23rd January 2017
Hi ,
When you decide to take your betting from recreational to a more serious past time, then like learning anything this is the time when you're likely to make the biggest mistakes. Today I'm going to look at the top ten mistakes made when going from recreational betting to serious betting. Print these out so that you don’t ever make them yourself.
1. Unrealistic Expectations - It's very easy to have unrealistic expectations due to the amount of hype surrounding new systems and the lure of big wins. If you're making 10% ROI with 300 selections a year then, you're doing well. If you're only making £30 per year this is because you cannot afford high enough stakes. If you could bet £1000 each time you would be making £30,000 per year. This is not the fault of the system. It's simply not possible to turn £100 into £10000 in 30 days unless you're extremely lucky.
2. Trying To Find A System That Always Wins - There is no system that always wins so don't waste time looking for it! A high strike rate for win bets is 30%. If you place 100 bets you're going to lose at least 70 of them and possibly more. Having losing bets is part of being a professional gambler, it doesn't mean that you can't make a profit.
3. Thinking It Is An Easy Way To Wealth - It's certainly possible to make a living, and a good one at that, from betting. But remember that to be successful in any business requires dedication and betting is no different.
4. Over Betting - When starting on your journey to profitable betting, you want to make as much profit as quickly as possible. This usually means punters place more bets at stakes too high for the bankroll being used. This can lead to the loss of your bankroll very quickly, if in doubt then don’t risk more than 2.5% on each bet.
5. Rushing -This can defeat you before you've given yourself a chance. Betting is associated with the thrill of winning and so a lot of bettors rush to place bets without planning properly. Controlling this is very important, and if you can wait to place bets until you're ready at the beginning then you will have a very strong starting advantage to becoming successful. Before placing your first bet, carefully plan your selection method, betting method, staking method and work rota.
6. Trying To Create A System Without Understanding The Basics - It's very tempting to jump in and start trying to build a system with some of the software that's readily available. But, you must learn the basics first. Take the time to learn the sport inside out and you'll be making a difficult task a lot easier.
7. Not Using Proper System Testing Strategies - When you first build systems, it will be fairly easy to make profitable ones. Why is this? Because you're not testing them properly. They may work well in the past, but what you're doing is known as back fitting. In other words, you're making them perform excellently on the set of results you already have. When you begin using them for real, they'll perform a lot worse and often make a loss.
8. Unprepared For The Emotional Stress - Even though it may not be recognised in this form, emotional stress from betting can lead to losses which prevent you making a profit. The emotional control needed to be a successful bettor must not be under-estimated. If you're only betting a few hundred races a year, then you can expect to have periods lasting months when you're losing. This wouldn't be unusual. You need to be prepared for these downward swings from the beginning in order to make sure that you don’t start making rash decisions.
9. Being Happy With Just One Working Method - When you find your first method that produces a profit you're going to be super-excited, and you should be. But, don't let the excitement make you think that you've found the holy grail. You need to be continually developing methods as the betting markets are constantly changing and old methods will eventually stop working.
10. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare - You must prepare. If you were going to start a property business then you'd prepare everything to the finest detail before you put any money in. This is just as important in professional betting. It's a business like any other, and you must prepare everything to the finest point before investing your money.
These 10 reasons are the major obstacles that new bettors face. Go through each one and make sure you have it covered before you place your first bet and you'll be in an excellent position to start making profits.
Best Wishes,
Michael Wilding
