The Importance Of Discipline To Betting Sports Success

The Importance Of Discipline To Betting Sports Success
By Ross Everett
I get some of my best sports gambling concepts from non-sports gambling books. That’s not really surprising, since there are so few serious works addressing sports handicapping and gambling. Of all the various gambling related disciplines, sports gambling is perhaps the most complex. The paucity of written work on the subject is downright shameful in light of that fact. Since there’s so little specific literature available some of the best theoretical resources available to the serious sports gambler can be found in books written for the serious poker player.
Poker–like sports betting–can be a profitable endeavor, and one in which knowledge and skill can counteract the theoretical odds against him. Legendary poker theorist Bob Caro once noted that while there are some professional poker players, sports bettors or blackjack players there’s not a single professional roulette player.
The reason for that is that the house advantage in roulette is too high to overcome by any combination of skill, money management, strategy or discipline. To throw in another Caro concept, it’s a case where the decisions made by the roulette player simply don’t have a role in overcoming the house advantage. Over the long haul whether you choose red or black, even or odd the house edge remains the same.
Caro stresses the paramount importance of discipline to a poker player’s long term success and profitability. It’s important to keep in mind that to succeed as a professional gambler that you need to approach a trip to the casino with a diametrically opposite mindset to that of the recreational gambler. A recreational gambler heads to the casino to *avoid* discipline and ‘unwind’. The professional uses discipline to his advantage.
And the lesson that Caro gives to the would-be expert poker player is the same lesson that Im going to give to you here. The first step toward becoming a successful sports gambler is to approach it with the same discipline that you approach any other job. You must start to think about sports and sports wagering like a professional and not like a recreational gambler. The greater degree to which you can apply a regimented framework to the sports betting process, the greater degree to which you will be successful at it.
Now, I have no problem with recreational sports gamblers or any other recreational gamblers for that matter. Recreational sports gamblers are, in fact, crucial to the survival of those of us who do this for a living. They’re not our prey “like they are for the poker professional” but a thriving recreational sports gambling industry keeps the sports books in business, and what I do is utterly useless if my book doesn’t pay me.
The life of a professional sports bettor isn’t for everyone, and if you just want to bet recreationally and have fun with it that’s great. While a few theoretical tips here and there won’t hurt, the only discipline that really matters for a recreational player is the same thing for any other hobby–don’t spend more on it than you can afford to. After that, you’re on your own to have fun with it.


The Importance Of Discipline To Betting Sports Success