Following your guts is good. But why would you flex anyway? Showing pride in your bets is not bad also makes you known winner among your friends. This leads to you being a target. I am not saying your friends will plot against you but they are fellow gamblers as well and in need of money.
I feel its better to keep these decisions and wins to yourself. Maybe share your losses everyday but not your wins. They might find out eventually though but I would avoid flexing.
I agree with what you said, showing off your winnings to friends will only make us a target for them. I've experienced this before, where I managed to win a sizable amount, and because I flaunted it, many of my friends started talking about borrowing money. I didn't give it to them, and all they said was dirty words. The reason I didn't want to lend it to them was because I didn't want to collect it, I didn't want to put up with the drama, because it would likely make it difficult for them to repay the debt. So lately, I've been keeping quiet when I win, sometimes treating close friends.