Are most bettors & poker players incapable of ever improving?

[borednaz]

I don't think it's a inability to change Dane, I think people's biggest leaks are instincts that happen subconsciously and cause the person to perform the same way to fast to avoid it. I shouldn't expose my own leak but the truth of the matter is I decided before I even enter the hand how I want to handle each street, so if pressed I know to insta-call etc.

The problem is say on a Flush board when I have A high, I won't pay attention for the possible straight flush or Royal if some one insta-shoves on the flush. Even if I want stop it happens to fast mentally to stop.

[thetrinity]

I know that over time I have become a better poker player and sports capper. I only became better when the thrill of winning was no longer the driving force. The feelings are difficult to explain but I realized the grind is the only way to win consistently.

Your friend and the QQ situation is classic. Preflop he feels like he deserves to win the hand and the pot is already his. He felt a thrill when he looked at his cards and saw QQ. He probably felt the guy who beat him got lucky because QQ was the best hand preflop.

Mike's friend sounds like a very conservative person. His fear of busting over 50% by taking another card is stronger than basic math fundamentals. He may also enjoy still being in the hand and get a thrill watching the dealer take cards and possibly busting.

this is why people generally take more overs then unders. some genius told me he likes taking the over because you always have a chance to get lucky.

[milwaukee mike]

this is why people generally take more overs then unders. some genius told me he likes taking the over because you always have a chance to get lucky.

i have heard this so many times too "i can always get bailed out with an overtime"

or my favorite "watching a bet on the under is so boring"

i never agreed with that one, i am always WAY more nervous sweating an under

[milwaukee mike]

I learn from the mistake of other gamblers, as well as my own mistakes. I made the following rules, I posted this a few times on gambling forums to help others to also improve.

1. Bankroll money management. You should only be betting 1% to 10% of your total bankroll. Be discipline.
2. Be a strategic gambler by picking your spots and wait for the right opportunity. Never be a compulsive gambler by betting for the action, just because it feels good or it's your favorite team. Patience is virtue.
3. Stay emotionless all the time. Bet like a robot. There's no place for emotions in this profession.
4. Do your research by watching game footage, finding useful trends and useful statistics.
5. Never bet on heavily juiced lines. Like a line at -1000 for example.
6. Never bet on heavily valued lines. Like a terrible team at 100 to 1 odds to win championship.
7. Teams with home field/court advantage tend to win games.
"Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight;
whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted." -Sun Tzu, the Art of War
8. Parlays should be no longer than 2 teams, the bigger the parlay is, the bigger the House Edge. Research and Secure your first pick before moving on to your second pick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89HtJmQgjww

9. Teasers should never pass through the zero.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP3P9OJvukQ

10. Never bet on double digit road favorites. You will lose in the long run.
11. Always make your bet near game time. Players could get injured during the week before game time.
12. Sportsbook have an edge on the NFL than the NCAAF because they can focus on the 32 NFL teams but cannot focus on the hundreds of NCAAF teams.
13. Never deposit money for sportsbook bonus money that requires rollover. You are immediately juiced before you even placed your first bet.
14. Never bet on preseason games on any sport. Predicting a 2nd string and 3rd string team is stupid.
15. If you are extremely compulsive, arrogant and biased. The best advice is to "Don't Gamble".
16. Never gamble if you are drunk, sleepy, hungry, depressed or angry.
17. Moneyline favorites are more likely to win than Moneyline underdogs. Favorited lines are juiced because of this reason.
18. Learn from your mistakes. Most gamblers don't learn from their mistakes. That's why I made these gambling rules.

i disagree with a bunch of those. especially anything starting with "never", and most especially #13/14. are you telling me if the packers were +80 points for a preseason game you wouldn't bet on it?

[Richards]

I learn from the mistake of other gamblers, as well as my own mistakes. I made the following rules, I posted this a few times on gambling forums to help others to also improve.

