20/20 Hindsight in Gambling: Useful or Misleading?

20/20 Hindsight in Gambling: Useful or Misleading?

“I knew I should have bet on _____!” If you’ve ever heard this before (or maybe thought it yourself) then you know what 20/20 hindsight in gambling means. After the fact, it’s easy to know what you should have bet on. Unfortunately, most forms of gambling are random and independent, so what’s already happened won’t help in predicting what will happen next.

Another common form of 20/20 hindsight in gambling goes something like this: “I should have quit when I was up to $___’s, before I started losing – next time I will.” Of course it’s easy to look back at a session of gambling, pick the point when you had the most money and say “I should have quit then.” Unfortunately, you have no way to ever know when you’re at the highest point – until you look back afterwards. Instead of trying to look back, you’re better off planning ahead and deciding how much time and money you’re going to spend.