Betting is a great pastime but will ultimately bankrupt you if you can't tell which odd is valuable and which isn't. Even if you have no intention of having a high bankroll or scoring millions on a single slip, you should still make sure you at least break even so you can have a fun hobby and keep playing in perpetuity.
What I love about sports betting is how fair it is. Any player, man or woman, is completely equal when it comes to sports betting and there's no discrimination — if you think you know better, put your money where your mouth is. The problem for the average bettor is that he is often led by his emotions and has preconceived notions how things should work. When they invariably don't, the bettor loses all his money, often doubling down until he's spent all his rent, food and utility money.
The problem is that human brain does not appreciate math nor how chances work, relying on automatic brain functions that do work in simple survival matters but have no place in nuanced settings. Those failed and broken bettors often end up miserable, emotionally drained and psychologically impaired due to shock losses and none of that had to happen but it was all due to lack of free will that made them bet while on emotional autopilot. This applies to people who use the stock market or other forms of haphazard investing; if you know what you're doing, it's an investment but if you have no idea of chances then it's gambling and you will lose catastrophically.
The very first lesson I learned about sports betting was to let go of my emotions. Losses happen, they're a natural part of life and there's no evil spirit or AI that makes them happen. Every loss is a valuable lesson and so I made it a habit to write up at least a couple betting lessons at the end of each day. Over time, this gave me a way to review my mistakes without feeling any guilt or shame but also provided a useful habit, wherein I kept myself honest. We don't even realize how often we lie to ourselves, and it seems like minor stuff, but is such a devastating vice.
The second lesson has to do with limiting losses by budgeting. I pay my dues, stock up the fridge with food and set myself a strict budget that will not impact my living conditions. Additionally, I will set a hard cap on how much I'm allowed to lose during the day and use slips of paper to keep track of where I'm at. In this way, I am completely relaxed and don't feel the need to be aggressive or timid about investing my money; I do with it as I please and have fun.
A few interesting patterns emerged after mere two months of keeping myself honest. I learned that any kind of drama has a massively negative influence on my betting prowess. In fact, a dramatic event that happened on one day would spill over its negative side-effects into at least 5 days after. What's more amazing, some people absolutely enjoy drama and seem to be constantly generating it, or rather, that there's something inside them that wants drama, takes over their thinking functions and then creates conflict out of nothing.