Betting on yourself - an extra motivator or mental burden?

[Oasisman]

Photo for discussion. Source : MetaAI


In the biggest stage, pro leagues, betting on oneself is obviously illegal, but I'm talking about those sports we played before that we placed bets with someone in P2P.

I believe some of us here have been athletes at some point in our lives, especially during our younger years, when we were in high school or college. Did any of you have any experience betting on yourself? May it be a team sport or a single sport (combat or non-combat sport).
In most cases, those bets would add fuel to an athlete to sharpen the focus, motivation, and the will to win, and sometimes may be an extra motivator to go over the limits (depending on the amount of the bet and how important it is for you).
However, self-betting may also create pressure, and this pressure can also become a mental trap. Knowing that a financial outcome depends on performance may increase anxiety, cause overthinking, and shift attention away from the usual teamplay. It can also cause you to lose trust in your teammates, especially when your team is trailing against the other team. 

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

[joeperry]

Personally I've played some sports before and Esports (until now) I never experience placing bet on myself because I'm not a pro. However, in Esports me and my college friends have a friendly match and there's a pool bet so it's up to me whether I want to put some bet or not, of course I did and I think this kind of experience is similar to what OP is trying to say. Personally, I don't put that much bet since it's just to have a thrill and I can afford to lose that bet.

I don't consider it as a mental burden but rather motivation for us to work more as a group and to win the prize, but if we ever lose, we actually doesn't care and I think that's what should a player betting onhimself should look to, it's more like extra motivation to win but not the your goal. So you're betting on yourself/team to win (the cash is just bonus) and you're not supposed to play because you want the money. I'm not sure if I explain it clearly but I hope you get the gist.

[Oshosondy]

There are inter-house sports and inter-house football competitions in high schools that my friends and I have done something like this before, but with just small amount of money that we can not consider it as gambling but to motivate ourselves and it was more fun.

Also we played football, selecting ourselves in 5 or more players versus the same 5 or more players in a small field and we placed bet. This is the most common as we contribute money and do it daily during break time or after closing time in school.

[IjawMan]

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

A bet on one-self should be a motivation but not in the pro-league where the rules serving as guidelines does not support. any form of self betting for motivation. A professional has to go by the rules of the profession.

Is the professionalism that differentiates the pro-league from what we have in the high schools and elementary levels of sports education when growing up. The pressure is depend on what you are betting with, and the purpose, you are either to be motivated by it or distracted if it is what that is too valuable to risk betting.

[Fiatless]

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

The post highlighted some of the benefits of betting on yourself.  It is a common practice in my location for sportsmen to bet on themselves. In school, we contribute money and place bets against a football team. The winner would go with the money and it would be shared between players. Since money is involved, you would put in your best to get the best results. It could also bring unnecessary pressure on players.  The team would blame any player who made mistakes that caused losses. Trying not to make mistakes could lead to anxiety and stress, especially if the money is high.

This act has its advantages and disadvantages, but we can balance it when we bet with what we can afford to lose. We will not be under too much stress if the money we bet is not above our budget.

[Ruttoshi]

It's fun to bet on yourself or on a team that you are part of. I could remember when casino wasn't that common, the only way to enjoy gambling is betting on yourself. I played snooker a lot and do stake on the game to make profits on who wins the game. Sometimes, we organize a three man football match and bet on it.

I wouldn't say it puts pressure on me rather, it makes me take the game more seriously than when money isn't involved. I have gambled through various means in the past.

[swogerino]

Photo for discussion. Source : MetaAI


In the biggest stage, pro leagues, betting on oneself is obviously illegal, but I'm talking about those sports we played before that we placed bets with someone in P2P.

I believe some of us here have been athletes at some point in our lives, especially during our younger years, when we were in high school or college. Did any of you have any experience betting on yourself? May it be a team sport or a single sport (combat or non-combat sport).
In most cases, those bets would add fuel to an athlete to sharpen the focus, motivation, and the will to win, and sometimes may be an extra motivator to go over the limits (depending on the amount of the bet and how important it is for you).
However, self-betting may also create pressure, and this pressure can also become a mental trap. Knowing that a financial outcome depends on performance may increase anxiety, cause overthinking, and shift attention away from the usual teamplay. It can also cause you to lose trust in your teammates, especially when your team is trailing against the other team. 

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

When I first read the title and saw motivator or burden there I immediately thought it was to bet on yourself to become a better version of you in 2026 and not the way it was meant here. I never bet on myself even in high school as at that time I didn't even know what betting was while the only thing that made me happy in those days was my Nintendo 64 and playing games. I don't think betting on yourself can be a real motivator for you as if you are not already motivated before a match then the bet won't motivate you that much. I also don't see it as much of a burden as again it won't burden you while you exibit yourself in a match. So I would say it doesn't affect you at all in either way.

[rbynxx]

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

I'll take it from my experience and if it's something a kind of to make ends meet bet, it really is a booster to yourself. It will only be a bad bet if you don't have that confidence in you in the first place. For me, especially with basketball I really will do my best if bets are in place unless you've got that glutton teammate that keeps that ball to himself.

[davis196]

I believe some of us here have been athletes at some point in our lives, especially during our younger years, when we were in high school or college. Did any of you have any experience betting on yourself? May it be a team sport or a single sport (combat or non-combat sport).
In most cases, those bets would add fuel to an athlete to sharpen the focus, motivation, and the will to win, and sometimes may be an extra motivator to go over the limits (depending on the amount of the bet and how important it is for you).
However, self-betting may also create pressure, and this pressure can also become a mental trap. Knowing that a financial outcome depends on performance may increase anxiety, cause overthinking, and shift attention away from the usual teamplay. It can also cause you to lose trust in your teammates, especially when your team is trailing against the other team.

