Building a Healthy Sports Betting Habit
It is a known fact for people to have different hobbies and interests that they are very passionate about. However, as in all things, everything done in excess can already be bad for the person. The same is true for sports betting, which obviously can start as a plain leisure activity, but later on might tend to become a harmful addiction if not done judiciously.
Here are some of the most common signs that a bettor has already acquired a harmful gambling obsession:
- If he uses money supposedly set for paying bills on gambling
- If he bets an amount that is beyond what he can bear to lose
- If he goes beyond the budget or limit that he had set to make up for his losing streak
- If he experiences lack of sleep over gambling
- If he resorts into lying especially to loved ones about bet losses
These harmful signs are not necessarily unique to losers alone. There is also a good chance that you can see these awful symptoms among winning sports bettors. You can be a winner and yet suffer from severe gambling obsession. Nevertheless, winner or not, the most important thing for all bettors to remember is to adopt a healthy sports betting habit.
Listen to Family or Friends' Advice before you bet!
If it is your family and friends talking to you about your sports betting activities, then you cannot disregard their words. Listen to them because these people have genuine concern for you and they probably see that’s something wrong already. They may be worried that your passion for gambling has led to harmful sports betting habits so they will point out observations that you may not notice. Keep your mind open to their observations because they tend to be more objective. Someone who has gambling addiction will tend to be short-sighted and less objective so it pays to have an open mind to family or friends’ advice. It is better to discuss with them about these things and avoid being defensive so that you can evoke a healthy sports betting habit.
Sometimes, the money matter doesn’t come if you’re on the winning side. What create the problem usually is if you start spending too much time on this gambling hobby; time that is more than what is considered moderate. This doesn’t come as a surprise though since people usually tend to devote a lot of their time doing things that they enjoy the most.
In sports betting, your time is usually consumed because of several activities on top of the actual betting. First, you’ll need to constantly monitor the games and statistics particularly if you’re going to do handicap. Then, there’s also this need to research and improve your mastery of the game so you try to subscribe to several online forums and articles. You might also be persistently looking around to know which sports book provide the best value. And then, once you’ve placed in your bets you’ll of course be compulsively monitoring the games you have your stakes on so you know right away how much money you have gained or lost.
All these things contribute to that perception of your loved ones that you have unhealthy sports betting habits. Imagine them seeing you deal with all these sports-betting activities almost every second of your time. Hence, no one can blame them if they think that this lifestyle is harmful for you, regardless if you’re on a winning roll.
And so, the key solution to this problem is adopting a healthy sports betting habit. There is of course nothing wrong about betting, it just needs to be done in moderation. While studying sports betting continuously is a good practice, it does not necessarily require you to do it every day. What you can do is to come up with a schedule where you only assign a specific date for your research and studying. Moreover, there’s no use for you to monitor the games 24 by 7 because realistically, it will not help you win or lose the game even if you monitor it real-time. It’s better to just spend your time instead on doing other exciting activities like going out. And even while you’re out and not monitoring the game on TV, avoid obsessing on checking out the result of the game via other mobile devices.
So again, no one doubts that sportsbetting is an enjoyable and money-making hobby. But the key thing to remember is that you should do it in moderation. And if the time comes when it is your family or friends telling you that you are taking it too far already, there’s a good chance they are right.
