Football betting is like running a marathon, not only a 100 meter sprint. Each football season lasts the average of nine months. Each punter must be prepared for the long haul.

A really high portion of punters eventually lost money. The ratio of losers may very well be as high as 95%. Therefore, there is this small elite group of 5% of punters who can generate consistent profit yearly. What separate these punters from the losing punting crowd?

Those are the six factors that separate the winning punters from the losers :

Football betting must be treated as a business, not as a hobby

This is an integral factor which is often under-estimated. Whenever you are in a business, every business transaction will be carefully handled to guarantee it brings in a profit. You do not transact the business only to have fun. Same with sports betting. Serious punters devote much efforts and time to running their betting campaign as a business. They are going to do utmost to maximise profit and remain solvent through the gruelling campaign.

Have a strategising checklist

The pros establish very clear strategising criteria which involve thorough research and analysis. They place their bets based on laid down strategies and not from the 'sure-win' tips that they heard or even the 'lucky hunch' that they feel.

Keep a systematic betting log

No business exists without proper paperwork. In football betting, this is called the betting log and all successful punters swear by it. Documenting their bets should help them to identify the reasons behind the winning bets and the causes behind the losing bets.

Keeping records takes a great deal of time, efforts and discipline. Although the betting log will reveal an accurate picture of all your bets.

Losing is bad. But losing not knowing why is worse. Most losing punters do not make an effort to find out why they lost. If they knew, they will have done something about it, reverse the tide, and then become winners.

From the betting log, you may be surprised to discover that the main things work better than others. Just do more of what's working and much less of what's not.

Have sound money management rules

The winning punters know that even though they might pick more than 50% of winning bets, they might still lose whenever they stake more money on the losers. They know that no staking plan can turn a losing selection into a winning one BUT an excellent soccer selection may be ruined by a poor staking plan.

The pros will set up sound money management rules especially on staking size. The amount will be carefully determined so that their betting fund can remain solvent to permit them to weather any downward swings within the long betting marathon.

The main mistake made by losing punters is varying the size of their bets frequently within the belief that this really is the fast track to profits. They doubled up to "make a killing" when winning, and doubled up to "play catch-up" when losing. They risked too much of their betting fund on a few of such "emotional" bets. They did not spend enough period to recognize that sound money management practices can maximise their profit and help them to to prevent losing all of their betting fund. Inefficient money management could make them insolvent faster than they expected.

Stick to the plan at all costs

The winning punters follow their plan religiously. This is of-course easier said than done even as we are all human beings. There are several temptations to stray from the plan. There is always a good reason to do so.

You will discover punters who may refer to their rules a 100 times but have problems sticking to some, especially the stake size. Simply, you may pick 60% of winners but still lose if you're putting more $ on the losers.

The pros have the mindset to be firm and not deviate from their plan.

Be very patient in the event the chips are down

Those punters who expect to be profitable each week will be disappointed. You are going to win and you must expect to lose. You will have highs and you will have lows. Streaks happen along the way.

Losing is inevitable and is included in the game. The pros accept losing streaks as part of their business. They are prepared to encounter loss within the short-run however they never lose sight of their betting business in the long term. Their priority is to make certain their betting fund is not depleted.

Every punter must keep in mind that money is his inventory, like tools to a mechanic. Without cash, he is out of business, and with no chance to make a comeback.

The above six factors may sound clear to understand and follow, but when real money is on the line, it may not look that easy to do anymore.

It takes a great deal of efforts to strategise a winning plan. It may be harder psychologically to stick to the plan religiously. This is why majority of the punters fails to win consistently. I hope you've got what must be done to be a member of the exception.