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How to beat the bookies: is there a winning strategy?

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Every punter new or experienced has asked this question at least once – “Is there a way to beat bookies at their own game?” Well, there isn't a specific strategy that will ensure you beat the bookmaker and profit from them, but there are some actions that you can take to maximize your profit potential and your chances of winning more wagers. In our article, we will try to give you the best advice and the best winning strategies for online bookies and sports betting.

Benefit from bookmaker welcome offers and free bet Bonuses

All online bookmakers provide for their new customer welcome offers upon sign-up. There are tons of articles on different offers and bookmakers on the internet, and you can even read about these bonuses from the bookmaker page itself. If you want to get all the latest information, try searching for “promo code for December 2024” or whenever you are looking for these offers. Welcome bonuses come in different forms. You may encounter bonuses that give you a deposit match, free wager, risk-free bet, no deposit bonus, etc. The conditions that come with these offers are the first thing you should read before deciding to register with the bookmaker. See if the offer is available in your location, how much time you have to fulfill it, and how you can use it. There might be specific conditions regarding which promo code you have to enter during the registration and which payment method you can use to deposit.

Free Bets are something that bookmaker often provide their new and existing customers. Like with the welcome bonuses, there are articles on the best free bet offers for each month or year in a specific location. Even if you find these articles online, you still have to open the particular bookmaker website and see if the offer is still available on their platform because some offers might be expired by the time you read the article. Free bet offers often come with a promo code, even for existing customers, but some of them might require you to only opt-in to receive the bonus. Like we said before, reading the T&Cs is very important.

Find the best odds for the market you like

There are some situations where you might not be pleased with the odds your bookmaker provides for a particular market, and when that happens, you have only one option left – look for bookies that offer better odds. You can try looking at each bookie site individually to find out about the odds, but in the event, you want to bet on is popular, there is a chance that someone may have compiled a list of the best odds for that specific event. All you have to do is search for it in your browser. If that isn't the case, we recommend looking through only the most popular bookmaker platforms to save some time.

Do your research about the teams and sports you wager On

If you don't have any prior knowledge regarding the sport or athlete you are betting on, we recommend that you do your research if you want your betting to have higher chances of success. Relying on luck isn't always the best option if you are trying to maximize your profits. So researching a team or athlete's past matches, their current condition, or even the specific history between the two opponents in the game can help many types of wagers.

Use the available sports betting features to your advantage

Bookmaker provides its customers with certain betting features that may help you out and increase your winning chances. Using these features is an excellent betting strategy, especially if you want to make the most out of your betting. We have described the most popular features below:

Cash-out

Cash-out is maybe the most popular betting feature around, and almost all available online bookmakers offer it. They don't provide it for every match and sport, but there is usually a symbol next to the market in question that shows whether or not the feature is available for the event. If you use this feature, you can settle an ongoing wager prematurely and get a part of your stake and winnings back (if you have any). People use this feature to secure their winnings if they aren't sure how an event will end or minimize their losses if an event didn't go their way. The bookmaker platform automatically calculates the returns you will get by cashing out by using the event's odds at the time of the cash-out. So, keep in mind that those odds will be used and not the ones you placed a wager on.

Live Betting

Live wagering is also called “in-play,” It's a feature that allows you to wager on matches that have already started. To maximize your potential winnings, we recommend that you use this specific feature in combination with other unique features, like live streaming and cash-out. Bookmakers offer in-play markets for some of their events but not all. The available markets are usually fewer than the one's available pre-game. Still, sometimes if you are lucky, the odds on those in-play markets might be higher because of the less time available to calculate them in real-time as the match goes on. If you play your cards right, you may win a lot by betting on in-play games.

Bet Builder

Bet Builder is a feature that has different names on each bookie platform it's available at. You might encounter it as “Same Game Multi,” for example. The feature lets you combine markets of the same match into one wager and automatically calculates the odds. Bet365 introduced the feature, and other bookmakers adapted and provided it on their platforms as well. On most bookmaker websites and applications, the feature is available on Football matches only. Still, there are some bookies, like Bet365, which offer the feature on Basketball and Tennis matches.

Live Streaming

Live streaming is one of the most popular and sought-after features. It lets you watch some of the matches that are available to bet on the platform. Usually, to watch live games, you would need to have a verified account with the platform and a positive balance in your account. Still, some bookies allow you to watch even if you don't have a positive balance as long as you placed a wager within the last twenty-four hours. Check the streaming calendar available on most bookie platforms to see which matches will be streamed live and which won't. You can use this feature in combination with in-play betting and cash-out for a better chance of winning.

Request a Bet

The “request a bet” feature predates the bet builder one, and bookies usually accepted requests via Twitter. Some of them still use this feature and have a list of requested markets so that others can bet on them as well. You can use it to request markets that aren't available in the Sportsbook, and if the bookie accepts, you will be notified right away.

Bet on a range of sports/markets and teams instead on only your favorites

Placing various small bets is so much better than putting your eggs in one basket and betting on your favorite team to win. Even if they are the best in the league, matches have different outcomes, and you can't guarantee that they will win each time. Choosing multiple sports or markets to wager on is a good strategy. Instead of just betting on which team would win in a football match, you can bet on markets, like Both Teams to Score, Correct Score, Goalscorer markets, etc. Bookmakers usually provide a wide range of sports and markets you can choose from, so you shouldn’t limit yourself to only one sport or one market when you have so many possibilities available.

Read about the latest betting tips on the sports you like to bet on

The internet is full of helpful information, as long as you know where to look for it. Many sites post daily betting tips on popular sports and leagues. Even if you aren't an expert on American Football, you can still read about the latest predictions for the sport from somebody who is an expert. While this doesn't always guarantee that you will win the bets you place because of these predictions, your chances are significantly increased.

Final conclusion regarding winning betting strategies

We can say for sure that there isn't a strategy that will 100% lead you to beat the bookies at their own game, but we tried to give you some strategies and tactics that might increase your chances of winning bets. If you are looking for more specific strategies on individual sports or events, you can try searching for these types of articles on the internet. As we said, plenty of people share their opinions and strategies with us, and some of them might even lead you to profit. But please verify your system with at least a couple of sites before actually trying it out, or don't place wagers with large stakes because it's not guaranteed that you will win the bet by following the strategy. Once you get the hang of it, you can increase your stakes if you want.

How to beat the bookies: is there a winning strategy?

Nick Gallagher

Nick Gallagher is a betting expert with six years of experience writing content for sports betting in the United Kingdom. He grew up playing competitive football and studied at the University of York, so he knows and loves the ins and outs of sports, writing about sports, and betting on sports.

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