FOMO For Betting
My big addiction for the last two years was sports betting, until I decided to stop on January 17 of this year.
Betting is very dangerous. It can put you in debt, drive you crazy and ruin your life.
There are just so many downsides to it. Not only do you lose money, but one of betting’s untold disasters is that it destroys your time and your peace of mind.
I was a professional bettor last year, I had told myself a very convincing story that I knew a lot about football and, as such, could win lots of money by betting on it.
I forgot that I am not playing the games myself.
I forgot the variables. I forgot the sheer unpredictability of sports. And, I forgot there are actually people with dreams and ambitions on the other team as well, not just on the side you bet for.
When you are busy praying and cursing for Man United to win, you forget that the Watford players, fans and coaches are praying just as hard. They are trying to survive relegation and save their livelihoods and careers. They actually have more at stake than you.
These are things we don’t consider when we bet, though. It’s all about me, my win, and my rotten and unfair luck when I lose.
In the meantime, money is going down the drain.
Last year, Nigeria lost an AFCON qualifier to Central African Republic at home. A few weeks later Spanish champions Atletico Madrid lost 2–1 at home to newly-promoted Mallorca, despite dominating the whole game. That’s when I gave up on football as a sport in general.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some success stories in betting and the lottery. I just don’t want to consider or dwell on them at all. I am a recovering addict. I lost a lot of money on betting, even with all my supposed knowledge.
In fact, writing this piece has just helped me. I was having serious FOMO the whole day because my workmate was telling me about his brother who apparently coined it this weekend from betting.
1. Clearly, he didn’t bet on Man United, and,
2. That’s his good luck. Not mine.
He clearly also has time.
That’s one underrated downfall of betting. As professional bettors we spend hours not only trying to pick the right teams, combinations and results… we then spend every second second checking the results and progress of matches.
You’re a hamster on that big spinning wheel.
That’s valuable time I could be using to do my work, to do something that can actually give me a sustainable income and time I could be using to improve myself in some way.
Instead, I am stressing. I am praying. I am even cursing. How come Lionel Messi scores every game but today he didn’t score on the day when I bet for his team? Why does Arsenal only lose when I bet for them?
So, the FOMO is real and, like all addictions, this is a lifelong fight and battle. I don’t know when or if it will ever stop.
It won’t be helped by having a workmate who waxes lyrical every day about magical wins and close calls. It all sounds very adventurous and exciting, with big bucks at the end of it all.
FOMO. Mega FOMO.
I must fight it. We must fight it.
No matter your struggle, get away from people that lure you back into dark places and get with a tribe that exudes the ideals you are trying to reach.
And, ask yourself from time to time: “what is more important to me? My vices or my future?”
I wrote that on my wall when I was in the beginning stages of this war. I will continue to fight.
And, maybe, I should keep on writing about it as well.
Writing helps.
#stopFOMO
