opposed to a safe bet, just because the odds are against them. Most people aren’t going to feel the urge to gamble on a team or player that they believe is going to lose, as they have no interest in wasting their time or money on something that might not turn out how they expect.
Just because a team or player is considered a gamble doesn’t mean that you have to avoid them completely, but it’s definitely something to bear in mind, so that you don’t place any unnecessary risks on yourself. Betting on sports is incredibly exciting, as it’s a world full of possibilities – but also incredibly dangerous, as there’s so much money involved that it’s easy for this to become an addiction. If you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling problem, please reach out for help as soon as possible, as this can be a very dangerous thing to let continue unchecked.