Why pride
leads to punting losses
I have come to the conclusion
that one of the greatest dangers to returning a small profit on most
people's gambling pursuits is pride.
No one likes to lose.
No one likes to admit their ideas may be wrong. Gee whiz - I better
stop thinking then because I have wrong ideas every day! Countless
numbers of them.
Knowing when to admit
your idea was wrong and start the construction process again is the
key to success. It's the same reason most people can't walk away when
they're losing and keep chasing the dollars they've already poured
down the drain.
It's the very reason
when we develop an idea that we think may be successful or come across
one that looks like it may have a winning edge, we spend up to three
or four months testing it over and over and over. Most of them are
discarded. Some survive the process.
Everyone knows about
Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity - unless you've been
hiding under a rock since day dot - but how many of his ideas before
hand were complete duds. Read his life story. There were heaps of
them!
So accepting that "the
most brilliant mind of our times" got a lot of things wrong before
he cracked the "el dorado" of his ideas, there is some slight
possibility that you might get things wrong as well?
This is where the pride
bit comes in - and the overwhelming sense of frustration that you
have followed yet another punting idea to what seems like yet another
inevitable conclusion. The feeling that becomes a shout in your head
- "**** this" - and then you throw all logic out the window
and just punt on anything - "pick a dog - the red in the next
at Warragul - who cares? - if they want the money, they can have it
or lady luck will come to my rescue and the red will win and set me
back on the right track".
Have you done that? I
have. And lost. The red in the next at Warragul inevitably leads them
up by three turning for home and gets run down by something at $43.00
that gets up by a head in a photo. That's just what happens. And will
continue to do so if you employ that approach.
Punting is a mind game.
You must define a game plan and follow it unconditionally.
Pride is a problem setting
the dollar level at which you are punting. It's why I generally gamble
alone. If you gamble with your friends, you may feel a lot of peer
pressure to punt at the same higher stakes as they do. Do not listen
to them.
That false pride is your
worst enemy.
The most effective method
to end losing at racing is to punt at a lower level. In this way you
can limit your losses, be under control, still enjoy yourself, and,
IMPORTANTLY, you can learn to improve from there. By doing this you
will lose less, regain your confidence and start thinking about turning
yourself in to a winner.
Losing at punting is
often the result of pride and rigidity. Start punting with small amounts.
If your "million dollar idea" works, great, move up to a
slightly higher level BUT be ready to revert to a lower level if you
start incurring big losses at the higher level. Be honest about it.
If the idea truly is
a million dollar one, it will still be valid in a month or two. The
rewards will still be there to be taken so what's the rush to punt
up at warp speed?
One of the main reasons
people lose is their false sense of pride - the belief that they are
the greatest form analyst ever put on earth and the only reason they
haven't been enormously successful up until now is the simple fact
that they've never had a bank to start with. You don't need a big
bank to start.
If you are right in
your approach that small bank will turn in to a bigger one with the
passage of time.
Don't let pride and impatience ruin what
can be a lot of profitable fun.
Horse
racing systems and research
