Take The Stress Out Of Losing

Backing losers is the one certainty in betting. 

Sometimes backing losers are all we seem able to do, and loser after loser can have us doubting our selection methods.

No matter how much betting research and testing we have done, and no matter how confident we are in our system. 

So what can we do about it? 

Well, nothing really. 

Not about backing losers anyway. 

It's something we have to live with if we're going to bet on horses and sports.

We can, however, do something about the way it affects us. 

Your State Of Mind

I've seen some pretty ugly scenes when a bet hasn't gone the right way. 

Once a guy next to me hacked up a gobful and let it fly all over the telly in the betting shop because he backed the wrong horse, and of course someone was left to clean up his mess. 

Other people aren't so demonstrative in their stress, but they feel it just as intensely. 

Yes, losing sucks, but if it's hurting so much that the enjoyment of betting is gone then something has to be done.

The answer is blindingly obvious but a lot of people still can't see it. Or they choose to ignore it.

Quite simply our base staking unit HAS to be at a level that's comfortable. 

That's pretty common advice and usually it'll go along the lines of "don't bet more than you can afford to lose". 

Simple. but is it?

How much can we afford to lose? 

Ideally of course we won't lose. 

The aim of everyone who bets is to win in the long term, and I'm sure that's the aim of every member of OLBG and every visitor to the site. 

We spend countless hours researching statistics and studying form, testing selection systems, and searching for an edge in our battles with the bookies. 

Most of us are convinced that an edge can be found and the proof that it can be is on this site. 

However we are going to be backing losers along the road, and how much we lose and how we cope with that will determine how much we enjoy our betting (and how much our families enjoy our betting,). 

The interesting part is that it will be a totally different amount for everyone, and I would hazard to guess that it is actually a lot lower an amount than a lot of people would like to admit to.

There's a lot of romance associated with gambling. 

There's the bravado and boasting about having a monkey on this, or a grand on that, and maybe a pony or a tenner on the double. 

There's so much ego involved and people often just have to let slip how big their bet is.

I've rarely or never heard anyone say they had 15p on that or £0.04p on the forecast, and yet for many people, their comfort zone is at exactly these amounts.

I somehow doubt that all the vitriol directed at Jockey Tryhard just because he made an error of judgement would be quite as caustic and heartfelt if he'd only cost the punter €0.75 instead of an amount out of proportion to what he could afford.

The beauty of internet gambling, and decimal currency, is that our base stake can be as little as 00.01.

Not all bookmakers will allow a minimum stake of £0.01p (or $0.01 or €0.01), but enough will for it to be a viable and usable base unit. 

Of course, any multiple of 00.01 is possible, and so the perfect BASE STAKE unit can be arrived at depending on each person's situation.

A little while ago I was looking for value in odds on chances, and I started a thread on here to record the exercise. 

I used real money and started with a bank of 1,000 units and the size of each bet varied according to what edge I perceived I had.

The exercise was a failure regarding profit, but because each unit was 2 cents there wasn't much damage financially. 

In fact, I learned a lot from the exercise and it was actually money well spent. 

If I had made a profit I always had the option to increase the base unit.

I use a successful selection system based on a certain media tipster. 

He gives 3 selections in each race in order of preference and I take those selections in each race in a straight trifecta.

 He puts a lot of work into his selections, using speed maps and computer form, more work than I could put in, and he lands a ridiculous number of trifectas. 

Sometimes he'll go 50 or 100 races without picking a straight trifecta, but it doesn't matter to me because the unit I use is small enough to handle a long, long run of outs. 

As the bank increases with each trifecta my base unit increases, but never anywhere near enough to stress me out, and I have a bet in each race, which is good.

A good exercise is to open an account with a bookmaker that accepts 00.01 as a minimum stake, and play around with different base unit amounts to find exactly where your comfort zone is. 

You can test systems, follow tipsters, whatever, and you might find yourself putting more thought into the staking side of betting.

It's probably a good idea to start from scratch if your betting is showing a loss. 

Forget the money that's gone and wipe the slate.

There are plenty of organisations available if you struggle with gambling, scroll down to the bottom of this page where links are available to these organisations.