1. Bankroll money management. You should only be betting 1% to 10% of your total bankroll. Be discipline.
2. Be a strategic gambler by picking your spots and wait for the right opportunity. Never be a compulsive gambler by betting for the action, just because it feels good or it's your favorite team. Patience is virtue.
3. Stay emotionless all the time. Bet like a robot. There's no place for emotions in this profession.
4. Do your research by watching game footage, finding useful trends and useful statistics.
5. Never bet on heavily juiced lines. Like a line at -1000 for example.
6. Never bet on heavily valued lines. Like a terrible team at 100 to 1 odds to win championship.
7. Teams with home field/court advantage tend to win games.
"Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight;
whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted." -Sun Tzu, the Art of War
8. Parlays should be no longer than 2 teams, the bigger the parlay is, the bigger the House Edge. Research and Secure your first pick before moving on to your second pick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89HtJmQgjww

9. Teasers should never pass through the zero.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP3P9OJvukQ

10. Never bet on double digit road favorites. You will lose in the long run.
11. Always make your bet near game time. Players could get injured during the week before game time.
12. Sportsbook have an edge on the NFL than the NCAAF because they can focus on the 32 NFL teams but cannot focus on the hundreds of NCAAF teams.
13. Never deposit money for sportsbook bonus money that requires rollover. You are immediately juiced before you even placed your first bet.
14. Never bet on preseason games on any sport. Predicting a 2nd string and 3rd string team is stupid.
15. If you are extremely compulsive, arrogant and biased. The best advice is to "Don't Gamble".
16. Never gamble if you are drunk, sleepy, hungry, depressed or angry.
17. Moneyline favorites are more likely to win than Moneyline underdogs. Favorited lines are juiced because of this reason.
18. Learn from your mistakes. Most gamblers don't learn from their mistakes. That's why I made these gambling rules.

Some of those imo good advice. I think a few folks in the Handicapper Think Tank would try to rip apart some of the others. I won't nit pick any of the specifics here. Good post anyway.

[dbear808]

no, in fact casinos get a lot richer when people play "not by the book". if i'm a casino why would i want a .5% house edge when some moron standing on 15s against a 7 is giving me a 3% house edge over the long run?

if you think it's so tough to hit a "magic card" as a player with 15 then please explain to me how the dealer is going to bust with a 7 when he needs two "magic cards" to do so in a row. a10jqk automatically beats you and 234 under the 7 beats you almost every time too.

We are splitting hairs here. You are technically correct only if you are playing with a one or two deck shoe; the proper play is the "book" way. But if you are playing with 6 or God forbid 8 decks as they use in the Indian casino in Milwaukee, in the long run, the strategy of bust-avoidance is just as good of a strategy as any. The deck is stacked against you no matter what you do because everything is a coin-flip if the game is using 8 decks of cards, as most of the cards you will get will bust your hand and you will lose anyway. Since there are more cards in the deck that the dealer could have that mandate him/her to hit, its still a coin-flip that the dealer will make a hand. So I would rather have a live hand (even if it is 14 or 15), rather than give myself no chance to win when I bust. Moreover, if I take a card higher than 6 out of the deck, there are proportionally more cards the dealer can get that will help make a hand. What is most irritating is when people misplay doubling/splitting opportunities. Knowing the correct situations to double/split and doing it all the time will increase your win rate simply because you will always have more money bet when the situation is more favorable/less unfavorable than the majority of hands you will receive over a blackjack session. The edges you speak of exist because people hand their money to the casino when they bust. Short-term or long-term the casinos win. And its not because of bad play by the patrons because they believe they are playing correctly. They are also swayed by dealers who proclaim that they would take cards all day with an eight deck shoe. They want you to bust. It is because the games offered are horribly weighted in the casino's favor. The only weapon the player has is to be alive as much as possible and to bet more (when allowed) when a favorable situation comes up.

[BGboothA]

14. Never bet on preseason games on any sport. Predicting a 2nd string and 3rd string team is stupid.

I couldn't disagree with this more.

I have had a very positive NFL preseason for years in a row now. The key is knowing the 2nd and 3rd string players, what they have to play for. What teams are looking at and what teams will be calling in order to look at things more closely.

*Take teams that have a QB controversy. Key players that have somehting to show during those garbage quarters.

[JayLA]

I sure hope we're capable of improving. If not I've wasted lots of time and money reading books, researching, buying people beers to get in their head etc.

I think it all comes down to discipline. A disciplined gambler is light years ahead of a compulsive one.

