In the past I’ve written posts about different bet types. Which bet types are most suited to different strategies and which bet types reduce, or increase, risk levels.
But I need to apologise.
Because I’ve failed to write a blog post about the most important aspect of choosing the right bet type.
The bet type that most suits your personality.
The truth is that understanding your personality is key to determining how you should choose the bet types you use.
I’d like to ask you to ask yourself some questions. Grab a piece of paper and a pen so you can write down the answers.
Don’t worry, you can throw away this piece of paper afterwards. It’s just for you, nobody else is going to see it.
So please be completely honest with yourself.
There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. There’s no trick.
What we’re going to do is determine the type of bets that are most likely to suit you.
Are you ready?
Here are the questions you need to ask yourself…
- Â Would you consider you are happy with High Risk, Medium Risk or Low Risk betting?
- Â Do you think you can cope with losing streaks of Less than 5, Less than 10, Over 10?
- Â Are you comfortable with a downswing lasting 1 week, 1 month, 3 months or longer?
Try and choose just one answer from each of the above. And be honest with yourself. If you’re not comfortable with losing streaks of more than 10 then write that down.
Below are three tables with the answers for each of the questions above down the side and the different bet types along the top.
In each box is a tick or a cross showing a recommendation for the different bet types that suit your answer.
Count the number of ticks you have for each bet type and the one with the most ticks is the one your personality is likely to be most suited to.
And don’t forget, you can also use the crosses to show you the bet types that you’re most likely to struggle with!
Would you consider you are happy with High Risk, Medium Risk or Low Risk betting?
Do you think you can cope with losing streaks of Less than 10, Less than 25, Over 25?
Are you comfortable with a downswing lasting 1 week, 1 month, 3 months or longer?
Hi, You messed up the last table )it still has the previous risk questions) , but I can see what is intended.
I would have thought that both the number/frequency of bets and the average odds range will have a big impact on the length (in months ) of drawdown.
I don’t know anybody who would feel comfortable with a longer than 3 month overall drawdown i.e. across all strategies/tipster services. Therefore according to your table hardly anybody should be backing a single horse in a race, even each way.
I rarely use just a bet to place since all the studies I have seen show it to be less profitable than backing each way, which in turn is less profitable than backing win only or dutching.
I use several services plus some of my own selections from various methods/systems so am often backing several horses in a race, though because of the disparate sources I am rarely actually dutching them i.e same winnings whichever wins.
Thanks for the comment Ian. The idea was more for a single bet type rather than a portfolio of strategies, hence the three month drawdown. If you’re using multiple strategies to reduce downswing then this shouldn’t ever be a problem with a three month drawdown on back bets. The ROI on place betting is almost always lower but it can be a very good way to boost strike rates. I use this in elements of my portfolio purely to increase strike rates.
I agree with Ian’s point of number/frequency of bets makes these tables pointless. It does seem to me most people that have been betting for a good length of time would already know what they are comfortable with and understand that long odds = longer losing runs = higher risk.
I would just like to say I found the blog very helpful and it did reinforce that my own method of betting was
perfectly ok,the point that MW was making that what ever you as an individual feel if it suits you that’s what you
go with.