Watching games is always a fun way to spend your time. You lose yourself in an alternate reality, forget pending tasks, and enjoy yourself. For many, these minutes or hours spent cheering on teams or players take them back to happier days.
As such, the accessibility of online bookies has been welcome, as it has allowed fans to back their favourites with money. Some bookies have eased access further through a mobile betting app which offers more convenience than conventional browsers. With all this access, many punters have been making a lot of money through betting. But some have not been as lucky – what can you do if you are in the latter category?
The Effects of Losses
Nobody likes losing – be it money or even a game. Many people take it personally, and this can have the following effects:
- You may be angry at yourself or other people,
- You may feel shame,
- You may start doubting your skills and may feel that your strategies are not good enough,
- Your self-worth may take a hit, and
- You may feel very emotional about it, e.g., overwhelmed with sadness.
These reactions are normal; many people have felt the same way. What matters is how you deal with it, as detailed in the section below.
Dealing with Betting Losses
Most people approach betting with the notion that they will start earning money with their first wager. After all, they have seen people become millionaires from betting, and they figure they can follow suit. However, betting does not have any guarantees. As much as you can win, you also stand a chance to lose your money as you cannot alter the factors affecting the game. For example, you may have bet on team A because its star player is in the field. But halfway through the game, that player may suffer an injury, giving the advantage to the other team. In that case, you would lose.
So, how do you pick yourself up from such a loss?
1. Do Not Chase Losses
Sometimes, people will lose and figure that they can recover the money they have lost by placing another wager. This thinking is the gambler’s fallacy and often affects people who think luck is on their side. But just as you lost the first wager, you cannot guarantee that your next wager will win. As such, instead of investing more money in the game, walk away and accept that you have lost that capital.
2. Take Notes
Each time you lose or win, you should write down the circumstances surrounding the event. For example, if you wagered on team B because it was playing at home, yet the odds were against it, you may notice that you were subjective. Write this down and make a habit of noting your wagers and factors affecting your decisions. Soon enough, you will learn whether you are making wagers based on facts or feelings.
3. Forgive Yourself
Losing is not easy to deal with – people can sometimes feel guilty for placing a wager, especially if they had doubts about it. However, you should not be hard on yourself. You may have researched the teams, watched previous matches, dotted every i and crossed every t. But you cannot control the game, even if you were a player on the field. Some factors are beyond your control. Accept that, and you will have an easier time moving forward.
4. Manage Your Emotions
Sadness, anger, hopelessness, and fear are some of the emotions you may experience once you have lost a wager. These are all normal reactions to experiencing a loss. Here is what you can do about them:
- Allow yourself to go through the motions: Often, people ignore their feelings and mask them by embarking on other activities. However, not dealing with your emotions has an adverse effect in later stages. Sit with your feelings and allow yourself to breathe through them.
- Harness positive emotions: Think of what you enjoy doing. You may like dancing or spending the evening with friends. Such activities will release happy hormones into your system and help you feel better.
If you feel that your emotions are getting the better of you, talk to someone you trust.
5. Cap Your Spending
Your loss may feel even more profound if you had invested a lot of money in the wager. For example, someone who invested their savings in a game may feel more distraught than someone who lost something they had intended to use on wagers. The best way to recover after losses is as follows:
- Be strict with your budget: Always have a spending plan determining how much you can spend on games, e.g., a hundred pounds per month.
- Stagger your spending: It’s easy to exceed your spending limit when you do not have a limit per wager. Suppose you have a hundred pounds. You can stagger your spending to ten pounds per wager. So, even if you lose a wager, you will only have lost ten pounds.
If you have trouble capping your spending, you can use the self-imposed limits available on most betting sites.
Finally, be patient. Most successful punters still suffer losses 30% to 50% of the time. The trick lies in being good with your money, making objective decisions, and not rushing the process. You will also get there!
