Betting Systems - Impulse Betting

The worst type of betting to do is impulse betting. Such is the case when one has extra money and is willing to spend all of it on a ‘stupid’ wager without doing much research on it. Similar to impulse buying, one is not sound of mind to make any kind of informed decision. This article is meant to discuss some reasons why people perform impulse betting, and it is the hope of the author that people do not bet this way. The major reasons why people impulse bet include emotional instability, a ‘streak’, and displacement.

Emotional instability is perhaps the hardest to control. People bet (on sports) to get rid of their problems. Some sports bettors gamble to escape depression, some do it to derive pleasure. And still, some gamble as part of their disease pathology. The author suggest that if one is betting out of one’s means, that one should seek help. Also, if betting is taking over one’s life, in that one’s life is drastically changing because of betting, that one should stop and ask for help. Sports betting should be treated as stocks and as investments. One should think of betting as a business and nothing more.

The second factor of why people impulse bet is the ‘streak’ (either good or bad). When one goes on either streak, may it be good or bad, one takes extra risks and unfortunately such betting usually ends in a loosing money. As such, the author recommends limiting plays to only those plays that were handicapped and not include those that were derived out of impulse.

The third factor that controls impulse betting is displacement. Similar to emotional instability, displacement is defined as doing something in place of another (in this case betting to avoid doing / experiencing something else). People who suffer from displacement should avoid gambling all together and should seek professional help.

Knowing the reasons why people gamble and impulse bet will ultimately help those who bet for hobby and investment reasons. If one feels that one is betting to escape something else, one should seek help and not rely on the ‘action’ to make them feel better about themselves.