Articles about Sports Bets
Going Pro
Going Pro
There's a fine line that divides the gambling professional from the gambling addict. Both feel they can turn a profit playing games of chance where the house always has a mathematical edge. Both will spend hours absorbing both winning and losing streaks telling themselves that the winning will continue and the losing is only temporary. The dividing line seems to be, for the most part, discipline.
The professional knows his budget and his limits and has a record of past triumphs and failures. The addict however plugs away blindly, trying to win back losses and capitalize on wins. An addict cannot see when the train goes off the tracks and if they do, they fantasize that gambling will bring them back. When their budget is blown, they'll blow more money they don't have to get it back. The professional on the other hand, has a precise gambling budget and careful plan on how to apply it. The professional is always in control while the addict is being controlled by his own blind addiction.
Recordkeeping is very important in the gambling game. The professional uses recordkeeping to keep track of his wins and finances as well as for identifying bad times. The addict and problem gamblers tend not to keep accurate records. If they did keep records they would see that they have a consistent history of losing. They would look at the numbers and take note of their rapid decline in finances. There would be spikes of positive monetary flow, but those would quickly turn back south to end up where all the other finances have gone. Without these records however, the trouble gambler feels he is getting by. Each small victory gives him the sense of hope and success. They paint the dooming picture that things are about to turn around and go right.
One of the worst things an addictive gambler can do is have a good day at the casino. This only reinforces their false assumptions that what they are doing will reap financial rewards. The brief positives will overshadow that overall negative and feed the downward spiral to depression and doubt and until the addict admits there's a problem, the spiral will continue spinning out of control.
Meanwhile, the professional keeps strict betting records. He can study which methods contributed to painful losses and which strategies were behind winning streaks. This will help in the future to maximize gains and minimize losses. The professional is constantly studying his own strengths and weaknesses in order to learn from them. The poor addict has no capacity to learn because he is wired to fail as a slave to his own impulsiveness.