MENTAL GAME

[jamey1977]

Originally Posted by 46zilzal

YOU cannot win with scared money....Old adage true as ever.

We all go through this. Be prepared. Do a pre-work study of every race and track you will play for the next day. 4 hours of homework the night before. You now have 6 pages of research notes. It takes work, but this is work. This is serious, serious business. And when the day comes, you are ready. You are to bet official plays only. Meaning plays of your pre-conceived method of operations. No Unofficial Plays. I will never bet an unofficial play, ever again. I say one thing " Do you like fuc----ing losing ? No. I don't. I bet - Official plays only. I know I will win, I never know when. I do not care if I lose . All I care about is if the bet was official or not. Always think like this.

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by jamey1977

We all go through this. Be prepared. Do a pre-work study of every race and track you will play for the next day. 4 hours of homework the night before. You now have 6 pages of research notes. It takes work, but this is work. This is serious, serious business. And when the day comes, you are ready. You are to bet official plays only. Meaning plays of your pre-conceived method of operations. No Unofficial Plays. I will never bet an unofficial play, ever again. I say one thing " Do you like fuc----ing losing ? No. I don't. I bet - Official plays only. I know I will win, I never know when. I do not care if I lose . All I care about is if the bet was official or not. Always think like this.

you've got good spirit Jamey1977
don't ever lose it and keep trying to channel it!

[nalley0710]

I got tired of being caught up in the daily seesaw of winning and losing. I watched an interview of some gangster who said that he blew money and never really cared because hey in that life you'll end up dying in prison or killed anyway. I realized that my mental outlook was all wrong. I was always worried about ending up broke even though I have had a bunch of near death experiences that didnt bother me. I reviewed my life and skills and all the biographies of speculators I've read. I came to this conclusion. My parents and grandparents died of cancer. I have learning disabilities galore and even though I kept my nose to the grindstone in highschool while my brothers and friends were basicly wastrel drug addicts, they have passed me up in mainstram life and try to rub my nose it any chance they get. So I was basicly Fu... ked at birth and likely in the end too. But I do have a keen ability to predict outcomes of events which led me in economic desperation to speculation and I could possibly accumulate and spend a lot of money in the course of my life if I get bolder. So here is what I did. I redefined winning. I research a speculative endeavor (like horseracing). I come up with a game plan and methodology for how I am going to execute (bet) research and testing. A winning day is any day that I deviated 0% from my methodology and plan and a losing day is any day with deviation greater than %0 regardless of whether that horse I skipped won at 60-1 or the horse I won with got disqualified. Because despite my efforts spent in the mainstream (and they were considerable) I ended up fu...ked at birth and in the end and all I can hope for is a good middle. I look at my Roi at the end of the meet. Hopefully its positive. I guess my point is knowing and being honest with yourself so that You develop a mental outlook that gives you the best shot at minimizing your weaknesses and leveraging your strengths is for me the key.

[citygoat]

You don't have to win it all in one day and you don't have to lose it all in one day.There's always tomorrow.

Horse racing is more than a numbers game.
Blood and breath are the major components of this game so when you are referring to your picks by number instead of by name you are overloading yourself and usually your losses.

[xfile]

Good money turns into scared money so fast in this game. You master THAT and you win the game.

[teddy]

Originally Posted by nalley0710

I got tired of being caught up in the daily seesaw of winning and losing. I watched an interview of some gangster who said that he blew money and never really cared because hey in that life you'll end up dying in prison or killed anyway. I realized that my mental outlook was all wrong. I was always worried about ending up broke even though I have had a bunch of near death experiences that didnt bother me. I reviewed my life and skills and all the biographies of speculators I've read. I came to this conclusion. My parents and grandparents died of cancer. I have learning disabilities galore and even though I kept my nose to the grindstone in highschool while my brothers and friends were basicly wastrel drug addicts, they have passed me up in mainstram life and try to rub my nose it any chance they get. So I was basicly Fu... ked at birth and likely in the end too. But I do have a keen ability to predict outcomes of events which led me in economic desperation to speculation and I could possibly accumulate and spend a lot of money in the course of my life if I get bolder. So here is what I did. I redefined winning. I research a speculative endeavor (like horseracing). I come up with a game plan and methodology for how I am going to execute (bet) research and testing. A winning day is any day that I deviated 0% from my methodology and plan and a losing day is any day with deviation greater than %0 regardless of whether that horse I skipped won at 60-1 or the horse I won with got disqualified. Because despite my efforts spent in the mainstream (and they were considerable) I ended up fu...ked at birth and in the end and all I can hope for is a good middle. I look at my Roi at the end of the meet. Hopefully its positive. I guess my point is knowing and being honest with yourself so that You develop a mental outlook that gives you the best shot at minimizing your weaknesses and leveraging your strengths is for me the key.

Fascinating post. 0% deviation from my own personal wagering plan would make me a huge winner.... easy to talk about, very hard to do. Probably is the writing on the wall. My method is cut and dry and I can go thru it fairly quickly in 2 hours I think I will have my 20 plays for the day.

My friend took his wad from 3900 to 500...I had him look back on his bets and his deviation to win bets cost him his wad. So hes now back to the drawing board and trying to write down his wagering plan and stick to it this time. Thier is no doubt he will run it back up to 2k or so , I just want to see how long before hes back betting to win when winning $100 a day becomes boring. I have done this myself so I know the saga and scenarios....

I am going to try to use the definition of staying to plan as winning or losing and real winning in $$ is automatic for me.

