The "GRIND"

bigbet1234 · Jun 1, 2010

you have to be a certain breed to "truely" bet sports for a living. The games that should win don't at times, can be brutal.

How do you separate the emotional attachement from money?

This is the biggest fall of anyone attempting to make a living out of this. Accepting the losses. If you have disapline, you can win betting MLB, but it PISSES me off at the same time

X-Files · Jun 1, 2010

It's the same mentality as playing/gambling/investing in the stock market.

Not everyone can handle the ups and downs of it, and many bail on a
downturn, which will occur often over years, sometimes quite severely.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Divide your BR into 20 or more separate BR's which are devoted to 10
sports and at least 20 different 'cappers and/or systems that you trust.
Then if any one of these BRs go bust you are not dead in the water.

eoghater · Jun 1, 2010

The timing of this thread is pretty damn good to what I am feeling right now. I've taken a few body blows the past two weeks from the nba, french open, and now the mlb. I really don't know how someone can withstand these blows unless they just don't take it seriously. This game between the Rays and Jays could be the final nail in the coffin that this hobby truly is hopeless. I'm with you bigbet, I want to tap into the mind of a man who does this successfully because I am losing hope that this has any potential success in it.

bigbet1234 · Jun 1, 2010

I think inheirantly we are afraid of risk. But caculated risk are what pays off if you can stick through it

bigbet1234 · Jun 1, 2010

I agree. I think it has to do with the size of the bet. when things get emotional, you are betting too much.

$25-$50 bets don't do it and aren't really going to make ya money.....so why bother?

Bankroll is key, if you have a 6 figure roll and bet $100-$300 a game you'd be safe

eoghater said:
The timing of this thread is pretty damn good to what I am feeling right now. I've taken a few body blows the past two weeks from the nba, french open, and now the mlb. I really don't know how someone can withstand these blows unless they just don't take it seriously. This game between the Rays and Jays could be the final nail in the coffin that this hobby truly is hopeless. I'm with you bigbet, I want to tap into the mind of a man who does this successfully because I am losing hope that this has any potential success in it.

eoghater · Jun 1, 2010

the problem is when you switch the mentality from, "ok, let's bet this, this, and this and crack open a beer" to "wow, I need federer today or my weekly profit will be very weak/negative" adds a whole new dimension of pressure to your capping abilities. Instead of thinking clearly, you're going to be pressing and betting scared. Maybe guys with 100k bankrolls don't worry about it, but I can tell you that the pressure will be there if little profit accumulates from a week to week basis.

TheComputerGroup · Jun 1, 2010

eoghater said:
the problem is when you switch the mentality from, "ok, let's bet this, this, and this and crack open a beer" to "wow, I need federer today or my weekly profit will be very weak/negative" adds a whole new dimension of pressure to your capping abilities. Instead of thinking clearly, you're going to be pressing and betting scared. Maybe guys with 100k bankrolls don't worry about it, but I can tell you that the pressure will be there if little profit accumulates from a week to week basis.

My cousin bets on tennis & I could never understand how you handicap tennis beside the fact that obviously 1 guy is great & his opponent isnt. I mean, do you handicap by what tennis sneakers these guys are wearing, what racket they are hitting with or what court they are playing on? Tennis to me seems insane to bet money on.

eoghater · Jun 2, 2010

The Computer Group said:
My cousin bets on tennis & I could never understand how you handicap tennis beside the fact that obviously 1 guy is great & his opponent isnt. I mean, do you handicap by what tennis sneakers these guys are wearing, what racket they are hitting with or what court they are playing on? Tennis to me seems insane to bet money on.

With Tennis, you need to have at least 2 months under your belt of constantly monitoring all the player's forms. Tennisinsight.com is a great site that gives you the data of all the matches the player has played and where were his or her tournaments. Some tournaments, you might be lucky to get some interviews from the players, which are important to listen to.

With that said, it's a very difficult sport to win at because the books are usually sharp with their favorites lines. When they know a player has a clear advantage in the matchup, they hike him up in the -275-400 range. It's a sport that always sparks upsets so it just takes one loss on a favorite to shake your confidence.