Placing a bet on a tennis match or a tennis tournament is not hard. Placing a winning bet on a match or a tournament, though, is another story. A lot of people focus on figuring out what they should be doing when they’re looking to make their tennis bets. While this is important, it’s not the whole picture. Something that is often overlooked but is just as important is what you shouldn’t be doing when making your tennis bets.
There are a lot of pitfalls, errors, and mistakes that are just waiting to trip you up when it comes to betting on tennis. In this guide, we’re going to take a look at the most common and the most costly tennis betting mistakes. We’ll also take a look at what you need to do in order to protect yourself from these mistakes as well as how you correct any mistakes you might already be making.
These are not the mistakes that we theoretically think people are making. These are the mistakes that we see from tennis bettors of all skill levels day in and day out. Take a few minutes now to give yourself a much better shot at success and to protect your hard earned profits.
This is a common mistake that we see in a lot of major sports, but it is much more prevalent with the sport of tennis. Most people are aware of the fact that you can bet on the winner of a particular match or the winner of a tournament. But, a lot of people are not aware of the fact that you can bet on way more than just that.
You can bet props, totals bets, and even handicapped bets that mirror spread bets. While you certainly don’t have to take advantage of any of these bets, you need to know that they exist. You need to know what your options are with each tennis match or tennis tournament that you’re betting to ensure that you’re giving yourself the best chance of winning and that you’re taking advantage of the most value possible.
Winning at tennis betting comes down to picking winners and making bets that have value. As long as you’re doing that, you’re going to be profitable. But, there are going to be a lot of instances where you can make more money or give yourself a better chance of winning if you alter the type of bet that you’re making.
Want to learn about the different types of tennis bets available? We’ve got you. Check out our Types of Tennis Bets guide for all the details that you need to know.
Before we get into this, we want to make sure something is clear. We are not telling you that you shouldn’t bet big favorites to win a match or a tournament. What we are going to tell you, though, is that you need to make sure that you’re getting value on your bet if you’re betting a favorite. Actually, you should be making sure you have value on every single bet you make, but it becomes especially important when you’re betting on favorites.
Why? Well, the betting public loves to bet favorites. When they do this, the online sportsbook has to work to balance their books by lowering the payouts on the big favorites. This means that unless you get in early, you’re probably not going to be getting that great of a payout. So, even though you think someone is going to win a tennis tournament or tennis match, they might not be a great bet. There has to be value or else you’re making a bad bet.
This confuses a lot of people because it seems counter-intuitive to choose not to bet on someone that you think is going to win. But, this is why most people don’t make money long term betting on tennis or betting on any sport. If this concept seems foreign to you, then we highly recommend you take a break from this guide and check out our Understanding Value and How Betting Lines Work guide. It’s the key to being successful betting tennis and turning a profit in the long run.
If you’ve ever played tennis before or you’ve been a fan for a while, you are probably already aware of this. If you’re new to the sport, though, this might be something you’re unaware of. Regardless of how long you’ve been studying the game, this is something that needs to be accounted for when it comes to making your tennis bets.
Not every court is the same. Clay courts are typically referred to as slow and favor defensive players. They also allow players to slide into shots which can conserve energy and help out players with cardio issues. Grass courts, on the other hand, are considered fast and favor players with big serves. They’re also considered fragile as the conditions can change considerably from week to week and also mid-tournament based on conditions and how many people have played on the court.
Make sure that when you break down a player’s record, you break it down according to what type of court they were playing on. Look at the stats and information that coincide with the upcoming event. If you’d like to learn a little bit more about the differences between clay and grass courts, check out our Tennis Betting Strategy Guide where we cover this and a whole lot more.
It can be extremely tempting to try and get as much action as humanly possible on an upcoming tennis tournament. With the ability to bet on the tournament winner and also the winner of every single match, it can seem like you’re a kid in the candy shop with so many opportunities to make money.
But, we want to caution you to pump the brakes. Why? Well, it has nothing to do with how much money you have in play or being responsible or anything like that. It has to do with the fact that if you’re betting every single match in a tournament, you’re probably forcing bets and not properly looking for value.
You see, not every tennis match is going to have a good value bet. You might be able to come up with a prediction of who you think is going to win each match, but if the payout associated with that player is not right, then it’s still a bad bet.
When you’re picking tennis matches to bet, you need to be cherry picking your games. You need to be looking for the highest value opportunities and press your bets on those opportunities. The fact that you have so many options to choose from is an advantage. But, it’s not an advantage because you can bet all of those opportunities. It’s an advantage because it allows you to pass on matches and bets that don’t have a lot of value and focus on the ones that are the best value.
When you’re making a futures bet on the winner of a tennis tournament, you need to make sure you’re looking at their path to victory. Do they have an easy walk to the finals or are they going to have to go through some tough competition in the early rounds? Are they going to be playing some matches that will probably end in straight sets or are they going to have to duke it out in extra sets that will have an effect on their fatigue and success in future rounds?
While you won’t know 100% who they are going to play in every round after the first, you can make predictions on what you think is going to happen. You should have a clear road map of how the player you’re betting is going to make it from the first round and through the finals to victory. Failure to look at this road map could leave you betting on someone that has way too many obstacles to jump through to get to victory which spells a lost bet for you.
The betting public and the media love to make decisions with their hearts instead of their heads. How many times have you talked to someone about an upcoming tennis match and they were so excited about a story that really had nothing to do with the outcome of the match? While this is all well and good as a fan, it’s dangerous when it comes to making bets.
You cannot let emotional and heartfelt stories affect your betting picks. We think it’s awesome when there’s a big grudge match or someone is making a big comeback to the courts. But, that doesn’t instantly just make someone a better player or increase their chances of winning. In fact, you can often find a lot of value in those matches betting the other side because the betting public has driven the line so far in one direction.
There are two takeaways here. One, make sure you are not letting the media or your friends influence your bets negatively. The media’s main goal is to entertain and a lot of times that has nothing to do with the actual potential outcome of the match. Two, make sure you look for value opportunities when the betting public is going nuts on a player who doesn’t warrant that sort of attention based on skill and potential for victory.
We’ve covered a lot of what you shouldn’t be doing when you’re betting on tennis matches or tennis tournaments. But, you may be wondering what you are supposed to be doing. Well, the next logical step after this guide is to read our Tennis Betting Strategy Guide where we cover everything that you should be doing when handicapping tennis. If you haven’t read it yet, we highly recommend you check it out as it is jam-packed full of great tips, tricks, and strategies to help you crush the books betting on tennis.
