Accountability
We’ve all been there before: on the losing end of a bet looking to the heavens for an explanation of why (insert player here) did what he did or how an official could possibly make “that” call when we had money on the game. It’s human nature: blame others for decisions you make that don’t work out exactly as you’d like. Rather than digging into the boxscore and reading the recap to see where our handicap of a particular game went wrong, our god complex forces us to rationalize the outcome.
A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of complex or intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks, or may regard their personal opinions as unquestionably correct.[1][2] The individual may disregard the rules of society and require special consideration or privileges
Allowing this thought process to ruminate is beyond dangerous. Projecting blame onto others prevents us from trying to correct our own mistakes. Claiming circumstances beyond our control contributed to an undesirable outcome is an easier defense mechanism than becoming accountable. Hey guys and girls: if you can’t handle random sequences of events that you don’t impact directly I suggest spending those recreational dollars on golf, leave sports betting for the professionals.
Learning to become accountable, in both wins and losses, is a sign of maturity in a bettor. However, mastering this thought process is one few will ever learn. Accountability in wagering forces bettors of all ability levels to learn from their mistakes if the end game is becoming better at your craft. Blaming officials, players, or handicappers on twitter for a losing bet is juvenile. It’s really simple: no one forces any of us to bet. No gambler should ever lose site of that simple truth. Am I saying accepting loses is the only way to approach handicapping? Absolutely not… losing becomes a way of life that’s contagious if you let it be. Resilience in this craft is of paramount importance, you’ll need that quality to maintain confidence during the lean periods.
The hardest lesson to understand is that no matter how good your power numbers are or how sharp the information you’ll use to bet, a success rate of 100% is unattainable. Think about the life of a professional ballplayer; he fails 7 out of 10 times and needs to put the disappointment behind him if he’s going to deliver in the clutch the next time he steps to the plate. Betting sports is no different; aside from needing to hit 52.4% rather than 30%. Being successful as a gambler is about developing a results oriented thought process that allows you to meet goals. Until you’re accountable to yourself, profit derived from sports gambling remains unattainable.
