How to accept a losing day?

[Prof Bungletree]

OK, I'm not a newbie, but I'm coming back to the hobby after a few years away, and this is in the style of a newbie question anyway.

I understand the math, and I know that the best cappers in the world have losing days, weeks, months, and even years. A legit 60% capper (if such a thing even exists) will, by the very nature of bi-nomial distributions, have extended losing streaks. So how to accept a 2-4 night and go to bed without trying to "make things right?"

What I used to do, is say have a 3-3 night. Then I'd look at the juice I lost, and just try to make that up by betting on a big favorite degenerate special, late night tennis or rugby or whatever. Then I'd lose that, and try to make for it, and before you know it, I had lost a good bit.

Now I know this is dumb, and counter-productive and the rest. But despite the fact that I have not done this at all in the few plays I've made this month, I still feel the urge. Does anyone else feel this, and how do you fight it?

Thanks!

[slimpickins]

I feel the same pull after most every loss.
Fortunately for me I have been winning more of those "chase" style bets than losing but know that those winners will turn to losers the more I press my luck.

In my opinion the only way to do it is to discipline yourself by making an Excel sheet and mapping all plays on it, if the play was not determined previously on your spreadsheet don't allow yourself to play it!
My issue with this is it does not permit me to add 2nd half plays which have done well for me, so I guess the other scenerio again involves personal discipline and limiting all of your plays between 1 - 5 units and only bet those amounts no matter what happens.
Increase the unit when winning and where you feel you have an edge.
Decrease the unit when losing and resist the urge to chase after a bad night or bad beat.
Mind control and many will fail at it and thus lose at sports gambling.
This is why bookies and books make money not becuase of the the 2% statistically advantage or whatever there is in the bets, it's losers chasing and having poor money management.

If you can't play with discipline than play what you have to lose and if you lose quit, if you win pull the money before you lose cuase eventually you will lose but you may be able to ride a streak for months.

[alw6589]

are 2nd half plays weighted more heavily toward the house since its the chasers usually making those bets? i've always stayed away from second-half bets (really new still) because i had that impression

[Prof Bungletree]

At a lot of books, the 2nd half lines don't have the reduced juice that full game plays do. So in that way they are more weighted towards the house as you will make a little less on a winning play. I know some people have a lot of luck with them though, so they are beatable with insight.

[slimpickins]

personally I feel 2nd half bets are your best chance of exploiting weak lines
in most cases the lines are set based on formulas not a linesman watching the first half.
If you are watching the game you likely have a better chance of predicting the 2nd half then the lines set for the 2nd half.
Provided you are relatively good at this.
For example in basketball you are watching the first half and it is not high scoring but the teams aren't playing good D and racing up and down without running much time off the clock before shooting. The score is low but only becuase of terrible shooting, the game is reasonably close (not a blowout for 1 side)
Or maybe in above situation the score is insanely high at the half but neither team shows signs of stopping... see ** late game yesterday
Or how about the game started with a 4 minute drought and then kicked into rapid scoring but the half time total is low due to that 4 minute stretch... see Uconn game yesterday
The above scenerio sets itself up perfectly for an over play in the 2nd half.
Vegas does not factor in the game tempo thus far nor the shooting percenatge which may be a fluke, nor the strange drought to start the game. Vegas is using formulas based on the half time score and full game line set before tip off.
You can exploit that by watching the 1st half, not all of the time but it gives you an edge.

Likewise game starts out with crazy shooting but by 2nd quarter or mid game the defenses figure each other out and the scoring drastically shifts to a halt. The half time score is likely inflated due to the high scoring beginning and this would be a perfect Under opportunity for the 2nd half... see Clippers game yesterday.

[rhinkoll]

Accepting as a normal thing and, more important, don't making compulsive picks, trying to gain immediately $$ lost.

[stefank]

One thing is important. Don't chase your loss. A good thing is to get wasted at the club or have a pause. And next time just use money management.

[Prof Bungletree]

get wasted at the club

[killawookie]

I been so bad at this that Ive stopped betting $$ and have been using the SBRPoints. Now it's sad because I'm straight up have bad luck and losing my 6 pts EVERYDAY and never gain a sort of roll to work from...

[vassman86]

The best way to accept a losing night is to not put yourself in a position where you'll regret losing. It sounds contradictory, but what I'm trying to say is: only bet what you're willing to lose. Say your bankroll is $1000. If you're new to this business, don't try to hit a homerun and bet $100 on a play. Sure, it feels good when you cash that $100 play, but it'll feel a lot worse when you lose it.

Bet what you can afford to lose! Maybe your units are $20, and you have an 0-3 night. So you're down $60~ or so. Compared to your bankroll size of $1000, you can live to see another day. But if you go ahead and swing for the fences and bet $100 on each play, you have an 0-3 night, you're down $300~ and suddenly you've depleted 30% of your bankroll. You'll feel miserable.

Money management! Everyone talks about it, hardly anyone uses it, and that's why they've gotta refill their accounts all the time. Don't get in over your head. Bet small, and use the time as an opportunity to gain experience.

[Sawyer]

The best way to accept a losing day is,

Don't take it daily. Take it weekly/monthly or even in quarters.

Let's say you went 3-1 on monday, 2-0 tuesday, 2-1 wednesday and 0-2 thursday. Don't say damn I'm 0-2 tonight. You should say I'm 7-3 so far this week. This way, you will feel much better.

[Sawyer]

i mean 7-4. patience & discipline are the key.

[slimpickins]

Agree withh Sawyer, looking at each day can be your downfall.

