[4/25/24] #50 - Winning Is Hard and Losing is Harder

[4/25/24] Winning Is Hard and Losing is Harder

I know a lot of winners. Sometimes it becomes too much frankly. I try to put out a lot of positivity in everyone I deal with.

I tend to love everyone even those who really want to be disliked I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt until I just can't any longer.

Do you know what a miracle you are? My sister often asks this. She too is a nice person, nicer than most.

People often ask how I know this person or that person. One im old (haha) and I've always wanted to tell everyone who are awesome in this industry how awesome that is. That's it. Pretty wild concept, I know.

Recently I was talking with maybe one of the top 10 bettors in the U.S. and as he was explaining his playoff tour which is a bucket list of sitting courtside at every playoff venue from round 1 to the finals... He had another big year, maybe his biggest.

We were discussing my anxiety and how he dealt with it. I feel like mine is getting harder to deal with as I get older and his is getting easier to manage.

His advice was simple, too simple. You either win or lose. I'm just prepared to lose better than I used to be.

I took this in for over a week. I'm not going to reveal the man but if you read this you'll know who.

He wakes up at 2 pm and checks injuries and gets his final bets in around 10 minutes before tip. Watches every minutes of every game with 7 TVs in front of him. He screen shots every halftime score to look for anomalies in pace. He doesn't use a odds screen, doesn't make numbers... yes you read the last 2 right.

After the game he takes a jog, eats a meal plan sent to his home 7 days at a time and sort of meditates on the next games and waits until 6 am before sending out large orders to his movers... Bedtime.

This goes on every NBA season and he doesn't want to even hear a hint of what someone else likes, doesn't care what the market likes and numbers only confuse his confidence.

He takes one day off a week to explore the new parts of the Vegas strip that sits 15 miles from his home to enjoy a meal. One non gambling friend will join him from what I can tell.

He does get on a plane once or twice a season to watch 2 home games of any team he thinks he can learn from seeing in person.

Summer hits and there's a life to be had. Trips to go on, family to embrace, friends to check in on in person.

There's dedication to a craft and then there's the above.

So why would he expect to lose? It bothered me this non chalant wisdom of such a carefree attitude regarding what we do for a living.

He in no way was downsizing what I deal with but just giving his own personal thoughts on it.

I started dissecting my MLB partner recently and he's 27 lives in a different country every off season. This past winter I got pics from Amsterdam, Berlin and about 10 other major cities and this off-season he's doing Brazil.

I recently sent a text after a very, very brutal loss where the closer lost us a game. He asked which game? He wasn't watching, nor did he know exactly why I was upset.

I had a fellow bettor text me something along the lines, "you have to be a little crazy to do this" and I wrote back, "I am not so sure about that"

I think there's a shared misconception that truly successful people in any field have to be married in a sense to their occupation but look at the 2 highly successful people and how different they are but notice the parallel.

Neither are concerned about losing both and are dedicated in different ways

MLB bettor is up every morning manually adjusting everything and ready for any lineup, pitcher they can throw at him.

NBA bettor doesn't need numbers as he knows every players worth after watching 60 hours a week for 2 decades that as he put it, if I put a number on a injured player and then look to see if people agree, I'm likely to want to agree with their number.

Both exude confidence. Both have won enough to own it.

So how do I or you get there? How is every game just one bet and not anything bigger than just that?

I overcame a lot to get to this point but any given day I sit at my computer staring at the screen and wonder internally, "how is this all going to go to shit tonight?"

I'm constantly trying to learn from this great circle of friends who are sharp and perhaps much sharper than myself and I love learning from them, anything I can.

My goal over this spring and summer is to find confidence.

I normally don't ask for comments but this will be a rare occasion where I ask anyone and everyone who found confidence in their betting after losing it for even for a week, month to let me and all of us know a suggestion or two.

I've won a lot, I know I will continue to win because of work ethic and love for all of it but I have to admit my confidence hasn't been right day to day, week to week for a bit now.

I'd like to be more like the two people mentioned but you either win or lose and tomorrow is a new day... Isn't panning out in my frantic, fear based brain lately.

I hope every 9th inning goes your way, every NBA ref helps your side and continued success.

Thank you for the space as always, Eddie