betting mentality

[presto]

I began betting 'for fun' a good number of years ago - ever since i 'looked' old enough to walk into a betting shop, and before that running a book wih friends at school and taking up near enough any proposition bet i was offered. That was a long time ago though and many things have changed. Once profit became the aim as opposed to fun i started taking things seriously, reading every gambling book i could get my hands on, getting advice from people with a better knowledge than myself, delving into statistics etc.... along with a good deal of personal development i am now (last 3+ years) i have been in the position where i draw my income from betting (and before that a good few years of 'extra income'). it has never been easy nor a smooth ride, but it does prove one thing - that 'making money through betting is possible'.

I do realise that being a pro-gambler is not everyones priority in this site, nor do i blame them - after all a job is more secure and much more guaranteed than betting ever will be. however i have the mentality that if you do something, be it for fun or proffessionally, you should always aim to be the best you can be at it. i started betting for fun years ago, but i know as a fact that it's more fun when you win. so that became my aim.

In this article i will attempt to share my knowledge, both my own views and what i have learnt, in the hope that some people may learn something.
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First up - the mentality of successfull betting, this is one major factor in betting, and perhaps one of the important factors. and incorporates the following elements:

Patience - good runs, bad runs, stagnation periods - all part of betting, but these are just short term periods. your only goal in whatever you do (betting in this case) is long term success. the ammount of times i have seen people give up betting after a month or so during a bad run of results far outweighs the people who have stuck around during the good / bad periods, and it dosn't take a genious to work out which ones have profited the most long term.
all systems i use on this on this site have historical data, backing up the 'long term' claim.
i don't know if a person can learn patience or not, but if you are buying into the idea of a 'get rich scheme' with betting you will be dissapointed.

Disciplin - systems / staking plans, both these key aspects are betting are rules 'set in stone', you do what they say no matter what your personal oppinion is, you need the disciplin to do things that you may not like to do, but in the end know will help out in the long run. you need the diciplin not to flutter your bankroll away on bets that you know are stupid, the disciplin to keep accurate records no matter how boring spreadsheets are. the list goes on, but i will keep it short, as the results of a lack of disciplin can seriously damage your profitability.

Confidence - this may effect some more than others, but IMO you should always beleive and have confidence in what you are doing, the old saying of 'if you don't beleive you have what it takes - your probably right. if you do think you have what it takes - again your probably right'. so if you are one of thoes people who thinks gambling is a mugs game where only the bookies win, or losing £££ for fun is justifed for a bit of fun, then thats your perogative. if however you go in with the view that making money from betting is possible - then read on.

Balls - there are some times when your testicular fortitude may come into question, a card game where your gut instinct and reasoning tells you to call an all in which you are certain is a bluff, you know the call is the play, but do you have the balls to put your tournament on the line? or do you take the 'wrong' easy option of a fold? sometimes it takes balls and confidence to do the right thing.

Realistic - you must be realistic in betting. the ammount of times i have heard people attribute winning to skill and losing to bad luck is something that angers me, everything you do is a result of 'you' the word 'luck' should be erased from your mental dictionary - it dosn't exist, only statistical abnormalities and low percentage outs exist, not luck.
be realistic with your aims, if you know you only have the means to be a £2 punter then thats fine - never, ever, overstreach yourself. if you know you can beat the $5 STT's don't assume the same for the $50 MTT's . take responsibility for everything you do.

Open minded - you can learn something from everybody, so take advantage of this, it is the one thing that will improve yourself the most. but all the time make sure you are taking the right advice.
whilst i will never deny anyone there own oppinion sometimes the closed minded defensive approach annoys me, as how can anyone develope / improve whilst holding there fingers in there ears shouting 'LA LA LA NOT LISTENING'. there is always someone out there who knows more on a certain subject than you do / or has different ideas on things, so listen to thoes ideas take them in and improve yourself.