Related to this concept is like the famous poker saying, don't count your winnings as winnings while your money is still at the book or in your bookies hands.
Wait until you cash out before you count the profits.
Otherwise what happens if you win $500 Monday and count that as made money when you lose $300 Tuesday you will consider yourself down $300 and would be more prone to chasing then if you considered your self up $200 for the week and completely forget about losing the $300 Tuesday becuase you are still up $200 for the week and for 2 days of work that is great!

[alw6589]

thanks for the tips guys!

[Tuna Fish Riot]

Never accept a losing day. Keep throwing money at the problem until it goes away.

[xu2x3t]

Never accept a losing day. Keep throwing money at the problem until it goes away.

[COYLO]

you go to your local pub get wasted, then go get some snow + a really cheap hooker,midget also a goat. when you wake up the next day you'll have accepted yor losses, and you'll just have to come to terms with what you did to that poor midget

[jennahazeplays]

lmao @tunafish

[statnerds]

Yep, long term view is required.

You first must start with money you can afford to lose and the understanding that you might lose it.

Books make fortunes on "fear of loss". Most people would call it chasing. Read up on people that lost fortunes in the stock market and they could not let go, even if they made profit before the fall started. Even when they were break even. Even when it was only a 5 or 10% loss, they could not let go.

the psychological aspect of sports betting is large.

But for how to I fight it or handle a losing day.

Much like Sawyer, weekly or monthly or yearly is the way to view it, with reasonable goals set. I also never forget I lost 10 straight bets 7 different times in my career and 22 straight once.

You should also entertain that possibility that you may not be able to win, long term or short.

GL

[flocko76]

I come back the next day and start over. keep on keeping on.

[CrimsonQueen]

The best way to correct this is to lose your house... Then you'll never want to do it again.

I had built up a fairly big bankroll (for me, anyway), and then even though I never play a chase system, I was a few bucks away from hitting a milestone in profits. So... I chased... and lost 13 straight games.

I learned my lesson...lost everything... and now on losing days I think "eh... it could be worse: I could've chased."

Just never forget, "There's ALWAYS tomorrow." In fact, if you don't realize there is a tomorrow, you shouldn't be betting.

[tenbas]

Long term view + money management + zero emotions.

But it still hard. In fact, it is the hardest thing in sports betting - at least for me. Once you overcome this you're on a good way to become semi-pro or pro... whatever your wish is.

[Jive]

Sawyer and the other guys who said don't look at it daily are right. You will have tons of losing days. And this isn't like football or basketball, where a win is a win and a loss is a loss. In the game we play, there are varying degrees of winning and losing. Let's say I win 3 out of 4 days this week, while you lose 3 out of 4 days. My "record" for days is 3-1 and yours is 1-3, but if your one winning day is huge or my one losing day is huge (which WILL happen more often than you think), you are still beating me over that 4 day span. I would trade my 3-1 for your 1-3 any day.

Track overall money and nothing else! Remember that your goal isn't to have more money at the end of today than you had yesterday. Your goal is to have more money 200 bets from now than you do today. You won't always reach that goal, but you will always head toward disaster if you chase.

Alternatively, if you feel like you must track day-to-day (many of us have that urge), view it is a longggg season, like baseball. Realize that even the Yanks and Phillies will have weeks where they win only one or two games. There was one stretch this year where the Phillies went 7-18 over a 4 week span, but when October came around they had the best record in baseball. You will have wild variations, long winning streaks and awful losing streaks. Don't chase and make a bad day an awful one!

If you have trouble with this, you can make a self-rule where you don't place bets after a certain time (like 7pm ET). Or take drastic measures like I had to do when I was struggling with this, and that is not look at scoreboards until all the games for the day are over. Place your bets, pick a game to watch or go to dinner, and check scores when it is too late to chase.

[xBreatheout]

Been losing losing a lot due to an unexperienced play. Hopefully I will be raising my $ day by day

[ok now what]

Very wise points below. When betting in an effort to make it profitable long-term, the central advice of professional video poker player Bob Dancer is perhaps the best I've ever heard. "Today's score doesn't matter"

Sawyer and the other guys who said don't look at it daily are right. You will have tons of losing days. . .

. . .Or take drastic measures like I had to do when I was struggling with this, and that is not look at scoreboards until all the games for the day are over. Place your bets, pick a game to watch or go to dinner, and check scores when it is too late to chase.

[Socrates]

Tough, just be disciplined and find a way to control that urge. That urge is what can destroy your entire bankroll. Find a way...

[ptall]

listen to coylo he knows what he is talking about

[rhinkoll]

Losing day is a normal day for 97%

[JOHON8]

Learn to take a break and learn when to stop.

Losing is part of the game, if you can't deal with the rules you shouldn't play the game.

[callysz]

[COLOR=#000000 !important]I come back the next day and start over. Losing days happen....[/COLOR]

[SRBI]

Smoke a phat blunt of some kush sit back and get your dick sucked. Then bust all in her face. That should make you feel like a winner again.

[azgrabi1]

Stop playing.

[White Rhino]

start winning always helps me.

[Juret]

oh how I hate when I have jumped on and seen the lines move from one side of Himalaya to the other in my favor, and then the result comes in as and hits you right in the stomach. I had two of those today.. but since I know I will be winning in the long run beating the closing line heavily, and also I didn't kill my bankroll, I can get over it.

if you get tilted though, try this:
when you feel that you are becoming frustrated, sit down somewhere quite and observe your feeling for a while. don't think too much, just observe. after a while, although maybe not the first time, you will realize that it is the mind that plays you a trick. disconnect your mind, since you cannot let it rule over you and you will notice that you are not your mind.


otherwise a comedy show usually helps!

[Sawyer]

"Today's score doesn't matter"

Well Said!