Professional bettors are often thought off as people that make big decisions, take huge risks and enjoy large returns. The reality of it all is different. Bettors need to be focussed, discipline, hardworking and patient.
Betting’s Psychological Side
An understanding of the betting’s psychological side is as important as having access to information as well as making bets at a trustworthy bookmaker. Everyone bets for different reasons although the main aim remains the same, bettors want to make a profit.
The Ability to Accept & Tolerate Delays & Uncertainty
Patience is the ability to tolerate or accept problems or delays without being annoyed by it. When it comes to the betting-patience environment, it includes calculating the expected value and then beating the closing line. While it sounds doable, it is important to remember that all decisions are influenced by luck and randomness.
Jacob Bernoulli established the law of large numbers in the 17th century, which showed that the larger the event, the more likely it is to represent true probability. A large number of bettors continues to struggle with this idea, and it is now mostly known by another name, the gambler’s fallacy.
Using an example where the chances are equal is a coin toss, the chances that it could end up on heads or tails are an equivalent 50%. According to Bernoulli’s calculations, as the number of coin tosses increases the % of tails/heads results get nearer 50%. He then went on to say the difference between the actual number of tails/heads thrown also increases. It means that the roulette wheel or the coin tosses will eventually even out. The bettor’s edge that is larger than the margin of the bookmaker will look to even out at some point.
According to Bernoulli, it is a matter of time, and it requires patience on the part of the punter. There are quite a few common traps bettors can fall into, while some believe that you will make a profit if you are patient. There is a chance that certain reasoning biases could interfere with logical reasoning. Numerous betting analyses and articles are based on the impact of cognitive biases and how it affects the bettor’s decision-making process. Regardless if these favours the hindsight bias or longshot bias at the end it comes down to patience and rational judgement combined with informed decisions that lead to success.
Long-Term Success vs Short-Term Profits
Patience also plays an important part when it comes to the choice of placing immediate rewards above that of a much more significant gain achievable over a more extended period. When it comes to betting profiles, some punters are more focussed towards instant wins. This often means placing bets worth a maximum bankroll and ignoring the fact/risk that it could bust. Those focused on long term success favour progressive methods such as the Kelly Criterion or the Fibonacci, based on calmness and patience. Both betting options are less risky and eliminate losses. Once you perfected patience, the chances of long-term success could be well within reach.