Safe gambling is a pivotal aspect of how you bet, and this rule applies across the entire industry.
Irrespective of whether you bet on sports, casino games or any other type of professional game or tournament, you need safeguards to ensure you stay responsible and operate within a manageable framework.
Betting safely on sports
Due to the vast scope of sports betting markets, there are nuances within each market to adhere to, but there’s a set of criteria that apply generically across the board. Firstly, you should never view any bet as a source of income.
If you follow self-professed “gambling experts” or “tipsters” on social media who claim to have some winning formula, this is not the case.
Nobody has a crystal ball, and nobody can guarantee a return on your bet. Anybody who claims they do is lying to you.
We’re living through a promising time for gambling companies; never has there been such a variety of sports betting sites to explore.
With this added choice of markets comes a greater incentive to stick to what you know and not to overextend your budget.
Build your knowledge
If you’re betting on anything, you must ensure that you understand how the sport actually works.
This might sound like relatively obvious advice, but you’d be surprised how many people will bet on sports or games they do not fully understand.
If you find yourself betting on sports you don’t watch, or leagues you have minimal knowledge of, then this is a sign of a problem too, and it’s recommended you take a step back and assess how you play.
The English Premier League is the most watched league on Earth, with billions of viewers and tens of billions of pounds worth of bets placed every season.
It looks like it’ll be a showdown between Liverpool and Manchester City for the title this year, but you must have a far greater understanding of the game before you place wagers on individual Premiership games or outright markets.
Knowing how each team ticks, whether they have suspensions or injuries to their star players, what type of form they’re in, and how difficult their remaining fixtures are, are all elements that bookies consider before compiling their odds. It’s a good idea for you to take a look at these variables too before you bet on them.
Time limits
You can set up manual limits for yourself, ensuring you don’t place more than a certain number of bets or spend more than 20 minutes a day browsing gambling markets.
This figure will vary depending on your budget or how much time you have on your hands, but ideally, you don’t want your sports betting to become a daily occurrence or take up hours of your week.
Only you will know how much time is suitable, but platforms will provide you with the ability to set a timer, and once it’s hit, the app will not allow you to make any more bets.
Monitoring your funds
Depending on your income and your financial situation, you’ll likely have a different budget than other bettors. The key to safe gambling is identifying how much of your money you can afford to gamble with and ensuring you do not exceed this amount.
Luckily, most digital providers offer you tools to set this up automatically, and once this limit is reached, you will not be able to deposit any additional funds or place another wager.
It can be easy to get drawn into spending a little bit more money than you planned, especially in sports betting, where there are many markets to bet on.
In fact, many sports betting platforms have grown to such a monumental size that they essentially offer 24/7 marketplaces, so managing your funds accordingly is vital.
More betting companies are using AI in a bid to identify potential problem gamblers and assist them with finding support.
As money flows into AI companies like Nvidia, who are now on the verge of overtaking Amazon, the practical use of this technology will be used for a multitude of positive purposes, and protecting problem gamblers is one of the most beneficial.
Safe casino gaming
We must echo the sentiments regarding safe sports betting. Many casino companies operate from the same safe gambling legislation enacted by many of the world’s most prominent legislators and economies.
Setting up time and deposit limits should be the foundation of any gambling strategy. While they’re designed to help people who may develop a problem by shielding themselves against the immense harm that it can cause, it’s an excellent routine to get into for everyone.
Even if you can bet within your budget, it helps to safeguard you and provides a safety net to keep you in check.
Likewise, you must understand how casino games work, whether blackjack, poker, or roulette. You should sit down, study the rules and see how the betting works before you start playing for real money.
Digital platforms and mobile apps have also blown open the doors for fresh ideas. Sweepstakes casinos, where you can get a feel of a real game while playing with in-game tokens without having to spend your currency, provide another good informative, educational tool that can help you build your knowledge without having to worry about the potential financial loss that can come when playing at a standard digital casino.
As you can see, there isn’t much information you need to remember to gamble safely. The two most vital elements to remember are time and money limits.
You can set these up easily via your sports betting or casino provider. Other aspects, such as building your knowledge, identifying potential value and even using free-to-play betting platforms or utilising welcome bonuses and promotions, are all ways to gamble safely in 2024.
If you believe you are developing an issue, you can find plenty of support options via internet search engines or via the betting platform you use.
Betting providers have a duty of care by law to point you in the direction of specialists who can help you with gambling issues.
