Over betting – both in size as well as frequency – is one of the leading reasons so many people fail to achieve actual profitability over extended periods of time.

Since the goal is ongoing success and playing the long game, as opposed to fishing with a shotgun while squandering more money and golden betting opportunities than anything else, betting too much too often is behaviour that should be purposefully avoided.

Bets placed while in the habit of over betting are typically bets devoid of strategy and the necessary research. Instead, these bets are generally the result of pure and unchecked emotion – impulsivity, over-enthusiasm, frustration, desperation, revenge-betting, boredom, etc.

Patience Is A Skill – And A Must

Patience is a key skill present in all successful sports bettors. Lucky for us, there are a number of ways in which to develop patience as an actual trait of our character – instead of just another hit-and-miss behavioural trait.

Here are a number of ways to go about becoming a more patient sports bettor:

• Understand that the actual placing of a bet is but a very small part of the successful https://australiansportsbetting.net/cricket/ betting process. Successful sports bettors playing the long game spend much more time researching the bet, planning the size of the bet given the likelihood of success, evaluating bankroll, waiting for the best opportunity to strike, and even sussing out the best value from among the money-lines offered by the various bookmakers.
• Realise that the following thoughts and beliefs aren’t conducive to either patience or sports betting success: (1) not betting is the same as missing out on a possibly golden opportunity, (2) I have to bet on everything if I’m to show a running profit, (3) Any bet is better than no bet.
• Realising the importance of being realistic in your expectations is a key co-trait of being a patient and effective punter.
• Realise that developing the skill of patience is “work” – i.e. patience is a skill that must be developed on purpose. A useful exercise for developing patience within the context of the sports bettor would be to sit out on a betting session as far as placing an actual bet is concerned. Instead, watch the market, analyse the market, identify the lesson to be learnt from either betting or not betting on that market, and make a note of those lessons.

Counting The Cost

Sitting back and counting the cost of over betting can be a sobering exercise.

Typical costs associated with over betting aren’t monetary only, but may also include:

• Emotional and mental frustration of realising that you are over betting instead of betting from a position of strategy, self-discipline, patience, and diligence.
• The realisation that we are creatures of habit – and that bad habits breed more bad habits. The longer you keep throwing good money at bad bets simply for the sake of betting, the more ingrained this type of behaviour will become, and the more difficult to change.
• Not only are you losing money, but you’re also over-paying on sportsbook commission charges and spreads.