Making A Gambler
- Marty Mush explains key gambling points.Check out Barstool Sports for more: Follow Barstool Sports here: Facebook: https://fac.
- Making money as a career gambler is not a walk in the park. Making money as a professional gambler is feasible but it is not easy. You need to be better than your opponents, minimise big losses and maximise gains. You also need a good deal of practice in order to build the right level of skill needed to start off a gambling career.
Online gaming is commonly praised for its convenience. You can enjoy online gambling virtually anywhere through a smartphone or tablet.
I made my entire yearly salary (£17k) in a week I knew it was the moment to start gambling full time, probably time to quit the job. Alex was still at uni at this point, after a year out in industry.
Now, imagine if you were also able to make a living through this convenient form of gaming. Some people actually have the skills and know how to pull this feat off.
Part of their knowhow includes choosing the most-profitable forms of online gambling. After all, only certain types of gaming offer a long-term edge.
What can you play to emulate professional online gamblers and earn big profits? Here are the types of online gaming that can actually lead to profits.
Online Sports Betting
Sports betting sees you wager on outcomes involving sporting events. The most-common bet is a moneyline, which is a straight-up wager on which side will win a contest.
– San Francisco 49ers +155
– Seattle Seahawks -185
You can see that the odds attached with these bets aren’t even. You stand to win $100 for every $185 wagered on the Seahawks. Meanwhile, you’d earn $155 for every $100 bet on the underdog 49ers.
Unbalanced odds give sportsbooks a profit margin (a.k.a. juice). As long as they don’t consistently lose big money to pros, they’re virtually guaranteed to make money thanks to the juice.
This profit margin might seem like a house edge, which guarantees that the average gambler will lose over time. But sports betting works differently.
You can still earn long-term profits by wagering on sports. You just have to win at a high enough rate to beat both the odds and juice
If you’re wagering on a team with -135 odds, then you’d need to win 57.4% of the time to break even. Assuming you betting on a team with +120 odds, you’d have to win 45.5% of your wagers.
The exciting thing about sports betting is that you don’t really have to win frequently to make profits. At 10% juice, the average professional only wins at a 53% to 55% rate.
The problem, though, is that sportsbooks have sharp enough lines to where it’s difficult to win over half the time. You’ll need to put in plenty of work to become a strong bettor.
Handicapping is the best place to start. This process involves looking at multiple variables involved with a match, then determining which side offers the best value.
Some of the variables that you want to consider include a team’s past performance, injuries, weather, statistics, and lineup changes. These aspects only cover the surface, but they provide a nice starting point with regard to learning handicapping.
You might also consider investing in a sports betting software program. They offer a number of helpful statistics that help you spot profitable betting opportunities.
Here are some of the situations that you can spot with these programs:
- Arbitrage opportunity – A difference in odds at multiple sportsbooks that helps you make a guaranteed profit by wagering on both sides.
- Public betting percentage – Shows what percentage of betting slips are on each side of a wager.
- Odds change – Tracks every time that major online sportsbooks shift odds for various games.
- Reverse line movement – When a line changes differently than expected, thus indicating which side the “sharp money” is on.
- Steam move – When bookmakers change a line in near unison to counteract sharp money.
One more thing to realize is that being a successful sports gambler isn’t anything like people expect it to be. You don’t just get to sit around watching games and making money. Instead, you need to constantly analyze the action from a gambling perspective.
This process certainly doesn’t sound as exciting as merely being a fan. But sports betting is still a more-entertaining job than most.
Esports Betting
Online sportsbooks completely ignored esports a decade ago. After all, competitive gaming was confined to a very nice audience back then.
But Esports have rapidly gained popularity within the past several years. As a result, most online sportsbooks now see the value in covering this industry.
Esports gambling isn’t anywhere near as big as traditional sports betting yet. But it’s definitely picking up steam and is projected to be worth tens of billions of dollars in the coming years.
Betting on esports can earn you a decent living now. Of course, you definitely have to know competitive gaming in order to earn serious profits by betting on it.
The easiest path towards big esports winnings include popular markets like Dota 2, League of Legends (LoL), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), and Overwatch. These games have enough liquidity and different bet types to where you can earn significant money with them.
The secondary markets are a bit lacking in esports gambling. Too much is focused on the major games at this point.
Nevertheless, esports bookmakers don’t have the sharpest lines on games like World of Tanks, Street Fighter II, and SMITE. You can gain some additional value by betting on these games.
Overall, esports wagering is a good form of gambling to jump into now. It only looks to grow in popularity in the future, meaning you can be on the ground floor and develop your skills now before the industry explodes.
Online Poker
In the mid-2000s, online poker experienced a boom unlike any other form of gambling has ever seen before. It went from something that was typically played by hardcore poker enthusiasts to becoming a global phenomenon.
Many pros have since become multi-millionaires through this game. Di Dang, Hac Dang, Tom Dwan, Phil Galfond, Phil Ivey, and Ilari Sahamies are just some of those who made a fortune with online poker.
