Do you think like a sports trader should think?

When you are trading sports, as opposed to having a straight bet on them, it is important to understand that the mentality of what you are looking for in an event changes straight away. Although betting and trading are a similar beast you would not necessarily approach a bet the same way you would approach a trade.

Here are a few examples so you can understand this clearer…

When looking at an upcoming sports event such as a football match, horse race or tennis match up you will find traders look at these events differently.

The betting man will look at any event and probably just think….

“Who will win?”.

The betting man might look at a fixture such as Sunderland-Man Utd and feel he fancies Man Utd to win. He might look at recent form and other stats before looking at the price to see if it offers value. Then he will place his bet and check the result.

The sports trader will look at an event and think..

“Who does everyone think is going to win?”.

This is because the trader is just looking for a price to shorten so he can lock in a profit before it even begins. The sports trader really shouldn’t care who is actually going to win and there is no need to check statistics or form in this case. He is more likely to check the Betfair charts to see where the money is going and also to scout around online sources to see how fancied the favourite is in this event. If he can see that everyone fancies Man Utd to beat Sunderland then its likely the price will fall by kick off and the Sports Trader will approach an event.

This is also the same when it comes to betting and in-play trading. There are different thought processes entirely.

The betting man might look at the same match and if he wanted to bet on the Over/Under 2.5 goals market then he would be asking….

“How many goals can I expect in this match?”.

He might then look at previous goal totals in recent matches then place his bet before kick off and be done with it.

The In-play sports trader will be looking at the exact same market but his question will be….

“What time can I expect the goals to arrive, if any?”.

This is because the sports trader will be looking to see if he could secure a trade on the market depending on the time he expects the goals to arrive. For example, if he expects a tight encounter with the goals coming in the second half he could back Under 2.5 Goals and then lay and cash out in-play.

If he expects a high tempo affair with goals coming early he could back Over 2.5 Goals and then lay and cash out once a goal or two arrives depending on his plan. In this case, the Sports Trader could profit from the Over 2.5 Goals market even if only 2 goals are scored. He might even feel the match might end Under 2.5 Goals but he knows there is a good chance of early goals and a chance to profit.

So…

When approaching sports events you really do have to have a different thinking cap on when it comes to formulating a plan. Something that would make a great bet might not also be a good trade and vice versa.