What is a bad beat? The term is thrown around so often these days that if somebody loses a game, they are more likely to blame the gambling gods rather than their own handicapping; sports gambling psychology 101. Losing a game by one point does not meet the criteria for a bad beat. Losing by a last second pick-6? We’re getting there. Gambling for as long as I have, I’ve lost just about every way imaginable. Half court shots with no time left when the shot doesn’t affect the outcome of the game. Ten point underdogs losing by eleven in double overtime. Those same games that with a few minutes left you make the mistake of saying, “well the only way I can possibly lose this one is if…” undoubtedly awakening the gambling gods and their notoriously cruel sense of humor. These are the types of bad beats that will keep you up at night.
Is it tough to just take these awful misfortunes on the chin sometimes? Sure. Will they all even out in the end? absolutely. I am not here to tell you about how I am the unluckiest gambler on the face of the earth. In fact I’m telling you the opposite. I can sit here going on and on about sports gambling psychology and shoot off my bad beats left and right, naming you the teams and players involved, the time and the place I was watching the game, probably even what I was having to eat at the time I was watching it. Even though I’ve had my fair share of good fortune also, I probably couldn’t name more than a couple of times where luck was on my side and had a miracle occur to my benefit. Although I do make a prominent living by betting, just like most gamblers, I never feel more alive than when the chips are being raked away from me. The feeling is so distinguishable and hard to forget that they stick in our minds for years.
I can always tell the more experienced gamblers from the novice gamblers by the way that they accept their bad beats. Someone who is new to the game will call you three weeks later still complaining about a blocked field goal as time expired and how he lost a wager because of it. Here is a basic sports gambling psychology example: a seasoned gambler will have stored this loss in the back of his mind and moved on. Sure it may hurt both of them equally, but it does no good to dwell on it and sooner or later you’ll get triple overtime to hit your over and make that money back.
