How a Journal Can Help You Bet

Do you have a sports betting journal?  A journal is a common tool for investors of all sorts.  By participating in any sort of gambling you are more or less an investor.  You are playing a game of chance, searching for an edge, and looking for ways to bring order out of chaos.  Your goal is to be able to profit regularly and predictably.  You may even ultimately dream of making a living betting on sports.  As such, a journal is also a useful tool for you. 

What is a gambling journal?  This is simply a document where you keep track of bets you have taken.  This is more complex than simply recording “win” or “loss” and the amount (that you can do in a spreadsheet).  In your betting journal, you will write a detailed account of the events leading up to the game itself.  You will write down why you entered the bet and when you chose to do so.  You will talk about what happened during the event, how other gamblers bet, how the lines moved, and what the outcome was.  You will also keep track of subjective factors like your emotions and how they may have played into your betting decisions.

Maintaining this log will allow you to keep track of details that you would otherwise forget.  Looking back over it regularly and analyzing events allows you to make sense of past bets.  You may be able to spot patterns that you would never have discovered without the aid of a betting journal.  These patterns may involve the teams and players you are betting on, the bookies and the other gamblers, or even your own decision-making process. 

With the aid of those patterns, you can spot profitable opportunities and also learn from your mistakes.  You will be able to find out what habits and choices are making you money and which ones are losing you money.  When reading over your sports betting journal, ask yourself the following:

• Which types of bets do I do well in?  Which do I do poorly in?
• Are there teams or players that consistently contribute to my winnings?
• Do I violate my betting system rules or follow them properly?
• Do I use intelligent discretion when I bet or impose arbitrary changes?
• Do I bet a consistent percentage of my account, or do I sometimes violate my money management rules?
• Is my system working?
• Do my emotions interfere with smart betting decisions?
• Does my betting environment have a positive or negative influence on my decisions?

Periodically go back through your spots betting journal and make a list of things that are and are not working for you.  Make changes accordingly, keep journaling, and then go back later and analyze the results again.  Are you seeing improvement or decline in your performance?  Regularly going through this analytical routine is a simple process, but it is one which can radically transform your betting.  Take advantage of this powerful technique for improvement, and you will soon be adding value to your online betting experience!