How to Become a Winning Sports Bettor
Part 9: Manage Expectations
Betting sports for a living (or for extra income) isn’t as easy as people make it out to be. You have to be prepared for the grind that comes with it. In fact, until you get a decent-sized bankroll you aren’t going to be bringing home large sums of money for a while. If you manage your bankroll properly and do not attempt anything crazy, then for the first year (or however long it takes) you will slowly be building a bankroll that you do not pull money from under any circumstance. At this point you are not trying to become a professional sports bettor; instead you are trying to accumulate enough money to simply become an amateur bettor.
You are going to experience many losses along the road, and how you respond to these losses will ultimately decide if you have what it takes to make money betting sports. The best gamblers in the world rarely break 60% anymore, so 40% of their bets are going to lose (and that is the BEST case scenario). I get mocked almost every night for posting losing bets. If I go 3-1 on 4 NBA plays but miss a Lakers’ bet, then I will undoubtedly have 10-15 people rumbling in the background about how awful my Lakers’ play was. But these are things that come with the territory. You have to have thick skin and deal with criticism (and mockery) very well. Congratulate them on their lean in the game and move on. Most people that love betting sports do not win and therefore doubt that you win either. You have to be prepared to lose games, lose money, get mocked, and still wake up the next day ready to start the process all over again.
The good news is that you do not have to post your plays anywhere. That is something that is reserved for only the most depraved of us. It does seem there is a new wave of people coming onto sites like Twitter that do not actually place bets: their sole intention of posting picks is to look smarter (or dumber) than everyone else. If you want to post picks, get hammered for your losses, and not make money… then go right ahead. I will pass. But, I digress… so while there is no need to post any plays, you do have to be prepared to lose a lot. I have found there are actually a large % of people that simply are not mentally equipped to handle losing. They have very small breaking points and after experiencing many losses (no matter the % of wins) they break down and start gambling (my term for betting with disregard to money management) their money away. We have all seen the poker player who grinds out 3 days in a tournament, accumulates the most chips, experiences small loss after small loss, and finally goes all-in with nothing and loses it all. That is your average Joe and your average bettor.
On a daily basis you have to resist your urges to bet outside of what your bankroll dictates. You have to fight your human instincts that want you to impulsively get somewhere fast. Your goal is to still be betting and making money tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. You do not want to become that angry, cynical guy that points out everyone else’s losses on social networks. You have to become almost robotic in how you look at games and place bets. The same factors are at play every single day and require the same energy you put forth the day before. When you bet sports, manage your expectations so that you expect a lot of things at a very reasonable rate. Otherwise you might end up like Sarah Phillips.
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Great article as always man, keep up the good work!
This is sound advice. I had to get back to the basics of grinding day after day with a small bankroll instead of succumbing to my instincts to bet big & win fast. It takes time to build something that will sustain over time. Keep these posts coming Rance.
I think Part 9: Manage Expectations is a informative post and you do a nice job of writing detailed information. Tommie – http://www.ep2p4u.com
Very good advice. Another point that took me years to learn was the concept of variance. Just plain, dumb luck (sometimes good, most of the times bad). I see many newbies who just don’t understand the concept of variance.
Sometimes no matter how hard you work, even if you appear to be on the “right” side, you lose.
Appreciate the comment! Newbies do struggle with the concept of variance. They start to understand it better after they lose all of their money a few times. GL with your site!