How To Deal With A Bad Beat
by Sam Martin
Bad beats are part of the game, but it sure drives football betters crazy. Let me give you my story of a bad beat I was a part of this past weekend. I had my 10* NFL Preseason Game of the Year on Saturday on the Tennessee Titans, who as a virtual pick ‘em ended up losing to the Cleveland Browns.>
Tennessee won every major stat category in the game, including first downs, total yards, passing yards, rushing yards and penalties. Instead, a few unlucky breaks went Cleveland’s way to win the game. In the first quarter Cleveland blocked a Tennessee field goal. Right before half, Vince Young fumbled at the one-yard line going in for a score. In the second half after Cleveland kicked a field goal, Tennessee fumbled and ensuing kickoff leading to a Browns touchdown two plays later. And then Vince Young threw a pick-six inside his own 20-yard line to seal the deal.
While NFL football bettors have tons of stories about bad beats, the tip here is remember that bad beats are going to happen to everyone, and eventually even out. Anyone who had Cleveland yesterday would probably think they had the right side since the Browns won the game. We don’t always remember our lucky wins, but the bad beats stay with us.
While bad beats can discourage football bettors to stay away from a team or start to change their handicapping style, a better NFL betting tip is to keep a calm attitude and look at the final stats. Did the game play out stat-wise as you expected? Were there a few fluke plays that determined the outcome? If these teams played again tomorrow, would you still like your original play?
Betting on football is a season-long process, so you can’t gauge a handicapping style or technique based on one game or weekend. It’s not easy to get over those bad beats, but you’ll be better off in the long run the sooner you forget about them.
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