Over the past week or so, I've tried to be more selective with my bets. I had a bad night last Wednesday and figured I needed to change something. In the past, I looked at a team that I thought would cover and then made excuses/convinced my self why it was a good play. I would talk myself into a bad bet.
What I've started to do is take a team I think will cover and look for reasons why they won't cover. Once I've found a legitimate reason why they shouldn't cover the game, I pass and move on. This way instead of talking myself into bad bets, I'm talking myself out of them. If I research the situation, the injury report, power ratings, trends, and I can't find a legit reason why they won't cover, then I will make a play.
So far it has worked for me, but it's only been a week. Also, over the course of the week I still talked myself into a bad bet (old habits die hard), but when I stick to the program, my winning percentage goes up. If it comes down to it, I would much rather talk myself out of a good bet then talk myself into a bad one.