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Ask The Bookie: Step Five Of Five To Becoming A Successful Punter - Be Single Minded
The Mole reveals the final step in his series on how to master the bookies. Trust your instinct and have absolute conviction in your selections...
Sep 2, 2010 5:00:00 PM
By David Mole
So here we have it, the number one skill required to be a successful punter. You have no doubt trawled through the earlier episodes of statistical analysis, identifying value, bravery to back your bets and discipline to ensure you stay on the correct path to profit. What, I hear you ask, can be the last sting to the bow of the successful punter?
The answer is simple, ‘be single minded’ probably to the extent of bordering on Jose Mourinho levels of arrogance, you simply cannot afford to listen to all the opinions of everyone else out there. If you follow every tip that you are given, you will lose out overall and you have to be prepared to make your own decisions.
Puff your chest out like Jose and have conviction
The real skill is deciphering the important information from the wealth of dis-information that is available to punters today. You need to choose your sources very carefully, especially when you are doing your avid research as part of your statistical analysis from the first key skill.
You have to be prepared to make decisions, to take a stance and back that up and to ignore what others may tell you or opinions that you see during your research.
Now I don’t mean close your mind and back your hunches, in fact that is the complete opposite to the skill I am describing. I am suggesting that you need to do your research, analyse the statistics and read the opinions but you need to develop your own.
If you follow everything you see and read you will end up backing the home team, the away team and the draw!
Trust yourself, know the work you have put in and don’t believe everything you read. Quite often, so called experts will put out opinions based on nothing but guess work and sometimes just old grudges, especially beware of this one with ex-pros.
Ex-players don't always get it right...
So believe in the research you have done. As a punter I find nothing sweeter than a winning bet but the most beautiful situation is a winning bet that goes against the norm, that proves you were right against the general consensus. Sweet!
Now I couldn’t include this as a key skill but the other factor that you have to consider when all is said and done is luck. Even the most well researched, best value, focused bettors require a dash of good fortune. Anyone (at least in theory) should be able to maintain a small profit margin by following the rules but those who want to win big have to find themselves on the right side of the lucky tree. I have seen many big winners in my time and each story contains a four leaf clover along the way.
Take a look at the recent punter who scooped £500,000 when his two five fold accumulator bets paid off. Many of his selections weren't the favourites and while no doubt he did his homework a portion of lady luck was involved in helping him land the fortune.
Luck comes in many forms good and bad and we have all seen a dubious sending off in the first half, a free kick out of nowhere that gets deflected into the goal or an extra six minutes of injury time at the end of an otherwise predictable game (Michael Owen against City last year for example).
The key is to create your own luck, account for the fact that these things will happen and adjust your stakes accordingly. Look to profit from several games and don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Come up with a strategy and follow it for several weeks before you judge it on one result.
So there you have it, five key skills and a dash of good fortune to end it all. As always we would like to receive your feedback so please comment below this article with your thoughts and suggestions on key skills or betting in general.
Step One - Be Analytical
Step Two - Spot Value
Step Three - Be Brave
Step Four - Discipline
David Mole is Goal.com's Betting and Odds Expert. He has previously worked for Betfred, Victor Chandler, William Hill and Totesport.
Remember we love to hear from you at betting@goal.com and place a bet now with Goal.com's official betting partner Titan Bet who are offering an exclusive bet £25 get £25 offer for Goal.com readers.
Follow Goal.com on
. Get the latest football news direct... Check out Goal.com's 
page; be part of the best football fan community in the world!
The answer is simple, ‘be single minded’ probably to the extent of bordering on Jose Mourinho levels of arrogance, you simply cannot afford to listen to all the opinions of everyone else out there. If you follow every tip that you are given, you will lose out overall and you have to be prepared to make your own decisions.
The real skill is deciphering the important information from the wealth of dis-information that is available to punters today. You need to choose your sources very carefully, especially when you are doing your avid research as part of your statistical analysis from the first key skill.
You have to be prepared to make decisions, to take a stance and back that up and to ignore what others may tell you or opinions that you see during your research.
Now I don’t mean close your mind and back your hunches, in fact that is the complete opposite to the skill I am describing. I am suggesting that you need to do your research, analyse the statistics and read the opinions but you need to develop your own.
If you follow everything you see and read you will end up backing the home team, the away team and the draw!
Trust yourself, know the work you have put in and don’t believe everything you read. Quite often, so called experts will put out opinions based on nothing but guess work and sometimes just old grudges, especially beware of this one with ex-pros.
So believe in the research you have done. As a punter I find nothing sweeter than a winning bet but the most beautiful situation is a winning bet that goes against the norm, that proves you were right against the general consensus. Sweet!
Now I couldn’t include this as a key skill but the other factor that you have to consider when all is said and done is luck. Even the most well researched, best value, focused bettors require a dash of good fortune. Anyone (at least in theory) should be able to maintain a small profit margin by following the rules but those who want to win big have to find themselves on the right side of the lucky tree. I have seen many big winners in my time and each story contains a four leaf clover along the way.
Take a look at the recent punter who scooped £500,000 when his two five fold accumulator bets paid off. Many of his selections weren't the favourites and while no doubt he did his homework a portion of lady luck was involved in helping him land the fortune.
Luck comes in many forms good and bad and we have all seen a dubious sending off in the first half, a free kick out of nowhere that gets deflected into the goal or an extra six minutes of injury time at the end of an otherwise predictable game (Michael Owen against City last year for example).
The key is to create your own luck, account for the fact that these things will happen and adjust your stakes accordingly. Look to profit from several games and don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Come up with a strategy and follow it for several weeks before you judge it on one result.
So there you have it, five key skills and a dash of good fortune to end it all. As always we would like to receive your feedback so please comment below this article with your thoughts and suggestions on key skills or betting in general.
Step One - Be Analytical
Step Two - Spot Value
Step Three - Be Brave
Step Four - Discipline
David Mole is Goal.com's Betting and Odds Expert. He has previously worked for Betfred, Victor Chandler, William Hill and Totesport.
Remember we love to hear from you at betting@goal.com and place a bet now with Goal.com's official betting partner Titan Bet who are offering an exclusive bet £25 get £25 offer for Goal.com readers.
Follow Goal.com on
. Get the latest football news direct... Check out Goal.com's page; be part of the best football fan community in the world!Thank you for your comment!
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