[raybo]

Originally Posted by citygoat

You don't have to win it all in one day and you don't have to lose it all in one day.There's always tomorrow.

Horse racing is more than a numbers game.
Blood and breath are the major components of this game so when you are referring to your picks by number instead of by name you are overloading yourself and usually your losses.

No disrespect intended, but, I find the opposite to be true. I don't want to know the name of any horse, before I wager. Reason? There are many horses names that contain names or references to truly great horses; Native, Dancer, etc., etc., etc..

I don't want anything like that to have the possibility of influencing my doing my job as a handicapper, least of all, a name. I'd rather let the horse's performances speak for him, not the fact that he may have been named similar to another horse.

The way you get overloaded with numbers is by looking at all the myriad of "screens" produced by so many pieces of software. Use the ones that help you be successful and ignore all the others.

[raybo]

Originally Posted by teddy

Has anyone heard of good advice to manage the mental game. When you have success with an method and it runs your bankroll to a new high. Then for some reason you seem to go haywire and start betting tons of different wagers. Things not in your "system" because you get the cant lose mentality from all the success. Then you start to lose, get behind , start chasing and blow your bankroll. I have done this 10 times or more and seen friends do the same.

I think its as hard to defeat as the game itself. Please no silly answers like dont go haywire and bet other races out of boredom. We all know thats impossible and we are all guilty of it.

The answer to this problem is obvious, discipline.

Some people have it, but, many more don't.

If you don't have discipline you're doomed in this game. The game is extremely difficult to succeed at, even with discipline. Without it, there is only one direction you're going, down.

You must have processes: handicapping processes, wagering processes, wager tracking processes, etc.. These processes must have strict rules. Sure the rules must contain some room for evolution and adjustment, but, not out of character for the process.

Stick to the rules and you have a chance. Deviate from them and you'll crash and burn.

If you can't set good rules or you can't stick to them, then you better find another game or have money to burn.

[Dick Schmidt]

Couple of random thoughts on betting:

If you are looking for excitement or entertainment at the races, you will lose. You know you are doing it right when racing becomes boring; even tedious. If you are in it for the money, it is a job and should be treated as such. And who loves their job that much? Decide which is the best way to bet by looking at your records and do it for the rest of your life without change. Not fun, but the road to consistent profits. I more or less hated racing but made a living at the track for 19 years.

Use a very rigorous record keeping system, so that each bet is entered in your record book and deviations stand out. I found that Dave Schwartz's "Opponent Method" was a good place for many to start. By the time you do all the math, you are ready to bet and not screw around. Keeps you focused.

Divide your bankroll into sections. One for exactas, one for win bets, one for tris or place or whatever. Bet each in a disciplined manor completely independently of one another using sound money management. Never add any more money to any bankroll. If you do well, then your bets will increase along with your bank and you'll be making money. If you lose the bankroll for any one type of bet, stop betting it for at least a year. You have proved you don't know what you are doing with that bet. Fire the money where you have a history of hitting the target.

Dick

"Run and find out "

...Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

[raybo]

Originally Posted by Dick Schmidt

Couple of random thoughts on betting:

If you are looking for excitement or entertainment at the races, you will lose. You know you are doing it right when racing becomes boring; even tedious. If you are in it for the money, it is a job and should be treated as such. And who loves their job that much? Decide which is the best way to bet by looking at your records and do it for the rest of your life without change. Not fun, but the road to consistent profits. I more or less hated racing but made a living at the track for 19 years.

Use a very rigorous record keeping system, so that each bet is entered in your record book and deviations stand out. I found that Dave Schwartz's "Opponent Method" was a good place for many to start. By the time you do all the math, you are ready to bet and not screw around. Keeps you focused.

Divide your bankroll into sections. One for exactas, one for win bets, one for tris or place or whatever. Bet each in a disciplined manor completely independently of one another using sound money management. Never add any more money to any bankroll. If you do well, then your bets will increase along with your bank and you'll be making money. If you lose the bankroll for any one type of bet, stop betting it for at least a year. You have proved you don't know what you are doing with that bet. Fire the money where you have a history of hitting the target.

Dick

"Run and find out "

...Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Exactly! Playing the ponies, for profit, is a "real" job!

Like you, I don't have any great love for the job.

If you think it's fun and entertaining, then you're probably not going to profit.

[teddy]

Whats that about. Sounds like the matchup thing.

[Overlay]

Originally Posted by teddy

Whats that about. Sounds like the matchup thing.

Refer to Dave Schwartz's website (http://www.horsestreet.com).

[johnhannibalsmith]

Originally Posted by Light

...Maybe we look at these "action" bets as the cost of entertainment...

Sounds like we justify things similarly. Fact is, I enjoy betting the races far too much to handcuff myself with hard-fast policy and as a consequence, I will never be a profitable bettor. Just a guy who does pretty well with some timely hits, but contributes just the same while enjoying the day.

[Rook]

Originally Posted by raybo

Exactly! Playing the ponies, for profit, is a "real" job!

Like you, I don't have any great love for the job.

If you think it's fun and entertaining, then you're probably not going to profit.

I have to respectfully disagree. If you do find it fun and entertaining you are going to bet every day and as many races as you can handle.

If you have a positive expectation, then you are going to make far more than the guy who hates his job and feels the need to take days and weeks off.

[Trotman]

Handicapping is variables and to win one needs to stick with a plan. The variance in the way I have capped for 40 years has never gone off the rails. I am not into action therefore I am not betting as many races as many. I am not questioning whatever anyone else thinks or does but just saying not for me. To each their own but IMO this game without a plan is bound to confound with no return.