Virtues of Successful Sports Bettors: The Power of Patience
By Loot, Sports Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Some sports-bettors are looking for the quick score. They want to hit the ground running and see their bankroll growth rise on a steep incline. This mindset usually gives way to impatience and unrealistic expectations. Rather than looking at your sports-betting as a Ferrari speeding down the freeway, look at it like an 18-wheeler trying to get up a big hill.
Some of our previous gambling experience may have led to these unrealistic expectations of rapid bankroll growth. We may have had incredible runs at the craps table. Or we took down a bundle at a poker game or got hot at the blackjack table, hitting all our double-downs and splits. Then we step into the world of sports-betting and impatience may set in.
It’s the nature of the beast. When picking against the spread, we are going to lose and we’re going to lose a lot. The idea should be to simply attempt to win a little more than we lose. That’s reality and that’s what the top guys do. They hope to eke out small edges that become big profits over time.
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Let’s illustrate how even modest progress can add up over time. Against the spread, all you have to do to eke out a profit is win 53% of your bets. So forget about all these scammers saying they’re winning 80% of their wagers. It’s never happened. Sure, you could win 8 out of 10 or 16 out of 20 wagers, but you could also flip a coin and see similar results. Over the long haul, forget it. It’s not going to happen.
Let’s strive for a more realistic winning percentage. Let’s say we are able to hit 57%--a respectable number, but not something that will get most people’s blood pumping. You start off with a $2000 bankroll. That’s just an example. This works for any bankroll regardless of size. You bet 5% of your bankroll (a little high) on every game and you bet an average of two ATS bets a day--14 bets a week.
In those 14 wagers, you go 8-6, which is 57%. You figure in the vig and at the end of the week, your bankroll grows 7%. With a $2000 bankroll, you’d have $2140 at the end of the week. That is hardly exciting. But if you continue betting according to that formula, you will be pulling in 7% every week. Not bad.
Over the course of a month, you would increase your bankroll by a robust 28%. If you are a sports-bettor who is able to bet on all sports, you can have action every month of the year. 28% multiplied by 12 is 336%--which would represent your yearly growth. If you stick to the program over the course of years, you can see how this level of patience can produce amazing results. In the short-term, it might seem unimpressive, but that’s the point--looking at it like a marathon and not a sprint.
It’s not easy plugging along like this. It takes discipline and the ability to not implode along the way. It takes a ton of time for this to unfold and produce the desired results. It’s not that hard for a bettor who is sticking to the script to lose his way on this long road to success. That’s what it takes to win in this business--a single-minded approach where one sticks to his plan and never allows himself to deviate, whether it be by the types of bets you make or the amounts you wager.
A lot of people get into sports-betting for the excitement. Winning 8 out of 14 bets weekly does not get their blood pumping. It takes a certain kind of patience and long-term vision to make it work. That comes down to your mettle. Are you the kind of bettor who is more interested in excitement. Or are you looking at it like a business?
Winning always feels better than losing. No matter how it happens. When you’re flying close to the light and are never more than a bad run away from disaster, then you are most likely going to come up short. If you bet in a disciplined manner, stick to the script, and keep chugging along--you will actually give yourself a fighting chance. In a business where a precious few percent succeed--that counts for a lot.
