Soccer Betting – Why Many Progressive Betting Systems Fail

Soccer, or football, betting is a multimillion dollar industry, and like all major betting markets there are many people that develop systems for making their bets. However, there are also many people that take betting systems from one type of game and then try to modify these systems to make them work with other types of games. These modified systems sound convincing to the novice gambler but often are utterly inappropriate.

In general, progressive betting systems involve making a series of bets where each bet is based upon the results of the previous bet. While there are many unique systems of progressive betting, many of the most common ones are variations of the Martingale betting system. In its simplest form, Martingale requires the person using it to double the amount of the previous bet at every loss on the assumption that they will eventually win and once they win they will get back all of their lost bets as well as one unit of profit. Mathematically, the system is unsound over the long run; but if it is used on a short-term basis by a highly disciplined gambler it can have positive results in contests that have 50-50 odds. This is why it remains popular, but it is still only suitable for bets where there is roughly a 50% chance of winning and the game itself is random, such as in roulette.

Applying this system to sports betting is just downright absurd. Unlike random games of chance  like roulette  the skill of sports teams, and thus their performance, is not random. Quite simply, some teams are better skilled than others and some teams are better at playing under specific circumstances than others. With a little research, one can make intelligent bets on sport teams, an option that is unavailable for those playing random games of chance like roulette. There is no valid probability that all sports teams will eventually have an equal number of wins and losses and thus Martingale  and derivatives  makes no sense for sport betting. Nevertheless, one often sees betting systems on offer for sports betting that are essentially based on the traditional Martingale system and this is nothing more than taking advantage of people's ignorance.

Progressive Betting Systems that use Martingale as its underlying premise have no place in soccer betting, or sport betting in general. These systems are easily recognizable by suggesting that one bet double (or half) of their previous wager on the next bet on the belief that the team must win at some point. To those that think this is reasonable, just think about Derby County F.C., which managed to lose thirty-seven consecutive games between 2007 and 2008.

[ad_2]

Source by Dean S