Easter Sunday was one of those days. Perhaps I should start going to church?
A big loss (biggest since May 19th 2008) on the first NBA game of the day completely discombobulated me to the extent where I had to just take a break from the action.
I find that after a bad loss, (and this was a stupid loss – left a bet up and assumed that the market would be suspended), my confidence is shot for a while, and it’s best to take a break. I lost three weeks profits in one hit by not concentrating.
I did dip my toes back in the water with a small bet (and profit) on the Masters but my heart wasn’t in it, and I spent the rest of the evening getting things into perspective.
It really helps to be able to look back and see previous bad losses and how I recovered from them. The May 19th 2008 loss took me four months to recover from, which seems like an eternity, but I am confident I have learned from mistakes I made back then, and will bounce back in less time than that.
The bottom line is that no one died, no one was diagnosed with a terminal illness, no one will be going hungry, and all I lost were a few points off the total in my account. And perhaps the pride took a bit of a hit too.
Had the loss been in the stock market or from the value of my house, I would hardly have blinked, and in the whole scheme of things it’s a petty annoyance that will be all but forgotten in a few months. It won’t be completely forgotten, because I tend to recall my bigger losses easier than my bigger wins.
Something to do with loss aversion I believe.
A big loss (biggest since May 19th 2008) on the first NBA game of the day completely discombobulated me to the extent where I had to just take a break from the action.
I find that after a bad loss, (and this was a stupid loss – left a bet up and assumed that the market would be suspended), my confidence is shot for a while, and it’s best to take a break. I lost three weeks profits in one hit by not concentrating.
I did dip my toes back in the water with a small bet (and profit) on the Masters but my heart wasn’t in it, and I spent the rest of the evening getting things into perspective.
It really helps to be able to look back and see previous bad losses and how I recovered from them. The May 19th 2008 loss took me four months to recover from, which seems like an eternity, but I am confident I have learned from mistakes I made back then, and will bounce back in less time than that.
The bottom line is that no one died, no one was diagnosed with a terminal illness, no one will be going hungry, and all I lost were a few points off the total in my account. And perhaps the pride took a bit of a hit too.
Had the loss been in the stock market or from the value of my house, I would hardly have blinked, and in the whole scheme of things it’s a petty annoyance that will be all but forgotten in a few months. It won’t be completely forgotten, because I tend to recall my bigger losses easier than my bigger wins.
Something to do with loss aversion I believe.
3 comments:
Hi,
Interesting read as ever, some really shrewd posts (mixed in with the C.R.A.P. football system posts as a bit of balance ;)), I'd say your now the new(ish) punt.com (whatever happened to that blog?)
I know where you coming from with your big loss - I made a similar mistake about 3 months ago and lost about a months profit. Yesterday I was on Hank Hill lookalike Kenny Perry and lost out on a similar amount, I've already shrugged off the Perry loss as one of those things and the mistake 3 months ago is still pissing me off. So on that note, that the loss will haunt you for months to come!!
Good luck, Nick
And what happend exactly happend? please share with us so we can learn from other people mistake's ;) .. just joking... i didn't otice anything strange in sunday NBA games
What exactly happened was that I left a bet up on the half-time market, (Mavs / Hornets) but the score was later changed while I was busy doing other things and not surprisingly my lay was picked off as rather good value! It happens. Usually I'm on the right side of these things - it just went wrong on Sunday. I'll survive. Lesson to be learned - never assume and cancel bets if you're moving on to other markets.
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