The Role of Emotion in Sports Betting

Dealing with the Different Outcomes of a Bet

Betting on sport is just the same. In fact, the emotions are intensified because, with a sports bet, we stand to benefit personally from the outcome, while defeat will result in a personal loss. This can produce a powerful emotional effect, which is usually negative because the key to successful betting is the use of sound logic and reason in an objective way.

The dangers of being influenced by emotion when you bet may be obvious, but it is worth dwelling on them for a moment. Betting is a high-risk activity, particularly with betting apps UK players use, where the margins between success and failure can be small. It is also likely that many of your bets will fail, even if you are a successful gambler. Allowing yourself to become too emotionally involved in the fate of anyone bet can lead to a host of mistakes, such as overconfidence, chasing losses or giving up betting entirely.

How to Reduce the Effect of Emotion

Professional gamblers are no less human than you or me, but they have mastered the trick of controlling their emotions. This is hard work and requires discipline and diligence, but it can be done. Emotional resilience is made up of three components: financial, psychological and physical.

• Staying in control of your budget
  Of the three pillars of emotional resilience, this is the easiest to create. Essentially, financial resilience is about reducing your attachment to the fate of individual bets. If you are betting with money you cannot afford to lose, then it is very hard not to become emotional about a bet. This can be avoided by ensuring that you are only betting with money that ultimately you can afford to lose. By setting aside a bankroll specifically for betting, not using that money for anything else, and staking consistently so that you don’t risk wiping out your whole bankroll on one or two bets, you will have a degree of financial stability that will help to reduce the emotion associated with each bet.
• Becoming psychologically resilient
  The realm of psychological resilience is a more uncertain terrain. Essentially, this boils down to strength of character, and some people will be better placed to deal with the emotional highs and lows of betting than others. But there are things you can do to improve your psychological resilience. The key is to carry out regular self-analysis. In fact, this should be as essential a part of your betting schedule as recording your bets and reviewing your selections. To build up psychological resilience, try to think about times when you have experienced strong emotions. Reflect on what you were feeling, why you were feeling that way, and how those feelings affected your behaviour. This will not only help to take the edge off those emotions, it will also give you valuable insight into your own psychology. Don’t be afraid to take a break from betting either if you are finding the emotional side of it is getting to you. Step away, refresh and take the time to think through your psychological responses. It can make you a better gambler and a stronger person.
• Taking care of yourself
  The physical side of betting is often overlooked, but it is important. If things are not going well, it can take a toll on your physical wellbeing just as much as your mind. Building physical resilience, by getting plenty of sleep, eating well and taking regular exercise can put you in a better state to cope with the emotional ups and downs that are an inevitable part of betting.