If betting on sports is something you’re just getting started at, perhaps you don’t understand the ups and downs. When you are going through rough stretches where you keep losing by a point, betting on sports becomes extremely frustrating. Some can’t deal with the bad runs mentally and lose more money because of their mental state. Others just give up when the going gets tough. Both are bad ideas.

You’re going to hit some rocky stretches. It’s part of the game. The best sports bettors only win about 60% of their games. That means you are going to lose 4 games out of 10. That doesn’t mean you will lose 4 games in EVERY 10-game stretch. It means over the course of time, your win-rate (if you’re good) will be 60%. That means you will have stretches where you aren’t winning even close to 60% of the time. The good news is it will even out over time. And that’s why you shouldn’t give up. So when you’re running bad, here’s how you SHOULDN’T act…

Whine like a baby

Like I said, you’re going to hit some rough stretches. Deal with it. The worst thing you can do is to complain to everyone about how late scores beat you every time. Nobody cares. Seriously, no one cares. We all go through tough stretches too. So when someone else whines about their bad run of luck, it’s annoying. Plus, when you whine about your bad luck, you might act irrational and place ridiculous wagers in an attempt to recover the money lost.

Here’s how you should act…

Analyze your game before doing anything else

The very first thing you should do when things aren’t going your way is to analyze your game. Are you making mistakes? Often times, skilled handicappers lose because they don’t realize the mistakes they are making. So before you go complaining about your bad luck, analyze your game. There could be some mistakes you are making, which could lead to going through a bad stretch. Or, you might just be running bad. But you should analyze your game first.

Take it like a man (or woman)

The mentally tough are the ones that succeed in this game. You want to make money over the long run? Then you better be prepared for the bad stretches. It’s all part of the game. If there weren’t bad stretches, there would be no anticipation and excitement. Sometimes the losses are what make betting on sports entertaining, even though they are frustrating.

If you are prepared for the inevitable bad runs, when they do occur, you won’t get so upset. The easiest way to prepare yourself for a bad stretch is by not getting too excited during the good stretches. Act like you expect to win. That way when you have a bad stretch, you won’t get too down because you don’t allow yourself to get too high when you win. The best sports bettors are able to stay calm when the going isn’t going so well, and don’t get too high when the going is good.