re: What is your estimated total wins/losses from sports betting?

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tracking bets would give a lot of people a reality check.

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This is very true. I bet for a year or so before I started tracking. I was actually better than I thought on straight bets, but the "other" category was sucking all my profits (teases, parlays, props). Very eye opening and a good way to make myself more accountable for my stupid impulse bets.

I'm still down overall (a couple hundred). I guess I'm one of the lame ones apparently that doesn't throw around serious money at this hobby. I spend way more on my beer drinking hobby, which I think is probably way more lame than this one.

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I'm documenting my picks on TD this year. I have excel spreadsheets broken into years with filters for sports, type of bets, etc which allows me to actually gauge where I am on particular sports & bets so I can focus on things that do make me a more profitable better. I realize it's not the norm for guys posting on TD, but it's not impossible to win.

It's not incredibly difficult, but you have to commit to doing it correctly if you want to consistently make money. This is why most people fail.

I put in a lot of effort to win as little as I do, but I do it because I find it an enjoyable mental exercise. Some people read; some people play the stock market; I prefer to gamble on sports. The people who do it simply for an adrenaline rush have little to no shot of making money long term.

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We have a lot in common. lol

I just backed up 5 Gigs of old excel sheets from my 9+ years of sports betting. It started at a thrill for me but I started really enjoying the mental exercise each week. Anyone who is any good at gambling will tell you it is all about money management and learning from your mistakes. You have to understand that just because something works one week, or one year, doesn't mean it will the next.

In all honesty, sports betting for me has really never been about the money (go ahead and laugh.) It's more about the self satisfaction I get from being right. I enjoy the hours I spend each week crunching my own numbers and looking at each game from different angles. It cost me tons of money, I probably lost 6 out of the first 7 years, but I really started to take a more professional approach on limiting my wagers and managing my betting amounts on a much more consistent basis. I have won consistently for the last two years, but it has taken me countless hours of studying and research to get to this point.

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So what are your total wins and losses?

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Depends on how you want to categorize that. If we are talking about just sides and totals and not moneyline wagers I would assume in football this season I am around 53%. I'm going to input my last two weeks into the tracker and I will give you an exact number. I takes a whole lot of work just to win more than you lose.

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You'd be surprised what people do for kicks. The thrill of gambling is not even among the most esoteric.

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People base jump for fun, and I'm certain that's something I would not enjoy in the least. But I'm not surprised that some people would get a thrill from it.

Those same people probably would get queasy at that thought of losing $100 in a bet.

I started with $800 in a betting account about three years ago. I've pulled out $1,250 in winnings. As of now, the account has < $1 in it so I'm done for now.

Ive been doing it for about 8 years.
Most years I basically break even, give or take a few hundred.
Couple years ago I won a significant amount however and all those picks were posted on here. So I am up overall.

This year, to date, I am down $300. And i do it for entertainment (not sure why that is weird to people)

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have excel spreadsheets broken into years with filters for sports, type of bets, etc which allows me to actually gauge where I am on particular sports & bets so I can focus on things that do make me a more profitable better. I realize it's not the norm for guys posting on TD, but it's not impossible to win.

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Louie, would you mind sending me a copy of your spreadsheet(obviously taking out your info)? I would like to start tracking like this.

I used to track all of my W/L in an excel spreadsheet. That was for all gambling (poker/sportsbook). I can honestly say that I was a winner during that period(about 2 years). It became too much to input. Between poker and playing 10-15 games some weekends the process was arduous and time consuming. FWIW I was up, but I did learn a lot about where I was dropping nickels.

I once bet a gump $20 that Auburn would beat them and won...so I guess I'm up $20 over my life. Undefeated for life!