How to become a profitable football tipster

There is no universal rule or strategy that will make one a winning football tipster. 

Dare I say, it takes years of practice and endless hours of research. 

Simply being a hard-core football fan is not enough. 

I have met people, who can't explain the offside rule but are convinced football betting will eventually make them rich.

I have met people, who can't find Romania on a map but are absolutely sure they understand the Romanian football league. 

Yet, those who care about football enough could show patience and eventually turn into profitable tipsters. 

Here is where I think we should all start. 

The Absolute Basics

It Is pretty obvious that you can't be a winning football tipster if you don't follow football whatsoever.

My starting point is simple - pick-six European teams, not among the elite, and try to place them in the appropriate country, league, and division. 

If you can do that, then you are probably big enough football fan, to eventually turn into a profitable football tipster. 

Unfortunately, just knowing that Steaua is from Romania and HJK from Finland is not enough and you must take the next step, which is being up to date with world football.  

At this stage, no significant analysis is needed, but the simplest news and stats following. 

Check individual leagues, see what has happened there in the past few years, check where the internationals play and who the best players there are. 

The biggest mistake punters commit is just going over the daily selections based on what is available and not what they have sufficient knowledge/information about. 

I would never bet on the Saudi Arabian league if I haven't even heard of the teams, the league dynamics, or the players who play there.

 It doesn't matter that no other matches are available on that day, you simply pass and wait for tomorrow's available selections rather than trying to discover new leagues and teams in a matter of minutes. 

I guess that has a lot to do with PATIENCE and keeping your eye on the big picture, which is ultimately being profitable rather than placing bets on a daily basis just because you can't help yourself or have nothing better to do. 

There are thousands of football games being played around the world every day and I have never met a person, who can show sufficient knowledge to cover all that ground. 

Rely on what you are familiar with and if you feel you can do better.

Prepare and slowly build your own database and expand to other leagues and teams. 

The easiest way to determine if you are ready is to be able to name at least three betting-related facts about the league you are showing interest in.

 Not just that but remember that football is a dynamic sport that sees changes practically every day, 

Make sure your three facts are not obsolete. 

After all, HJK might be the biggest club in Finnish football but have not won the title or the cup in recent years.

Outside the absolute basics about the sport, we have the absolute basics about football betting, namely the markets.

 You wouldn't bet on Asian Handicap if you think that's a disabled person from the Far East, right? 

There are way too many markets which while opening endless possibilities, require specific knowledge or analysing specific aspects of the league and team stats and facts. 

Whether it's leagues with historically high-scoring games or teams that are shown more cards than what is considered normal, it is all part of that research required 

For those who are starting now, the easiest strategy would be to start with the simple selections and build from there.

If you can determine who would win a game, you would surely grow into a tipster, who can create his own strategy regarding handicaps, goals, cards, etc.

Football Tipster Checklist

Finding Your Own Strategies

Once we have the basics and have a passion for football together with the knowledge of markets and bookies, we are equipped to try and establish our own strategy. 

The OLBG school has a whole article on betting systems and strategies that will assist your research 

Unfortunately few can figure it out immediately and there is a trial and error period, which is often associated with losses.

 The question is, how long would that period last and would we have the aforementioned patience to not lose self-control over the occasional loss. 

My advice here is to trust simplicity rather than jump around markets, leagues, and selections on a daily basis. 

If you feel goal markets are what you like and understand but can't seem to break even early on, be consistent and do not give up on your gut feeling.

Try different aspects of the market, try to sell some value or get some insurance but do not give up at the first hurdle. 

Again, there is no universal strategy and there are as many approaches as there are punters around the world.

From my experience those who are doing a better job are those who have the patience to grow with their own strategy.

I have mentioned it in some of my old blogs, but one good idea would be to find a niche and work on it. 

The more the information, the more the potential for mistakes and if you live in England, it would only be logical to look at the local leagues rather than try to figure Japanese football for example. 

Local media offers more inside information and more up to date information to help punters with their strategy and it should never be overlooked in favour of endless stats searching from international websites

Speaking of websites, having one or two trusted guides or being part of a trusted betting community is always a good idea when trying to figure out how to bet. 

The saying is that two minds think better than one and while this could be misleading given the huge number of bogus forums or Facebook groups offering fixed games or huge odds, having that place you can turn to for help and support can only help in the long run.

If you are reading this, obviously you are in one such place already, and while the information you can find at OLBG especially the brilliant betting school articles is indeed a lot, it is totally worth checking all the different aspects of this community. 

Having said that, I don't mean placing bets just because somebody else said so, but using the information to facilitate your own strategy. 

OLBG members add football betting tips every day and offer solid reasoning as to why they are going with one selection instead of another.

 Maybe one would share something you don't know or missed?