How to Become a Winning Sports Bettor
Part 4: Dealing with Losses and Tailing Bettors
Dealing with Losses
Learning how to deal with losing is the single-most important factor in deciding whether you make money or lose money when betting sports. Staying focused on the next game (instead of the last game) and not worrying about a bad day (or even a bad week) is what separates 53% bettors without discipline who lose and 55% bettors with discipline who win every single year. Some gamblers who lose one big game hate losing so bad that it pisses them off, and they end up doubling down or betting 2 or 3 games without much time to study and cap the games like they should. Keeping your cool will save you more money than anything else you can do while betting; inversely, losing your head while betting will lose you a whole bunch of money in the long- or short-term. You have to stay driven, level-headed, and mechanical (think Kobe Bryant in the 4th quarter of a playoff game) before and after you place your bets. No matter if I am 2-8 over my last 10 bets or 8-2 over my last 10, I still place my bets the exact same way.
If you are having problems dealing with a particular loss, then shut your TV and laptop off and take a 5 minute walk outside. Quit worrying about that day and try to think of the big picture. Thinking of betting as a marathon instead of a quick sprint also tends to help beginners cope with losing on some level. Do not ever place another bet (unless you have done the research) until you calm down and have gotten that anger out of your system. If you are using sound bankroll management principles, then one loss (or even 10 losses) isn’t going to hurt you very badly anyways.
Tailing Others on Twitter
I have known a lot of people who sit back and tail certain bettors and never make plays for themselves. They often do not get the best number available and often only take their favorite bets from a handful of bettors. I often find that they are somewhat successful but eventually get tired of following and want to make their own picks; they often find they are not equipped to make their own picks since they never really learned the skill-sets that are needed to make money long-term.
My advice on tailing bettors is simple: don’t. I used to have more respect for cappers on Twitter, but I have gradually started to see that most do not win over time. I only know a handful of guys who make a living betting sports and Twitter is the last thing on their minds. Most pro bettors are not going to ever sell their plays or even want you to now what side they are on. You can certainly use information from free cappers, but I do not know of one person that posts plays on Twitter who actually logs their long term record. I see lots of “records” being updated via tweets but no evidence of its’ validity. I see no reason to care about anyone’s opinion if they cannot provide a simple Excel document with their daily plays. Why post in the first place if you aren’t going to track your results? The reason they don’t post them is because they do not want you to know how they are really doing in the long term.
If I were starting out betting today, I would use as much info from as many different sources as I could. I would practice discipline in all aspects of my life. An organized life will lead to more organized betting, trust me. I would learn everything I could about money management, variance, betting systems, and I would open up at least 5-6 books online. The most important thing ultimately is psychological (which is my educational background). You must learn to lose and not let it bother you at all; losses are part of it, and they are as inevitable as death. You might want to look into coping skills (seriously) and not let the results of one day, week, or month bother you. You have to learn from them, of course, but you cannot let them wear you down. Keeping a positive attitude and enjoying betting are what I think makes me a successful bettor. If your stomach is churning over one individual game, then you are betting entirely too much on the game. Your attitude dictates your success in the betting world.
Next – Part 5: Difficult Bets, Best of Numbers, and Key Numbers
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Rance, thank you for the great article, I found it very useful as always.
Wanna ask about tailing cappers… I think that Stuckey, Wob and you are of the best cappers to tail – you guys often seem to be on a sharp side and all the records are transparent and honest. But about So_Money… it seems that he is on a sharp side as well, but he doesn’t post any records. I’ve been tailing him approximately from mid-Jan 2012 and I guess I am playing 80-85% of his bets (I miss his pick sometimes, that’s why it is not 100%) and I am tracking every bet I make in the file. Here are the records I have for him from mid-Jan to date (please note I make 30$ straight bet every time):
Jan: -116 $
Feb: -290 $
Mar: -288 $
Well, I can’t pretend I track every game, but like I said it is at least 80-85% which is still a solid distance. So… Rance, do you think he is a sharp guy? I still think he is, but wanted to ask your opinion on that one, because my bankroll is melting down every month, thinking of decreasing a unit size right now.
Thank you for all you do, you are really one of the best in business and I am learning a lot from your bets and articles.
GL!
Hey man,
I have had a few people ask about some of his picks, especially after a couple of weeks straight when it seemed he lost every game a few months ago. I do not tail him, but I do know some people who have tailed his picks for a while and swear he is a winning bettor. I really cannot say either way, but if you are skeptical then I would hold off on tailing him and simply track his bets for a few months. If he doesnt start winning consistently over the next few months, then maybe hold off on tailing him. I think he is sharp, but without any kind of records or units you never really know. I appreciate the response man.
Thanks for the advice bro, will try to lower stakes to minimum mostly for tracking purposes. Will track him for summer months, then will decide what to do before next NHL/NBA/NCAA season starts.
Good luck!