If you are reading this article then you have probably already tried a plethora of different betting strategies, perhaps without great success. Like many others, you may already have lost a fair amount of money. However, you probably still strongly believe that there is some ‘secret’ or ‘formula’ you haven’t yet figured out, which will entitle you to great riches via betting, which you think you deserve.
Don’t worry you are not alone. There are millions of people like you. And you don’t need me to tell you that a whole industry lives and thrives from your hopes and dreams…
Image: fztommy (Shutterstock)Greed Is A Disease
Once infected with the gambling virus, people’s reasoning capabilities begin to shut down. There are a myriad of proverbs such as “Nine gamblers could not feed a single rooster“, but you never associate yourself with such diatribes. It’s always the other people who are affected (infected) and will not succeed. You will! You are absolutely sure about this.
Does this sound familiar in any way?
Gambling Truths Hurt
Please stop reading this article now if you are a sensitive person who takes constructive criticism too personally or does not like to hear the truth because I am going to be completely honest with you!
I will point out several character flaws in your psyche, probably tell you that you don’t have the ability (yet, if you are lucky) to be a successful gambler, and/or that you don’t have much chance of becoming successful with betting, period. These are certainly not nice truths, and not everyone will agree with or like what I am going to say.
So then, what is the secret of becoming a successful bettor?
Gambling Knowledge, Skills & Experience
That was easy, wasn’t it!
Like anything in life, you need a certain skills set, extensive knowledge and first-hand experience to become truly successful.
For example, if you read everything about the teams in the English Premier League, watch as many live games as you can plus highlights of all the others, and rely upon your perception of each team’s squad strengths based on this pool of knowledge alone, then it is mere folly to think that you will be able to successfully predict match outcomes with any degree of regularity and for profits if you have no understanding of odds.
It is also far from sufficient if you have just ‘some idea’ or perhaps even very little insight into how the betting market works.
‘Some ideas’ are not enough!
You need sufficient knowledge to pass an exam or you will fail it for sure!
Personally speaking, I certainly have a good idea how a car works, but I would not dream of setting up in business as a mechanic. I enjoy nice gardens, but getting my own to look like some of the lovely show gardens I visit is beyond the reach of my knowledge and ability.
Therefore, I keep asking myself why on earth do people believe that they can become successful bettors without the ability to calculate odds and probabilities? Even worse from my perspective, the majority of gamblers are simply not at ease with the mathematics necessary to provide any chance of successful betting.
If betting were easy, all the mathematically minded people in this world (who are ethically okay with gambling) would be super rich by now and all the bookmakers would be bankrupt. What makes you think you have analysis skills beyond those of the most mathematically gifted people?
In addition, do you have well-developed computer skills, which enable you to conceive and perform complicated formulas and simulations, or do you have an advanced knowledge of statistics programs?
Do you consider yourself in possession of a rare, natural talent for recognising patterns in mathematical equations and their results?
You have certainly heard and read more than once that betting is all about maths and probabilities. That’s all it is to the bookmakers who sell you their odds.
Do you even understand probabilities or odds?
Reality Test
- Do you really believe you have a natural mathematical talent?
- Are you certain it will be easy to teach yourself and fill-in the knowledge gaps you have? (subject to you knowing what your knowledge gaps are!)
- Do you have the time and patience to study for a long period of time, say, 5 or even 10 years, how to become a successful bettor before you can call yourself an ‘expert’?
I am not aiming to depress you, but ‘some’ knowledge and ‘some’ skills are not sufficient to become a successful gambler and nobody is ‘lucky’ with betting all the time. Indeed, ‘some’ knowledge is often dangerous.
“What makes a successful bettor?-knowledge and skills” is the quote given above.
hmmm.
There are millions of knowledgable,mathematically-minded people who have,over the last
50 years,tried to make regular profits from gambling
and the overwhelming majority have failed!!!
The most important thing you need(and which most people will never have)………..
is the ability to go against the crowd.
You can have all the mathematical knowledge in the world-you can be another Einstein-
But if you don’t have the ability to take your hard-earned money and bet it against the team that everyone else is betting on then your skills are rendered useless.
Now,I daresay that soccer widow might reply that that is precisely what she means by maths and skills so I say,
The amount of mathematical ability you need to profit from gambling is minimal!
By contrast,the kind of personality that makes you question everything combined with a modicum of intelligence and self-awareness is much underrated
.
As for other skills,basic money management skills can be learned in an hour
Now,let me give you an incredibly simple tip that will make you a profit from betting on football IMMEDIATELY!!!
Its so simple that you won’t believe it can possibly work-indeed I suspect soccer widow won’t believe it.
Every week,take note of every televised game where the outsider is 3-1 or more to win the game.
Watch the game until either the favourite scores or it becomes apparent that the favourite is on top.
If the outsider is playing well after 20 minutes(without actually scoring,the score still being
0-0) bet on them!
Additionally,watch Sky soccer saturday and listen to radio reports and commentaries whenever there are games.
There will often be times when the reports say that the outsider is doing very well(a good example is Swansea at Arsenal on Saturday)-once again-bet on them!!
In case you didn’t know,you can bet in running on many big games nowadays and of course most tv games.
The above tip should make you 6-8% profit a season.
I won’t go into how much you should bet-thats up to you-as is the issue of whether you
should hegde if the outsider takes the lead.
Now you may say that this isn’t “going against the crowd” since you are betting on a team that is doing well.
Weeelll,it is insofar as very few people do this
And,I suspect,even fewer-allowing for the far smaller number in existence-mathematicians!
Hi,I have only just discovered this wonderful site.
I am really,really impressed and I love the fact that its written by an intelligent businesswoman who admits to not seeing the attraction of football!
And because I love this site I wish to contribute to it ……but in,um,an unusual way.
I say unusual because I suspect that most of my posts will challenge some of the things that soccerwidow has written.
My aim in doing so is primarily to help people to make money from gambling…..
“Are you living with false beliefs?”is the question posed above.
In my experience,even experts-especially mathematically-minded ones are!!
great article