Regular honest self-examination my to some people feel completely unnecessary – to others yet, a boring activity or even a weakness of sorts. But any successful sports bettor knows the real value of keeping a check on one’s personal ‘code of conduct’. This is that set of rules that basically determines what “goes”, and what doesn’t. And to the sports bettor, setting boundaries is an important part of what makes of a bettor a successful bettor in the long-run. Which is really what every good sports bettor should be striving for.

Here then, the basic guidelines for long-term sustainability in sports betting, responsible gambling, and just generally, the golden rules every sports bettor should now – and preferably follow too. These are how you go about playing the long game.

Never Gamble Tired Or Drunk

The first and most important rule when desiring ongoing success, or even just reasonable consistency, is to never bet on a game or race when tired, drunk, or under the influence of any mood- or mind-altering substance.

This, to the healthy mind and balanced body, may sound like common sense. Still, its surprising when listening to bettors and gamblers babbling away about the perks of “free drinks” at the casino or in the sports bettors’ lounge.

Good bettors always have their wits about them. Very few inebriated people can say the same.

Don’t Expect To Win

Becoming over-confident in one’s ability to get it right mostly only leads to complacency – and losing. This is not to say that a confident bettor is a consistently losing bettor. But at the same time, over-confidence has been known to lead to mistakes – several mistakes, and potentially big mistakes.

Instead, stick to the facts, and stick to good sports betting practices such as faithful record-keeping and a good old regular session of crunching the numbers. This is after all how you win, not by merely expecting to win while allowing good sports betting housekeeping to fall by the wayside.

Become A Keen Observer

Lazy bettors hardly ever win. And if they do, it’s probably only a matter of time before their lucky streak comes to a crashing fall.

Always remember that anything worth it will require effort. An example of practising the art of observing, is keeping an eye on the paddock before a (horse) race. Every keen horse racing bettor knows the importance of looking for certain horse give-aways. Horses that are tired, for example, are pretty easy to spot. So too are horses who aren’t comfortable with their jockeys, which often leads to poor performances on the track.

But there’s something else to be looking out for also: human body language. As in the body language of the humans. Trainers, riders (jockeys) – even stable attendees – can reveal whether they actually believe in their horse’s potential to win a race. Or even just to place well. Not unlike professional Poker players, those who bet on horse races have much to benefit from learning how to read body language tells.