For most of my adult life I have been in regular contact with a man that I consider to be a betting genius. That is except he has one fatal flaw and that is what I want to talk about today.
This man could watch a horse race and know if it was giving 100%, know if the jockey was using it’s full capability and could assess how good it really was.
He can analyse a race inside out and find nailed on winners at crazy prizes, this is a man who can find winners at 33/1 without the benefit of inside knowledge!
The flaw though is one of confidence, reality and pressure. Which all boil down to psychology.
The most important skill that any bettor needs, (more important than the ability to find winning bets in my opinion) is the strength of mind to cope with losing runs and just as importantly the strength to cope with winning runs.
My rules for betting success (and life!) are…
- Don’t give up. If you keep moving on to something new every time you hit a glitch then you will never reach the winning line. It’s like setting out from Birmingham to London and when half way there deciding that Newcastle sounds better and then as you pass Scotch Corner deciding that Manchester is the place for you. You’re just wasting time if you change your strategy every day, week or month! Which is ok if you are just looking for entertainment but not ok if you plan to make money.
- Don’t get too excited when you have a winning run. You are not invincible, however good you are fate will deal out your share of losing runs and winning runs. Know that and know how big each is likely to be.
- Tell nobody how you’re doing. It is hard on relationships to not talk about how your day has been and maybe there is a middle ground on this. But my rule is to never tell anybody whether my day has been good or bad. I try hard to find something good about even the worst day (maybe I’ve learned that I can take more losers than I ever imagined) so I can go indoors and say it’s been a good day. If you take your loved ones on a roller coaster of highs and lows with you the pressure is doubled. Don’t do it.
- Don’t aim too high. Slow and sure wins the race. When I meet a new budding gambler who plans to make his fortune this month or this year I know that he won’t make it big anytime soon, play the long game.
To go back to the genius, he is in his 60’s now and finally seems to have gotten his head together to make consistent profits, he never gave up! I hope that you achieve the same.
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