What is going on? Gambling therapy

astribo · Listed Class Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 31

Recent results have turned me from a successfull gambler to a complete loser.

I am starting this thread as an attempt to understand why we gamble and hopefully get some tips on how to handle a very bad losing run. Any suggestions or thoughts would be great.

That Liverpool result is the final straw....how could they lose 3-1 to Reading?

Here is a brief list of where and how it went wrong...

Benjani at anytime vs wham- portsmouth got a fluke penalty in stoppage time and benjani wrestled the ball off the penalty taker- i thought that was it then he went and passed it to green- unbelievable

Swansea at home vs gillingham when they were flying high- swansea had man sent off early then -missed injury time penalty- unbelievable jeff

Trying to remember the other results has thrown me into depression so Im not going to write any more of them down....but believe me there were many more

I know the advice that regularly pops up is to not chase your losses- but how can you not chase them unless you completely erase your memory?

Does anyone else think that results for the past month or so have been a little wierd? I know there's nothing we can do about it but I want to try and work out if its just bad luck or whether I need to change my strategy alltogether.

Oh Milan -1 vs celtic just popped into my mind- kaka clean through in the last minute- who else would you chose to be there I mean he's just won player of the world award- and yup you guessed it- he missed.

I really am starting to wonder if this gambling lark is worth it?

Going to add a poll question...

Gambler_Anonymous · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:53 pm Post subject:

6 out of my last 7 accumulators (3-10 teams on each), have been ONE out. It's really annoying me, to be polite. And it's also been teams like Ajax drawing at home last week and then Gillingham today... and yeh, I'm making the mistake of chasing my winnings too. Lost my first bet, tried to get back my winnings this evening and lost again.

man o bong · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:04 pm Post subject:

http://www.online-betting-guide.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6975&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

take a read of this thread
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tonyoni · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:13 pm Post subject:

Weird things happen all the time in football. I'm looking at 7 teams for tomorrow.
In my head they're all far better than their opposition and 6 are at home.
These 7 should total over 12 goals more than their opposition. But I won't do the acca.
As stated 'there's always 1'.
Thinking about all the 'banker' accas I did lose before, I know I'll probably lose again.
I can't tell you which team won't win, but someone will be sure to mess it up.
Even if they're the better team on the day.
I'm keeping my stakes down so that I won't see myself stuck for cash
and won't feel as much like recouping losses.
It helps to realise that you probably won't be thinking rationally after a bad beat.

Chapman25 · Group 1 Class Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 357

astribo

Firstly I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck.

However, what you have to remember is nothing is a certainty in any sport and in football anyone can beat anyone on their day, its nothing personal against you.

Gambling is suppose to be fun, right now your clearly not having any, so the best suggestion I can give is for you to maybe take a break away from it, get your head together and come back when it can become fun for you again, don't chase your loss's, it will only lead to you getting yourself in trouble, put aside a set amount that you can afford to lose and dont go beyond that limit.

Right now your just filled with anger, take a month off, forget about gambling and enjoy watching football again, then come back if you think you can go back to basics without getting into the state your in now.

Good luck Win

thetitan · At Stud Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 2966

astribo · Listed Class Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 31

thanks to all who replied so far.

Looks like I should take a break and set a target of one week without gambling...though that thought fills me with dred as its champions league this week.

Maybe thats a good thing though as its really enjoyable to watch great teams play football.

I have not changed my strategy( generally lump on odds on in form teams playing against much lower teams ) but I have started doing more doubles recently to chase back the losses.

For example today I had Southend Win

and Gillingham Lose

jeremiah catskill · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:43 pm Post subject:

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but sometimes telling people that everything will be alright as long as they take a few weeks off won't work

Football betting is extremely hard to make any money on as nothing is hidden so the odds reflect the chances & most people choose "certainties" when 100 years of results should categorically tell you there is no such thing.

If you're backing at 1/4 then after one loser you will need 5 consecutive winners just to squeak a quarter point profit.

You mention 2 of your bets - AGS - worst value bet I've seen for a long time & Liverpool to win at short odds.

My advice is not to take a break but change what & how you bet on unless its purely a "fun" bet.

For accummulators - they accummulate all the above so even more bad news.

A recent sad post from Swashbuckler who got up a superb 12 fold accumulator recently but 6 months down theline was penniless shows that even the big win, which rarely happens, doesn't guarantee rewards

Sorry if this all sounds a bit harsh & there will be replies from people who make money from football , but sometimes tough love is called for!

Gambler_Anonymous · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:53 pm Post subject:

Heh, I picked out Nancy and Toulouse in a double for both under 2.5 goals and it came in. But what did I do? Went and put in wolves under 2.5 goals too..... I'm such a mug.

tafkaf · Classic Winner Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 571

Kingsdyke35 · Group 2 Class Joined: 03 Jan 2006 Posts: 140

astribo

have a peek at these - aimed more at sports betting but worth a look

from one of my fav sites - professionalgambler.com

http://professionalgambler.com/behind.html

http://www.professionalgambler.com/topten.html

be (more) lucky

fastal72 · Group 1 Class Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 345

In answer to your question astribo I gamble because I really like it! I love the challenge of finding a little bit of value and trying to get one over on the bookies and its a great, enjoyable pastime to me that like any hobby you can improve your skills at. (and who knows, maybe make a nice few quid on the way!)

I'm only sorry to hear about your losses if they are causing you financial difficulty, if not then pull yourself together man as they are perfectly normal!!! Laughing

I keep accounts of my betting and this year my biggest losing run is 16 straight bets, and have had sequences of 13, 11 and 8 without a win! I have bad days, bad weeks and on the rare occasion bad months, it's all part of betting as far as I'm concerned. You are going to have a bad run!

These pages are full of advice and tips and there's a lot of common sense said and sometimes there isn't, but I think the most important thing is that you decide what you want out of betting. Is it purely for pleasure? Do you want to earn an income from it? What? Once thats decided I think you can build a disciplined strategy with strict financial conditions applied to stop you from sliding down the slippery slope. You have to find what's right for you. But most of all enjoy it!

All the best!