Can you learn to have discipline?

[sherman]

Regarding gambling...if you don't have discipline, is it even possible to change your ways?

 

[D2bets]

Sure it's possible.

 

[VaultedTreehouse]

Yes, but some are born with it, and most are not.

 

[teazeman]

very easy to have discipline when winning, losing on the other hand will test your ability to maintain it.

 

[Dante]

Yes I did...

 

[PokerKingJim]

Good question. I believe you can. It comes with maturity and peace of mind in other areas of your life.

 

[primetime21+]

If you rated discipline on a scale of 1-10, i was at about a 5 about 4 years ago. Then i started playing poker and i have learnt to become more disciplined which in turn has helped my sports gambling. I no longer chase and my capping has improved because of it.

I would say that i am at about an 8 or 8.5 now.

 

[Dante]

I think you have to firstly NOT BET with ANY money you can NOT afford to LOSE....that is the first thing, IMO if your betting with money that will HURT if lose you have NO business betting anything

 

[kidslick]

Regarding gambling...if you don't have discipline, is it even possible to change your ways?

i believe so, i believe this site has made me more discipline

today i did not wager on one game (putting a play in on sunday and

I won 800 bucks. sadly i did not watch 5 minutes of any games today)


i put the wagers in on tuesday of the week

 

[cincy_]

If you think you need discipline, you can attain it - the problem is that most people don't realize how important it is.

When people lose half their bankroll on a parlay, they don't think it's because of discipline - they think it's because the QB threw an interception.

 

[sherman]

some VERY good answers here....thanx for the input guys.....


I asked because while I have GREAT discpline when it comes to sports wagering, I still struggle BIG time w/ casinos (online and land based).....

 

[CY18]

I only bet with money left over after college is paid. I have Florida Pre Paid Tuition and it pays all but 11 percent. I usually have between $20 to $50 left over and that's what I bet with. I will never touch my savings account. Most of the money I bet with I end up winning. I got great friends who if they win big money wise that throw me $20 to $50. This week I didn't bet cause I was out of my left over money and I will never touch my savings. It was my birthday this week and I put $200 in and refused to even consider putting a penny in gambling.

Chris

 

[WEEKENDALKI]

It's entirely possible. Most successful bettors were HUGE degenerates at some juncture of their gaming career. Discipline can be learned easily as long as you vow to be a winner and stop paying your man.

 

[stump]

easy to talk about, hard to maintain when you are losing

 

[TTinCO]

"Can you learn to have discipline?"

Absolutely-I think 95% of gamblers are loose cannons until they wisen up & learn money mgmt. Isn't losing your entire roll on one day a rite of passage?

 

[copacabana]

When I first started out in this game, I was told that 'you need be bankrupt three times before you're any good'.

You cannot over-analyze your own betting patterns and profits, especially if you bet on more than one sport.

If you're the type that needs to have an interest on a game if it's live, and we've all been guilty of this, have one particular account - preferably a cash account - and have a max bet limit of something that counts, like the price of a meal out.

 

[wantitall4moi]

The thing is a bankroll for most guys is what they have to their names.So losing it basically puts them ina spot that they may never get out of. Go to Vegas sometime and hang out in the books, you will see what I am talking about.

They will never learn discipline, basically because in their minds they cannot afford to.

Peple that lose eveything dwell on it way too much to ever dig themselves out for the most part. Sure you might have 3-4 guys that might be able to do it, but when you consider how many degenerates there are out there that isn't even a blip on the radar.

If they truly had discipline they wouldn't have started gambling in the first place.

Sports Gambling is a horrible past time and people don't get into it for the money, they get into it for the excitement. That is where the oxymorons start. Hard to have discipline when you start out looking for one thing, go dead ass broke, and then try to switch gears starting out over again with far less than what you had the first time.

 

[ronaldn]

It is definitely possible but if discipline is not part of your everyday life it will be a constant battle to maintain it in sportsbetting.

 

[sherman]

still some more great answers in this thread....

 

[Mr.Jones]

It took me 5 years. Things that helped.

1. A good supportive woman.
2. Stability in financial and other areas of life.
3. Taking the focus off of the day's result. Unimportant to finish the day in the black, the weekend, etc. ahead. Kind of like a baseball season that only ends when you do. Always a game tommorrow.
4. As a continuation of 3, I do not chase now.
5. I ONLY do sports and nothing but sports. 99% straight wagers. No exotics.
6. Less stats, trends, other's picks and more knowledge of line moves and the causes of those moves.
6. I attended several GA meetings a few years back. I suggest everyone should do that at least once. You will learn exactly what you need to do to discipline yourself through repeated stories of exactly what not to do and who not to be.
7. No alcohol or other mood enhancers when working. Light the cigar and pour the boubon or scotch after work like in any other job that requires proper though processes.