When it comes to betting, many games are based on chance. Even the skill-based games have an element of luck to them (otherwise it wouldn’t be a gamble). To increase your chances of success, it’s important that you build whatever skills you can use in your game.
These skills apply to strategic games, but they can also apply to games that depend totally on luck. Even though you have no control over the outcome of the game, there are things you can do to give yourself a better chance.
Most of us work full-time jobs or have families to take care of, so there is not much time to build skills just for the sake of improving bets. So, use the skills you already possess from your job. Here are 7 job skills that will give you an edge when betting online.
1. Math
This is probably the most obvious skill that can help you when placing bets online or in-person. It will help you discern which possibilities can lead to a win and which hands are already a bust.
One extreme example of math helping in betting is card counting. Card counting is not illegal but it is heavily frowned upon by most casinos. If they catch you doing it (and doing it well) you will be banned from playing the game and maybe even banned from the casino.
In a less extreme way, being able to remember which cards you’ve seen will help you do some math in your head to decide whether or not you should back out in games like poker or blackjack.
2. Acting
Acting skills can help you in games like poker when you don’t want your fellow players to catch on to what you have in your hand.
If you have a good hand, you want them to think that it’s not as good so that they will continue to bet to try and beat it. If you have a bad hand, you want them to believe that it’s so good that they should just fold right now and let you have the pot.
While playing online does offer advantages–players can’t read your face or body language–they can still watch for things like how quickly you play your turn. Most online poker games also have chat rooms so you can socialize with other players. How active you are in the chatroom and what you say in the chatroom can also be useful clues to your opponents. So, you have to have good acting skills to succeed, even online.
3. Statistics
Statistics could have been lumped in with math skills, but I wanted to give this it’s own category because it’s important in and of itself.
It’s important for each player to understand statistics in gambling in order to be successful. You need to know what the house advantage is and what your odds of winning are. One common misconception is that, in a 50/50 chance bet, if one result is achieved the first round, the opposite result is more likely to be achieved the next round.
Let’s say you’re playing roulette and the ball lands on red this round. Next round, you may think that the chances of it landing on black are higher, but this is not true. In a good roulette strategy, you’ll know that previous spins do not affect future spins.
Understanding statistics and avoiding fallacies will prevent you from placing a large bet because of a misconception.
4. Attention to Detail
Attention to detail and good observational abilities are helpful skills when betting online. Just as you want to act a certain way to fool others about your poker hand, you want to pay attention to your opponents and watch for tells.
“Tells” are actions or behaviors players exhibit when they’re lying, they have a good hand, or they have a bad hand.
Paying close attention to the behavior of others could reveal information that will give you an upper hand.
5. Money Management
A good money management strategy will help you create more opportunities to win. Let’s say you started playing with a budget of $100 in mind. If you play a game that requires a $50 buy-in, you only have two opportunities to win the game before you’re out of cash. That doesn’t give you many chances to win.
However, a budget of $100 while playing penny slots can get you much further. You’ll be able to afford many more rounds which will create more opportunities for success. This is essential in games that rely solely on luck.
Another way to manage your money well is to look for online casinos that offer bonuses and incentives to play. These bonuses will give you more money to play with which translates to more time playing and more opportunities to win.Got example, I’ve tried out OnlineCasinoGems and got some great bonuses from a variety of online casinos.
6. Discipline
Discipline is an important skill to have any time you’re gambling. Before you play, you should set limits for yourself about how much money you’re going to play with, how much you’re willing to lose, and what amount you’d have to win to walk away.
Let’s say you lost the amount you decided on earlier and it’s time to walk away. It would be really easy to say, “Maybe I can win it back,” or “I’m bound to win soon.” But, playing this way leads to emotional and impulsive decisions. It’s likely that you’ll stop having fun and that your losing streak won’t turn around any time soon. So, have the discipline to walk away when it’s time.
7. Work Well Under Pressure
Studies show that people who have outside pressure weighing on them tend to have poor decision-making skills. When you’re betting, it’s important to keep a level head and not let outside pressures or emotions get in the way of a solid strategy.
If you’re in a rush, you may not see opportunities that could help you win, you may call on a bet that you should have folded on or vice versa. You’ll lose the small amount of control that you had over the results and your chances to win the jackpot will slip away.
Working well under pressure will allow you to play better and see better results.
When it comes to gambling, there’s only so much that you can do to increase your chances of winning. But, even that small amount of control can make all the difference in the end. Work on building these skills and watch how they affect your online betting success.
