There’s a lot of things to consider before making a bet.
“Are their injuries on either team that could impact the game?” “Are there any weather concerns to consider?” “Is either team on a hot or cold streak?”
The potential questions, and answers, before putting your hard earned money down, are endless. And that’s part of the issue. Often times, when we first look at a game, we “lean” to one side or the other, for various reasons that are typically logical to us. “The Lakers are the better team tonight because they’re at home tonight with LeBron James, and the other team isn’t.” This isn’t to say we shouldn’t do our research to ensure LeBron is actually playing in the game, but we can and tend to overthink things. Our first guess is often our best guess. There is no point in using excess brainpower and time to do endless research that may not even impact the game!
Of course, it’s easier to not overthink it when it comes to a sport and teams that we know. If your best sport is baseball or football, trust your gut and go with it! If you lose, at least you’ll know that you went with what you originally thought, before information and/or talking heads on TV clouded your judgement.
And if you need to validate your beliefs by doing all of this research, maybe you shouldn’t be placing the bet in the first place. After all, it’s your money. Don’t trust it to someone else, who doesn’t have to live with the consequences if the bet loses.
Trust yourself and trust your process. The results will be better and you’ll have a more enjoyable experience as well.