Most successful people have a high level of expertise. True, some may get lucky but that moment of serendipity won’t last long. In fact, believe it or not, you need to turn your working process from something complex to very simple else you are doomed.
If you don’t understand why you will when you start gambling.
It’s something like The Dummies Guide to Professional Gambling. I don’t think that book exists but it should for all those budding gamblers who have ambitions of making their betting pay.
You may ask: ‘Why do I need everything to be simple?’
Because the more complex something is, the more likely you will make mistakes. Not only do mistakes drive you to distraction but they cost you money. All working practices or processes need to be well thought out and refined so they run smoothly. They are built on understanding and work on positives.
You can either have an approach which works on positives or negatives. It’s obvious which of those two you are aiming for.
For example, every aspect of gambling needs an answer to a question. This takes a lot of time and experience. It isn’t something that comes easily. It’s usually a product of mistakes and money lost. That motivates you (or should do) to find the answer to a particular question. Not just any old answer, but the best answer.
When you look at a business which functions to a very high level you will notice every single part has been considered. It has simplified the complex to be worked in a standardised, simplistic, fashion. This helps every individual know what is expected and how the job is to be carried out. It’s a like a sales call which follows a script. The script has been refined to the point it closes sales. It works to a very high level because there has been time, energy and lots of money to make it profitable.
Successful gambling is very much the same. If you have a well oiled process, you don’t wake up each day and do something different. You have created the best answers to the most difficult questions. You keep them and use them until you have a better solution. This may come one day but if you are making money you may well be pleased with your lot. Push too hard and you may destroy what you nurtured.
There is no way you can be a professional gambler without making the complex routinely simplistic. With each race, the clock is ticking down. If you are searching for the best answer to the question seconds before the off you have lost. I can guarantee you will make a knee jerk reaction (it will be based on emotions) and it’s the wrong decision.
This is why to succeed as a professional gambler it is more complex than many may imagine.
It is a routine. It’s a method and process which you follow with discipline even when you feel you should do something different based on your emotions. You have to hold your nerve and stare loss in the face. You have to hold firm on what you know is the answer to the question. It has been learned by trial and error, winners and losers, time and effort, and endless frustration.
If you divert from the process you have no answer.
That option should terrify you.
Simplicity equals profit. Complexity leads to mistakes.
Today, I had a bet on a horse. What I would call a pre-emptive gamble. I bet and I hope the horse is backed to shorter odds. I have no way of knowing whether this horse will be backed or not. If it is, then I have the potential to make good money. If not, I may well have to lay the bet to lose part of my stake. But what is the best answer to this question? What should I do to give myself the best chance of winning? That is winning long term. One result doesn’t mean much on the grand scale of a season. But still, there is a best answer to the question.
Here is the answer to the question: ‘I have to wait until the horses are going behind the stalls and then make the decision to keep the bet or not.’
This may seem something and nothing. However, the process doesn’t work like that at all. I have to stick to the process whatever the betting looks like. Whether the odds are shorter or longer. The answer to the question is carved in stone. It is the best answer to the question and it cannot be changed whatever the situation or scenario. It’s the equivalent to seeing a red flashing button and someone saying: ‘Don’t press that button!’
If you press it, you have lost.
Why have you lost?
Because it is part of the process.
If you don’t have the discipline to follow the process, you have lost.
I know what you are thinking, didn’t three-times Grand National winner Red Rum used to gallop in the sea at Southport Beach. His wise, old trainer, Ginger McCain realised that salt water was like the elixir of life when it come to healing tired legs and aching bones. He went on to win the ‘greatest race in the world’ three times in 1973, 1974 & 1977.
I’m sure many of us have said those words. To be fair, I’m not sure if I have uttered that sentence but I know a man who has and I read it today. For privacy, I won’t mention his name but call him Mr. Mister (nothing to do with the American rock band, although being from the states he may well know their song Broken Wings). Anyway, he is a published writer and very much a horse racing man. It makes sense he writes for me considering I run a number of blogs related to this subject matter.