betting on sports from 14 years and stop for good

Hi, my name is Sorin and Inwant to share with you my story
I was betting for 14 years on multiple sports with money management strategy but I end up in a hole anyway.I was a little bit lucky to don’t find myself in a very big financial hole because I used a strategy and Fortunately I don’t like Casinos games at all because In my opinion you can lose big amount of money very fast.
Anyway what I want to say it is no betting strategy it is a good one and you will end up losing and sometimes you lose big .They say if you follow money management strategy in sports betting you can make money in log term but one thing they don’t mention it is the DISCIPLINE that at some point you will abandon and from there it is just a question of time until you fell down...
In 14 years I place bets for 1.000.000$ total amont and even I used the money management strategy at some point the OVERCONFIDENCE took upon me ( and this will happen on everyone,it is a question of time) and I end up chasing my loss and fell from there...
It is very difficult to keep the Discipline and even with this you may lose money very fast.
Not long ago I decided to stop betting for good and I feel very good about this decision and I want to tell you that even they say in sports betting you can make money, this is not true ,even professional handicappers they are losing money and most of them are making money just selling picks and fake dreams...If anyone think that betting on sports it is safe and making money this it is a fake dream and even if you are winning at the beginning, at some point you will end up falling and usually you don’t wake up until it is too late.
Good recovery to everybody!!!
PS sorry for my English, I am French Canadian and English language it is not my strong

Welcome to the forum Gabone,

I am also a sports gambler and the thought of a 'system' or a 'strategy' is usually what makes us think we can make money through gambling. I can't begin think how many systems I thought of and in the end, they all failed. Sometimes when my 'system' is going well, I always fail because of my emotions and lack of patience. It is something we can't control since we are all human and are emotional beings. A good example is the MIT blackjack team who can create a positive expected value through blackjack (not sure if it is really true...), but you would have to play perfect blackjack for several hours, days, weeks and months perfectly to make a living and I don't think many of us can do that. Blackjack would become soooo boring. We will eventually vary our bets when we are doing well and also make impulsive bets which will always cost us in the end. Emotions are what cause us to lose control and for a gambling addict, that leads us into despair and depression.

Thanks Aries,
All you said it is true and what I'm gonne say may shock you but in fact you can make a living from sports betting.What you need it is very strong money management and mental control if I can exprim myself like that.
I have a very good friend who is living from betting on sports from 25 years but he bet one game a day ,never more and if he loses ,he doesn't chase it.Of course he is good at making between 60-64 % a month with substantial amount of money per bet. Maybe sound very simple but it is very hard to respect this strategy and to have this mental control.I'm not able to do this long term.At some point the Emotion take control and I feel OVERCONFIDENTand that's it...., you fall apart.

Gabone25 wrote:All you said it is true and what I'm gonne say may shock you but in fact you can make a living from sports betting.What you need it is very strong money management and mental control

I understand what you're saying but there is a world of difference between people who gamble and people who are addicted to gambling , just like there are people who can drink socially and there are people who are alcoholics .

Your friend has the ability and control to walk away with what he wins and to accept his losses and minimize his risk . People who have an addiction can't do this consistently or in the long term . We can't stop gambling , even when we want to . The addiction controls our actions and dominates our minds . I don't think anyone really knows why some people develop an addiction while others do not .

Is gambling bad ? The only answer I know is that it's bad for ME .

Very smart remark NewSunRising,I forgot to mention this, very well said. Of course,an addiction is when you cannot stop gambling and you are doing this for action, keep your adrenaline at high level and in fact satisfying your pleasure constantly. Also, they are people who can keep a discipline for certain time but at some point you lose control and you became addicted for real. The strength is when you stick to your plan and you treat gambling like a business and not only pleasure and of course you need to look at it like a marathon and not a sprint.
Have a nice day and good recovery everyone !!!

Hi,
I'm me again. I decided to write up some examples from my experience and acknowledge for almost
14 years of gambling like a pro and some money management that I did and even then not successful in years.
If you think you will be a successful gambler and you will make a living of that ( I'm referring just at sports betting not Casinos ), I'm sorry to disappoint you but you will fail deeply and I will show you why.
Let's say you are disciplinant and you will make just 1 bet a day (500 $) and not losing or winning you move on to the next day. So you make 365 bets on a year. Let's say you hit 60 % winning rate. That's mean 219 W-146L.sO YOU WILL MAKE A profit 26000 $ per year possibly.
But, wait a minute, this discipline is EXTREMELY hard to maintain and hitting 60% it is almost impossible. The best handicappers are hitting almost 55 % per year and they are very few.
So finally, you they are 99% to fail because you will lose that discipline at some point and you need to be very good to hit 55 %.

I had 17.000 $ debt and today I was paid 1660$.
Almost 15.300 left to pay plus interest of course.I know this sound stupid posting this but keeps me motivated and maybe help the others a bit. I'm free gambling from almost 3 months and continue to post until debt free... We will see how much it will take...I think we all must focus paying our debt instead of thinking gambling again to recuperate because the chance of losing more is a lot bigger.This happen to me during 14 years...sometime I started from 1000 to reach 10.000$ and lose back because frustration and bad control.
I’m trying to accept the loss ( witch is the most difficult part) even believe it or not is the most difficult part and painful than come back gambling.I’m sick of gambling and losing not even money but a lot of time handicapping and in the end getting frustrated because of a strange loss and going to gamble full bankroll and loss everything....
Keep you update until debt free!!!

Congratulations on staying gamble-free Gabone25 !

It took me a little less than 2 years to pay off my debt . It was a wonderful feeling to be free of it but it was an even better feeling to know that I have control over my compulsion to gamble . In the first year , my focus was on paying back everything I owed . I became kind of obsessed with watching the balance go down . The drive to " get rid of " my paycheck by sending it to my credit card company felt oddly similar to the urge to gamble .

In my second gamble-free year , I stopped fixating on my debt and settled into repaying it in sensible amounts and setting up an emergency fund of 6 months expenses , plus a small savings account . I also began to really look at some of the reasons why I felt I needed the escape of gambling . I started making small , healthier changes in my life . I thought about my future and decided where I want to be in 5 , 10 , 15 years .

Now , 3 months into my third year of recovery , I have a plan and I have the balance I need with regards to my money and how I spend it . I have a much healthier relationship with money now . I have a normal appreciation of its value . I don't hoard it but I don't spend recklessly either .

Becoming debt free is wonderful . The real gift is understanding what led you to the gambling debt and the sure knowledge that you won't ever allow it to happen again .

ah, what a blasted thing this gambling is. As soon as I pay off my gambling debts and start to save a little rainy day money I start to get tempted to gamble again. this is just what I have done once again. all year I saved up 3 grand but the gambling bug temptation got to me and now once again instead of savings in the bank I have got myself into some credit card debt. Boy what a mess. this time instead of saving my money i'll just spend it on shoes trips and nice clothes. that way i'll still have no money but at least i'll have some nice things to wear. I've got to stop this bloody gambling thing. I've got to.
day 8

Thank you all for the kind words, make me feel very good and supportive.I remember I came here two years ago because I wanted to stop but I wasn’t ready I think and didnt’ have big debt.This time around I said in naf is in naf and I don’t want to stop when it will be to late and even bigger debt.