Has betting on a sport ever spoilt your enjoyment of that sport?

Just imagine if that sort of thing became widspread .
Absolute disaster for the entrepreneurs currently furiously selling the interconnectedness of sport and gambling as the solution to expanding audiences and revenues for both sides of the equation.
I bet they hope and pray you are not the norm Clydebank.
Btw I find it spoils my enjoyment more from the perspective that I see every bad decision which is against my betting interests as a personal injustice.
Apart from that nothing has changed.

yes, was at a Wednesday game the other week, saw my mates going mad at some decision and found myself thinking "Whats to get excited about? You haven't had a bet!"

Used to be a Hibs fan through and through. Now will cheer on Hearts if there's a fiver in it for me. Money first, Hibs fortunes second.

I absolutely loathe Tennis and Snooker now. Used to really enjoy watching em..

I've got to the end of five goal thrillers and realised I didn't actually see any of the goals (even the replays) because I was watching the numbers.

which is a bit of a shame.

The opposite can often happen too.  Before betting on cricket I would watch a match every couple of years out of casual interest, but now I have a genuine passion.  Love the different aspects of the game and watch 250+ matches a year.

You actually watch 250 + matches a year.
Given the avg length of cricket games, I find that quite staggering, in the sense of what time does that leave you to do anything else in your life ?

I lay football teams and that is 99% of my bets, I occasionally have a flutter on other things but I struggle to watch teams that I have laid, I'm to on edge and it does spoil my enjoyment a little.

Is it worth it then ?
Btw the real pros on here would say that they feel nothing one way or the other if their bets win or lose.
Do you believe them ?

Don't watch all of the games FAFH - but even if I did a T20 match is only 3 hours.  Much less hours than what many do and it's 100 times more enjoyable.

Some sports seem to be enhanced by betting on them whereas some it detracts from the sport of it IMO.

Horses without betting would be most dull and NFL without betting would be worse than watching Big Brother. But for me betting on cricket just kills the thrill of the match as would betting on ice hockey.

The opposite happened to me, with tennis. I was not liking at all to watch this sport (even if i played it in my youth), but found myself to try to bet it, and i finally learned to like it through betting

I bet on horses and football mainly.

The big games/races, ie Champions League Final, Cheltenham Festival, are spoilt often by betting on them.

Had money on Long Run in the Gold Cup last year, but even when it was getting near the end of the race I was marvelling at Denman & Kauto. Similarly, marvelling at Barca ripping the spleen out of those Red Devils last May was spoilt by the knowledge I'd backed 2-0 and not 3-1.

Run of the mill events are still worth betting on, but the big ones are best watched.

It sounds perhaps that you guys are getting a bit too much in love with your bets, in pro terms.
It's all very well to live the dream, but the nightmare as well ?

When you spend so much time watching a sport you learn so much about it, and it's that level of detail that fascinates me.  Watching a sport with a passing interest just doesn't do it for me now - I like to understand what makes it tick.

Yes, to watch a match with your money on the line makes you to take a very particular interest in it, you are attentive to all details. That's all the salt of betting.

It can have the opposite effect for sure.  I ended up betting on the biathlon at the last Winter Olympics.  Now I love the olympics per se, but one of the events I'd never taken any interest in was the baithlon.  Then one bookie made a major blunder, someone tipped me off, I agreed and so I had my first bet on it.  It was thrilling and I was hooked by the tension when they came round to the shooting range on each circuit.  If you imagine a rugby match where they are kicking for the match and then multiply that by about 50 as you watch the attempts from all the contenders, often simultaneously (and there are 4 circuits), makes it a brilliant sport to bet on.  Its just a pity that it takes so much effort to price it up, that the liquidity is probably only there for the Olympics.  I thoroughly recommend it for anybody still here in 2014

^agreed - I'd never have realised what a brilliant sport biathlon is if I hadn't been betting on it one very quiet day.

in fact, I'd already made an all green book before the event started and I suddenly thought: "hang on - what is biathlon? skiing and what?"

other sports I got into through betting:

rugby league, aussie rules, darts, boxing, mma, basketball.

When you spend so much time watching a sport you learn so much about it, and it's that level of detail that fascinates me.  Watching a sport with a passing interest just doesn't do it for me now - I like to understand what makes it tick.

Very true. Who knew that the NBA or the NFL could be so exciting? Sports I had very little interest in pre- Betfair, yet now plan my life around.

NFL isn't a sport.

What is surprising is that it's poss. for someone w/ no experience of watching a sport or understanding of it to make money presumably from people who care about it. (In my case, we wd only be talking pennies).

That suggests to me that betting is its own discipline.

And possibly also that an emotional involvement (wh/ I definitely have w/ horses) is very far from being an asset when you bet.

Btw the real pros on here would say that they feel nothing one way or the other if their bets win or lose.

They'll probably say that it doesn't impact their next bet, that's different from saying they feel nothing. Even Walters hates it when he loses.

