To be successful at anything you need to begin taking it seriously, and the reason so many people fail at betting is because of the numerous temptations to chase losses.
Without a clear strategy betting can be a depressing process of throwing good money after bad.
With a solid structured well thought out and researched plan in place, betting can become much more than a hobby.
This does require motivation to succeed and more than just a betting system, as even successful betting systems have ups and downs.
The vision to see past the bad days, weeks, or months, and stick at it with the allotted betting bank is a huge part of success.
How many times I've done it myself in the past, or seen people stop at the first few losses, just to see the same strategy produce a run of winners if bets had been continued.
The lesson to learn is find a system that shows results over the long term, give yourself a chance of success by allocating a betting bank that you're fine to leave in for the duration, through the ups and downs.
Set a percentage staking system in place for it, so you can weather the storms, and benefit from the highs, but taking it all in your stride along the way as you see the bigger picture.
This alleviates the stress of irrational punting, and hopefully stops the temptation to blow the balance on speculative bets, because the balance then becomes something you're proud of, as it's a betting bank you've grown carefully over time.
I'm not concerned at all about short bursts of downward activity with a run of losing bets, or losses during difficult times of year do not paint the complete picture. Slow and steady definitely wins the race with betting, and having a solid plan in place that is adhered to is the key to success.
If the temptation arises to dip in to your allocated bet bank as you see a huge odds bet that goes against your betting strategy, think about the fact you've spent so long building the balance following the betting systems, and that overall they show long term success.
Ideally this should deter you from making the foolish decisions that cause people to fail at betting. If these bets do lure you in from time time, I suggest setting a bank aside just for those big payout bets, a balance you can truly afford to lose, and I'd bet you see it diminish rapidly unless you're one in a million who defies the odds.
This is my opinion on the subject, from someone who's learned the hard way, and is now able to bet for a living following this structured approach.