And you learn discipline through practice. So yes, bettors and poker players can adapt and grow.

It should be evaluated subjectively though. Not everyone is willing to admit mistakes and learn.

[daneblazer]

Know a guy who fits the description of never improving yet he keeps getting backed by a few people willing to stake him. Doesn't improve and makes horrendous money management decisions. In the hole for over 10k and hasn't changed a thing while digging the hole deeper.

[MikeTizzy]

your "gambling rules" blows dude, if i listened to this, i would of never been +20k on this nfl season to date.
good luck making legitimate moolah with this, loser.

[TPowell]

Most are too cocky to learn after years of betting IMO

[ttwarrior1]

hels: kill him downsouth
hels: 100 point bounty on his head
downsouth: lol
hels: hey titty, how many chins do you have?
ttwarrior1: 1 and bounties are against rules mr stalker
hels: did you gain more of them today?
hels: bounties on who ttwarrior1?
ttwarrior1: anyone, ill make a thread about it
hels: 70kgman has bigger balls titt
hels: lol make a thread
hels: you haven't been laughed at enough today pal?
no1here: bounties are ok
ttwarrior1: bet u ten k dollars they are not
ttwarrior1: and if im wrong ill leave forum
ttwarrior1: deal?
hels: what about beat the prick bounty pal?
no1here: no
hels: ttwarrior owned so easily
ttwarrior1: this aint btp
ProPicker713: come on john
ttwarrior1: that was easy, go to hels table right click, block chat
hels: tell your cousin I say hi ttitty
ProPicker713: lets go john
ProPicker713: double up
hels: I heard this table needed 11 seats
hels: ttwarror doesn't fit in 1
Beerdog99: GL guys!
hels: sup dogger
downsouth: beer, how you doing buddy
hels: I'm going to pick on titty until he breaks down
Beerdog99: hey hels, looking good chip stack
ProPicker713: LETS GO JOHN!
Beerdog99: ya TT is already whining
hels: thank you thank you, just getting lucky you know
JohnGalt2341: you got points on me picker?
ProPicker713: yeah we all do
ProPicker713: lol
hels: john, sbr depends on you
ProPicker713: lo
JohnGalt2341: depends on me for what?
hels: point lives
ProPicker713: lol
hels: you have at least 5k of points on you
JohnGalt2341: doubtful
downsouth: coem on TT
hels: you're right, I'm making up numbers
ProPicker713: llol
hels: call tt
JohnGalt2341: I might make top 80
hels: HAHAHAH
ProPicker713: all in
hels: If I make top 100 it will be a good day
downsouth: Good raise pre adam, I rupture ass if you dont
downsouth: Wquine and sinmiedo down
JohnGalt2341: I made top 80! Yes!
hels: atta boy John!
downsouth: Andyjc, Joevig, petriux and tax01 gone
downsouth: there dropping now
hels: I predicted 75 at first break
ProPicker713: come on john
ProPicker713: -.-
hels: long tourney Mr. Gait
hels: TT your chip stack is getting smaller
Beerdog99: man I wish there were bounties allowed
Beerdog99: but whiners whine
hels: too bad some of your body parts jdon't get smaller
downsouth: bounties would be fun
downsouth: I personally would want a boundy
Beerdog99: exactly
hels: how's your momma tt?
hels: she told me she was sore this mroning

[BeerDog99]

lol that was a funny chat thread.

[Mitchell88]

lol that was a funny chat thread.

what is that a chat from? lol it is funny

[SBR_John]

The answer to both is of course yes.

However, you will not improve simply by repeating the same strategy. This is not weight lifting. You will improve by studying and practice and a time commitment to both.

[BeerDog99]

what is that a chat from? lol it is funny

It was during the qualifier tourney on Tuesday.

[Mitchell88]

It was during the qualifier tourney on Tuesday.

ok thanks, poker qualifer i assume. anyone advice on how to rack up some points in this place. would like to know from some veterans. thanks

[BeerDog99]

ok thanks, poker qualifer i assume. anyone advice on how to rack up some points in this place. would like to know from some veterans. thanks

1) Lurk and get a feel for the site.
2) Read this (http://forum.sbrforum.com/sbr-points...-get-them.html)
3) Go PRO

Cheers.