Betting - Getting Over Missing Out on Winners

 They say that golf is a mental game.

The golfer is in his own world, with his own thoughts - no coaches calling out instructions, no captain to rally and encourage, tennis fits the same scenario  

The player is completely reliant on his/herself. 

Motivation comes from and is maintained from within. 

The punter is very similar to the sportsperson who relies on mental toughness.

Betting success is heavily governed by just how disciplined the player can be.

He works alone, in that his decisions are made by him.

He may work out his tactics in conjunction with others (eg OLBG forum discussions, betting school articles, and so on), but always the decision to instigate the game-plan (method, strategy, system) lies with the punter.

It's therefore little wonder that so many punters self-doubt, lose confidence, become annoyed, and sometimes even angry when things don't go right.

Bets are missed, or losers occur, even though they may be using a method/strategy/system that has shown recorded profitability.

The Dangers

There's a fear that's common-place among the vast majority of punters - that is the fear of missing a winner, and the subsequent aftermath.

For some punters it's an almost catastrophic event since it can trigger reactions that go against the punter's own rules and strategies:

a) Chasing losses
b) Leaving out the next few bets
c) Questioning their 'luck' (if you want to understand why 'luck' is a fallacy read this blog post)
d) Rewriting methods and strategies
e) Anger and emotion that influences decisions

Missing out on a winner can happen in several ways:

1) Losing connection when betting online
2) Bank/funding/deposit issues
3) Forgetting to place a bet
4) Making a decision not to place the bet
5) Missing out on the very best price and refusing to take the next best
6) Bookie refusing a bet or reducing stake
7) A winner disqualified
8) Last fence faller when a clear leader
9) Jockey dropping his hands
10) A bet voided for whatever reason

For whatever reason, missing out on a winner usually results in the one reaction that is the most dangerous to every punter - emotion, anger, and frustration - and if that happens is guaranteed to lead to any of the other consequences listed above (a - d). 

You cannot make clear decisions with an unclear head.

So how does the punter learn to deal with a missed winner?

How can he/she react and respond in such a way that his core methods/strategies/systems are not unnecessarily affected?

The Solutions

Discipline has always been a key to successful betting.

It can ensure you bet when you are supposed to bet, and not bet when you are not supposed to. 

Any raising of frustration/anger levels only serves to diminish effective discipline. 

But one can't just decide to be disciplined. 

Discipline is often learned through experience (good and bad) and honed through practice.

It is linked to self-confidence and faith in ones-self and one's methods/strategies/systems.

To help maintain your discipline when things go wrong, consider the following

1. You will bet losers and you will miss winners

Take it as a fact - a consequence of betting. 

The only guarantee that can ever be given in betting is that you will bet losers. 

Confidence in the Prospects of Making a Profit should never be misplaced as the Expectation of Winning. 

No-one is guaranteed to win. 

Every bet placed is money lost, until it wins.

2. That missed winner was not the last betting opportunity you will have

It wasn't. 

Many punters act as though a missed winner is the end of the world like there will be no more sporting events to bet on. 

There will always be potential bets. 

Don't doubt yourself or your methods/strategies/systems because of an unforeseen incident/setback. 

Learn to take a deep breath, relax, put the incident behind you, and move forward disciplined and focused on what you need to do.

3. Remember what a loss actually is

The majority of punters see a missed winner as 'losing money'. 

It's NOT. 

Take a £5 bet on a 10/1 shot. if it wins it's a profit of £50 when you collect it. 

Missing out on it, for whatever reason, does NOT mean you 'lost £50' - because you have to have it before you can lose it! 

If the bet isn't placed or the 'winner' fails for whatever reason, you don't get to collect therefore YOU DO NOT HAVE IT. 

Compare to that to collecting £50 profit on a bet then finding out later it fell out of your pocket, that is losing £50!!

4. Be fully prepared when you bet

This one is what you might call preventative maintenance. 

If you're the type of punter who just 'runs with it' and bets with what you have in your pocket at any time, or just as a hobby, there's nothing you'll be able to do to negate the feeling of having 'lost' when you miss a winner, because you're not properly prepared to be a bettor. 

You're just a gambler, for whom each day is the only day. It may not mean anything to the one-day punter when I say that a punter should treat betting like a business. 

The punter should have tried and tested methods/strategies/systems in place that they follow to pinpoint bets. 

That allows the punter to have faith in those and therefore in themselves so that any dent in confidence that comes from a missed winner can be quickly put to the back of the mind and the punter moves forward again. 

Because betting is not a one-day affair, where a loss on a day is a tragedy.

Betting is long-term. 

Profitability is not gauged in the short-term. 

Such a punter knows that a missed bet is much more likely to be a missed LOSER rather than a missed WINNER and that in the long-term the effect is not as severe as it appears on the day.

The one-day punter will forget the missed losers because when it happens it's 'no harm done', but will find the missed winner eats away at them because of the importance the one-day punter places on it.

In order to be able to cope when things go wrong, one has to be super prepared. 

Author Jim Brown is a former betting industry employee with over 30 years of experience in the industry. 

He's been an OLBG member since 2010 and is a frequent contributor to the forums and the blog pages.