I have never played such sports and I have never placed bets on myself.
The athletes, who are betting on their performance are usually betting against themselves. It's easier to show bad performance rather than trying to push yourself to the limit and show a great performance, just because you've placed a bet on yourself. Self-betting is illegal and unethical, but the amount of athletes, who are going this is growing. I've seen football players, who are playing for weak football clubs in the second tier leagues in my country, who are driving cars that cost 100K euro, meanwhile those players are getting average salaries at best.
It's pretty clear how they are able to afford such expensive cars, but the authorities simply don't want to investigate.

[Maus0728]

Betting on yourself no matter how much you want to justify it is still wrong and obviously a disrespectful thing to do for yourself and to the spirit of fairness. Think of it this way, when there is a bet on yourself and the bet is you make bad plays but if you bet on that you would be making a lot of money, you would basically throw off your game for the sake of that bet. To me, this is a disservice to whatever you do because you are playing unfairly and not to the best of your ability.

[danherbias07]

1 on 1 street ball or 3 versus 3 street ball. Yes, I did. Many times. Most of the time, its $1 (converted) per player. If it gets deeper, and even the audience wants to participate in the betting, it can go to $10 per game, and the winning amount could go to $40 for two games, including our bets.

Honestly, it creates extra pressure, and we play harder when there's money on the line. Especially, if it's our money and it's a big amount, that would definitely wreck our school allowance if we lose. We also noticed that it becomes more physical the larger the bet is. Many times, I was injured because of it, and there was even a time that a game had to be stopped because a fight already started and both teams were already throwing punches.
I think this is one of the reasons why professional players should not be allowed to bet on themselves. A cheat could happen, or they will stats padding, which is not good to watch.

[libert19]

...However, self-betting may also create pressure, and this pressure can also become a mental trap. Knowing that a financial outcome depends on performance may increase anxiety, cause overthinking, and shift attention away from the usual teamplay. It can also cause you to lose trust in your teammates, especially when your team is trailing against the other team.  

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

You summed up pretty well.

Back in the day, we had this our neighborhood cricket team and we would complete against other teams in surrounding neighborhoods with money at stake, and I usually used to perform worse compared to my usual (without money at stake) gameplay, but I'd be having tremendously more fun — it just had that excitement, thrill that normal match-ups don't have.

That thumbnail is garbage though.

[Upgrade00]

I've only ever done that once or twice but I do not consider it to be an extra motivator at all and it's also an unhealthy practice to do, especially with people who are not close friends with you. Stakes get higher when people put money on the game and it could escalate easily, taking all the fun out of it. When done with friends it can add a little extra to the game.
I used to do it once or twice playing video games, but I don't do that anymore

If you're betting amounts that will make you tense, it is still a form of addiction and you should consider getting some guidance to work on it.

[Emjay24]

I'm my boyhood days, we play inter-street matches and for each street competing against another, we place bets on the winner. It's always a very fiery display as each street puts in all their activities and even overstretch themselves in performance because they don't want to lose their money and a desire to nearly double their stakes when they win. When any faction wins, they'll be given the total money by the boardman after deducting the officials payments and his commission.

I believe it serves as a motivation to win cos you wouldn't want to lose your stake to others.

[TypoTonic]

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

I don't know if Esports count, but I used to play League with friends back when I was in college. Most of the time we played LAN tournaments with bets on the line. It was definitely a good motivation for us to try harder, which in turn made the games more exciting. I didn't really feel any kind of pressure since I'm confident with myself, and of course since I trust the skills of my teammates. We won quite a few and lost a bunch as well, but hey, we had our fun so it's all good.

[Dunamisx]

Most of the bets played in this manner were often done as a result of arguments leading to desperations to what individuals could do, then comes the conclusion to go in a challenge of playing and if won or lose determines the fate of the gambler, I see it as an olden days kind of gambling habits, most people are no longer doing this as before.

[Marvelockg]

I believe some of us here have been athletes at some point in our lives, especially during our younger years, when we were in high school or college. Did any of you have any experience betting on yourself?

Well, betting on ourselves has been ongoing for a long time before the normal casino and sports betting has become popular like what we have now. If you know you're very good at a particular thing and another person comes to challenge you about it, you can normally bet on yourself knowing that you're very good at the said thing.

If you want to push yourself above your normal limit, betting on yourself will easily push you to that realm.

[Russlenat]

So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

There’s an obvious reason why leagues prohibit betting on yourself. Once you do that, your focus is no longer on the team or on competing fairly. It gets replaced by greed, trying to hit whatever is on that bet slip so you can get paid, especially if the potential winnings are bigger than what you’d normally earn from the sport itself.

[crwth]

I think it could be a double-edged sword that could make or break someones attitude on it. They might be doing too much once they think about it, or they might put pressure on themselves.

One thing I'm interested in now is how financial incentives affect performance in terms of stress levels. You would put a lot more pressure on yourself if you're paid high and not producing results. I think there is so much more to it than just a simple "high-pressure = high pay" equation, etc.

There might be some behavior athletes have that could indicate a performance type.

[KTChampions]

~
So, in your opinion, does betting on yourself benefit you and your performance, or will it only create extra pressure that can cause bad effects to your performance?

Isn't this a personal matter? Some people are comfortable with the added financial considerations, while others are extremely nervous and may even lose focus. I think I'd feel more comfortable betting on myself. I'd only do it if I thought the bookmakers had misjudged my strength, so I'd consider the bet profitable in and of itself. It's not like "I think I'd definitely win, and if I didn't, it would be a disaster". But in any case, such bets are illegal, which means this creates additional pressure, since no one wants to get into trouble with the law.