Now surely you're not suggesting that any pros indulge in a bit of emotional chasing ?

Not suggesting that at all, in fact I'm suggesting the opposite. I don't know why you always read things backwards but I wish you'd stop it.

Well then just please explain exactly what you meant by" --impacting their next bet " ?

Okay, let's break down the words for you.

"They'll probably say it doesn't impact their next bet"

This means that their next bet WONT be affected by the outcome

"That's different from saying they feel nothing"

It's an explanation, to help you, which you ignored. You can be annoyed at losing without it impacting your next bet (explained above).

"Even Walters hates it when he loses"

The coolest, biggest (or close) and best (most likely)gambler on the planet doesn't like losing but doesn't chase. It's an example.


When you stop seeing what you want to see and starting seeing what is written, you'll be able to move off the ground floor and stop making so many enemies.

Fair enough
Obviously my speed reading is not up to par these days ( if it ever was).
My sincere apologies.

Accepted.

Suggestion: Don't speed read precisely written stuff - I'm an offender of this myself, it helps nothing.

He does make a fair point FAFH

Yep he does and I have fairly acknowledged my guilt.
Anything else I can do ?
Except from the obvious never do it again ?

I'm a horses punter through and through and it has had an effect on me. If I want to enjoy a race, I can't have a bet on it, which means I often watch the big ones without playing. If I'm punting I'll be watching the numbers move more than watching the horses run, and when you get days like Kauto Star's fourth Betfair Chase, that would be a crime to be a slave to the screen.

I suppose though that basically you can't ever enjoy a winning bet if you don't endure the losing ones.
If you start selecting which race/matches you bet on by the criteria that you want to be able to enjoy certain ones without worrying about the outcomes, then maybe that is the start of a slippery slope to making/not making bets for the wrong reasons ( that is not for pure value/price reasons ) ?

I read that Peter Cook used to back the outcome he didn't want so that he was happy whatever happened.

i'm not really a sport person as a rule ,but betting certainly gives sport that 'edge'

Clydebank: of course it has, many times, I think it's almost bound to sometimes. IMO.

Has anybody experienced the converse ?

No FAFH, i will have to go there - where is it ?

Opposite to wherever you're at I would presume ?
But seriously, I find sport boring to watch if I don't have a wager on it ?
Presumably that is because I am not a true afficianado of the all unique performance factors and special skills involved.
In this context,I hate to admit it, because it sounds so envy driven, but I do think the pay of sportsman has become somewhat akin to the bonus payments in the City.
Not well earned in very many, if not most, cases.
Mediocrity being overly rewarded.
Perhaps another subject though.

No career pays exactly what it should though  FAFH 

I feel cleaners are underpaid and Lawyers are overpaid and i wish that wasn't the case, but then cleaners need to get together and form a 'cleaners union' i guess .

I'm still trying to find this Converse place btw - these Google maps don't know everything i tell ye

I was listening to a Health care Assistant moan about nurses who do less than her but get paid 50% more - so i said ,'imagine being a nurse and getting 50% of a Matrons pay ?'

Then imagine how bad a Matron must feel , knowing a Doctor does even less for 100% again.


A footballers wage is more about luck than skill - you aim for the top but only have a 1 in 10,000 chance of making it  to the top. (and then you still have to train and play football to get that money)

You'd stand the same chance of success buying £100 worth of lottery tickets without the hard work

I now find it really difficult to watch a sporting event if I HAVENT had a bet on it.

I have totally lost my enjoyment of watching sport for sports sake.

Same for me

Well as you can now bet on virtually every piece of sporting action taking place anywhere in the wotld at any particular moment, then that should not be any sort of problem for all you betting " addicts " .
Bet away, watch away.
Simple.

Of course that doesn't really address the enjoyment of watching issue does it ?
But if that is really a problem, then maybe betting is ruining your enjoyment of a lot of other things on your lives too.

There are plenty of sports around the world that you will find difficult to get a bet on with Betfair.

Its not like I watch every sport thats on, mainly soccer and NFL, with occasional forays elsewhere. EG tonight have punted on the Europa League matches, but not the dogs or darts. I punt on stuff to make it more interesting, to have a team to support. If I hadnt bet on Besiktas I wouldnt have watched it.

You bet against a British team ?
Traitor !
Good way to make money though ?
I had one of those famous gut instincts ( see other thread) on Besiktas. I first bet heavily on it, got wary, and traded out of a large portion, all before the off.
Did the opposite on Din Kiev .
What can you say ?

Foreign team - British club 

I dare you to say that in the stands in the midst of a group of fanatical Man City or Cheleas supporters.
You're a braver ( or a stupider) man than me if you would be prepared to do that Coach.

i'd get someone to say it for me   -

are you interested ?

You have a price in mind.
You know me, top experienced gambler that I am, if the risk/reward ratio is right( aka the value), then why not ?