How to Be a Smart Sports Bettor by Not Chasing Losses
Usually, when a sports bettor realizes he’s on a losing streak, he may bet more than usual to “recover” whatever money lost. This is referred to as chasing losses, which only ends up in more losses, and then the chasing begins again and the losses too, etc.This is called chasing losses, which leads to even more losses, more chasing, more losses, etc.This is what we call chasing losses, which only brings more losses and then more chasing and so on.
This phenomenon is actually more real than you’ll ever think.In fact, scientific studies have even been done on it everywhere in the world.Among the most popular inquiries on chasing losses was done at the Department of Experimental Psychology at University of Oxford in the UK, where they found that chasing losses had something to do with increased activity in sections of the brain that were associated with reward expectation and incentive-motivation.
In an opposite effect, quitting was related to less activity in these very areas but more activity in those that handled conflict monitoring and anxiety. Simply put, subjects who chased mostly focused on the good outcome; and conversely, the bad outcome when they finally decided to quit.
Of course, as a human being, there’s no way you can totally wipe out your loss-chasing tendencies.But you can always plan ahead to control it as well as lessen your chances of responding negatively.
So what kind of plan works against chasing losses?Just decide on four things:
1. Amount you are comfortable losing
2. Unit size (about 1-5% of number 1)
3. Sport(s) you will bet on
4. Picking bets (value, analytics, situational, etc.)
When you’re all set with those details, you can add these rules on how to handle the unavoidable losing streak without chasing:
1. Don’t increase your unit size just because you’ve been losing recently.
2. Don’t bet unplanned.
3. Win or lose, take a cooling break after every bet.
4. Don’t bet drunk or when you’re dealing with any kind of stress.
5.Treat each bet separately from others.
6. Forget score alerts unless you have a live bet strategy.
Most of the the said rules are connected in some ways, but by reading them separately, you can have different perceptions of your emotions and general betting habits. Thus, you will also have a better understanding of each of the factors involved, as well as of their totality. It’s all about awareness, and the ability to identify these situations will help you avoid the chasing game. If you bet while in a state of worry, resentment, or a feeling of bad luck, that is a bad bet from the get go, regardless of the outcome. This is okay and even normal to an extent, but just make sure you know how to identify it when it comes, prepare a strategy to contain it, and just quit betting until you feel a lot better.