Lose the Bitterness

[Lockjaw]

Batting champions in baseball lose six or seven out of the ten times they come to the plate.  The most consistent hitters learn to handle the "losing" that is built into the game they play. Likewise,
the most successful horseplayers or, at least, the emotionally healthy ones, don't let the losing affect them personally or alter their approach to the game.

Anybody whose has played this game for any length of time knows how cruel it can be.  The trick is to stay calm and balanced despite the "hail of arrows" (not the name of a horse).  Giving yourself a chance to win at the track requires that you have a strategy for dealing with the losing that is built into our game. If you're unwilling to take a rational approach to the losing, you give yourself no shot a being a winner.

You know that it's  possible to record positive returns despite losing three out of the four bets you make (look for value).  Could a hitter win a batting title hitting .250 (lose 3 out of 4)? No, but there are a lot of major leaguers who make millions with numbers like that.

Also, I am convinced it's an irrational approach to losing that produces much of the nastiness I see at the track and sometimes read in this forum. Horseplayers can get emotional, dare I say angry, when they exhaust themselves trying to avoid being tagged as a "loser."  Name-calling is wasted energy, better spent on getting yourself into that calm, happy place where you give yourself the best chance to win.



 

[race track phil]

              excellent post !     when I was young man a good handicapper once told me to just turn the page ! I guess its like that old saying no sense crying about spilled milk ! its hard sometimes ! but just turn the page and look for the next winner .                             RTP

[Michigan Dale]

Two fine posts.   You can't change the result so you accept it (sour as it may taste) and move on.   There is always next time.

[tonymfan]

              excellent post !     when I was young man a good handicapper once told me to just turn the page ! I guess its like that old saying no sense crying about spilled milk ! its hard sometimes ! but just turn the page and look for the next winner .   

After the race I look at the lines and my notes to see where I went wrong. There's usually something I overlooked, did not process right, or weighted incorrectly, that logically explains the result. It's a lesson for the future. Then I turn the page. 

[Brian Collier]

After the race I look at the lines and my notes to see where I went wrong. There's usually something I overlooked, did not process right, or weighted incorrectly, that logically explains the result

And then sometimes there's just no explanation!!