The Importance of Keeping Your Records of Your Bets
by Evan, Pro Sports Handicapper, Predictem.com
The job of a successful sports handicapper entails much more than simply watching sports and making wagers based on what he/she sees. While money management often takes top priority as work that could be considered “behind the scenes;” keeping a tight records book of all wagers ranks as a close second. The best sports bettors have records of every single wager they have made, when they made it and the results of the wager. A step that is often and very easily overlooked as crucial. Here are three big reasons why keeping a tight records book is vital to any handicapper’s long-term success.
It Gives a Quantitative Measure of Success
Online sportsbooks make it very easy for a beginner bettor to lose track of the actual success they have had in a particular season or stretch of time.
Free plays, bonuses and an account that just displays a balance can easily deceive the player into thinking they have had more success than they really have. Very often a player may open a sportsbook account with twice as many funds as he/she deposited. Three months later the player may have 1.5 times the initial deposit despite losing 25 percent of what they opened with. This makes it very easy for an unsuccessful bettor in denial to say that they are still “up” on their initial deposit, which is true in some sense. That being said, record keeping makes it clear if the bettor is winning or losing over the long-term. One should probably not continue if they are truly wagering on sports as an investment, hoping to make a profit.
This deception becomes even truer if the player does not have complete discipline in terms of money management. Four or five losses in a row can tempt a beginner into springing for a larger bet to make up for the previous day’s losses. Winning that large wager may reflect a break-even stretch when just using a balance as a barometer of success, but that could not be less true. Instead of worrying about the balance in the sportsbook account, a bettor that strives for success looks at records of his previous plays to scrutinize over the long-term. There are simply way too many ways to manipulate a balance on a day-to-day basis to hide the truth of a bettor’s actual success making investments. Don’t let a balance number cover up the truth.
Bettors Learn What Types of Bets They Have More Success With
Whether it’s totals, spreads, moneylines, prop bets or futures, every sports bettor prefers to key in on a specific type of wager that tailor to their strengths. Record keeping helps make this picture clear.
Many times when someone just begins betting on sports he/she retains certain wins as very vivid memories. A miracle ninth inning to cover an over or a last-second shot to hit a backdoor cover with a big underdog can lead to biases when a bettor considers their strengths in terms of which type of bets to look for. A spreadsheet of records becomes very valuable for trying to figure out which type of bets truly are the most successful and which are the ones to try and avoid.
Each time a bettor records their card’s results for the day, they should indicate the type of bet so he can sort his plays into different columns based on the bet type. This makes it very easy to visualize how successful they are betting spreads, totals, props, etc. If one type of bet is significantly more successful or less successful over a large enough sample size, then maybe it’s time to begin avoiding certain types of bets and focus more on what is working for you. This type of information can only help a bettor’s proficiency over the long haul.
It Keeps a Bettor Conscious of Streaks and the Big Picture
This goes along with the first reason but it is definitely different enough and important enough to warrant a point of its own.
No bettor enjoys losing, but some “feel” it more than others. Speaking in terms of an emotional hurt. Some bettors have very short memories, which is good for retaining confidence and continuing to fire at plays where there is value, despite unfortunate variance at times. That being said, it can also hurt the bettor that continues to make poor plays in spite of losing.
Writing down and tracking plays makes a bettor reflect on his/her picks each and every day and consciously absorb whether or not they were positive or negative plays. Tracking plays everyday makes the bettor realize the streaks that are involved in the daily grind of sports betting and creates a level headed player.
Instead of feeling invincible during a winning streak and not paying any attention to damages during a losing streak, a responsible player that keeps daily records notices individual tendencies. They also become more conscious of exactly how they are performing and how to attack future bets based on this information.
Keeping daily records is tedious and can pose a harsh reality at times, but avoiding the work is just setting oneself up for a losing career that won’t have any chance to improve.
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