As punters, we are, of course, happy with every winning bet at non GamStop bookmakers. At the same time, we would like to forget our losing bets as soon as possible. Still, it doesn’t hurt to review both your right and wrong bets afterward, and you may even conclude that your losers were better bets than your winners.
Good & Bad Are Not As Black & White As You Think at Non-GamStop Bookmakers
Is a good bet always good, and is a wrong bet always bad? The answer to that question is not as simple as it seems.
If you had bet on a home win for FC Barcelona against a very low odd of, say, 1.10 and the Catalans crawl deep into stoppage time via a questionable penalty kick through the eye of the needle, was that a good bet? Probably not, because you were very lucky then.
And what if you had placed a bet on a draw or a victory for the visitors against an odd of 7.50 but ended up narrowly losing because of that bitter penalty? Was that a bad bet? Probably not.
Accept Randomness at Non-GamStop Bookmakers
It is important to realize that luck and bad luck factors play a big role in every bet you place at non GamStop bookmakers. In the long run, bad luck and luck balance each other out quite nicely, but randomness plays a huge role in the short run. If you play heads or tails (both have a 50% chance) and you can get an odd of, for example, 2.20, then that is always value. Even if you lost five times in a row, you could.
The reverse is also true. An odd of 1.80 for heads or tails is bad, even if you win five times in a row. The problem, however, is that the punter who lost five times in a row is left with his tail between his legs.
Evaluate Your Bets at Non-GamStop Bookmakers
The result of a specific bet says nothing about your qualities as a punter. For example, think back to Paul de Octopus, who accurately predicted almost all matches during the 2010 World Cup. As if that beast even knows what offside is.
No, we must find another way to evaluate our bets at non-GamStop bookmakers. A useful way is to compare the odds of your bet with the closing odd (the odd just before kick-off) of major bookmakers without GamStop.
If you placed a bet on a home win for Juventus against an odd of 1.80 and the closing odd was 1.65, then that was a good bet according to this evaluation method. Even if De Oude Dame eventually gets stuck on a draw, your bet is therefore losing.
The opposite is also true. If the closing odd for Juventus came to 2.05, we could conclude that you were wrong, even if the black and white might have managed to win. In that case, it doesn’t hurt to find out why the odds increased after you placed your bet.
Have you perhaps overlooked some important information? Or maybe you think too much like a supporter instead of a neutral punter? The answers to such questions can be very educational and help you to place better bets in the future or to avoid certain bets.