Unfortunately, the online game has lost some of its luster due to various factors, including laws, regulation, and bots.
Many countries have segregated their player pools after regulating online poker. These actions have reduced online poker’s liquidity and made it harder for sites to offer high stakes and huge tournaments.
Bots are AI that are designed to play poker. Some of the best bots can consistently beat low and middle stakes, making them quite dangerous to the average recreational player.
Despite the drawbacks, online poker is still one of the most-viable ways to earn a living through. It offers the opportunity to earn serious profits through cash games and/or tournaments.
The catch, though, is that you must dedicate a lot of time to improving your skills. Both amateurs and pros have improved significantly over the years.
But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to become a highly profitable player. If you’re motivated to log numerous hands and learn enough strategy, then you have a chance of being successful at this game.
You should also pay special attention to bankroll management. You need enough money to survive any major downswings so that you can stay in the game.
Cash players should have enough to cover at least 20 full buy-ins (100 big blinds) for their desired stakes. Multi-table tournament players should aim for 75-100 buy-ins.
Daily Fantasy Sports
Daily fantasy Sports (DFS) are much like online poker in that they also saw a big boom. DraftKings and FanDuel pushed this industry to new heights by running countless advertisements in the mid-2010s.
The result is that the public quickly became aware that they could gamble on fantasy sports. Industry growth has slowed down since then due to regulation. But DFS is yet another avenue for earning a living with online gambling.
DFS involves filling out fantasy sports lineups while staying under a salary cap. For example, you might have to choose 10 NFL players without going over a salary cap of $100,000.
The skill is choosing players that’ll outperform their given salaries. The better you are at doing this on a consistent basis, the stronger your chances of winning money.
DFS is similar to online poker tournaments with regard to prize pool structures and fees. These tourneys require you to pay a buy-in, which contributes to both the prize pool and house fees (usually 10%).
– A tournament requires a $10+$1 buy-in.
– $10 goes into the prize pool.
– The site takes the extra dollar as a fee for offering the tournament.
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Your goal is to win enough money to cover your buy-ins and also book profits. Of course, accomplishing this feat is easier said than done.
DFS prize money is heavily weighted towards the top, with only around 10% to 15% of the field cashing. This structure creates plenty of volatility, where you’ll often go for a long time without cashing.
I suggest having a sizable bankroll before getting started with DFS. After all, you need enough money to handle the variance.
If you’ve play online poker, then you may already be familiar with this level of volatility. As covered before, a poker tournament player should have anywhere from 75-100 buy-ins.
The same holds true when playing DFS. You need enough money to survive the dry spells in between your tournament cashes.
Daily fantasy Isn’t the easiest route towards making online gambling profits. But the opportunity is here if you thoroughly understand sports/athletes and put the hours into learning specific DFS strategy.
Conclusion
Is It Worth Trying to Make a Living through Online Gambling?
You have to take multiple factors into account before deciding if an online gaming career is right for you. The first of which is if you truly love any of the forms of gambling covered above.
You must spend lots of time honing your skills for whatever path you choose. If you’re not passionate about a certain game, then there’s no way you can stand spending hours learning it.
Another consideration is if you have the time to take online gambling seriously. You can’t realistically expect to become a pro if you only have 3-5 hours to spend on it each week.
You’ll of course need to figure out which kind of gambling you want to pursue. As discussed above, DFS, esports betting, online poker, and sports betting can all be beaten.
Bankroll management is yet another aspect to consider. You want a large enough bankroll to help you get past any low points so that you’ll eventually get back to profitability.
Bankroll requirements vary based on the specific stakes and game you’re playing. It’s up to you to figure out exactly how much money you’ll need.
Professional online gambling can be a great career that allows you to make your own hours and earn big profits. But like anything else, you’ll get out of it what you put in.
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Being a gambler is an extremely risky proposition. There are some people that have pulled it off. Here are the richest gamblers in the world, including some tips on how to make money gambling.
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If you’ve already visited and chosen a particular game to win cash. You now might be waiting for your dreams to come true, you might be inspired by the tales behind some of the richest gamblers in the world.
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I’ve covered millionaire farmers, but now we cover a less straightforward approach to wealth… gambling
How to Make Money Gambling
Most casino games have a favorable advantage and you are playing against the odds. If you want to make money gambling, you have to focus on games that you can gain an edge. In order to make money gambling, you must be very disciplined and determined for success.
Professional gamblers are very keen on winning. They’ve studied what works well for them and what doesn’t. You can apply the same theories to anything you do.
In addition, pro gamblers have realized that they need to make consistent value bets, which mean that you put out money where you have a slight edge in winning. If you don’t follow this, your chances of winning consistently will be zero.
You have to approach investing the same way and I’ve covered that in my book Dividend Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom.
Games that are best to try to make money gambling:
- Poker
- Blackjack
- Baccarat
- Fantasy sports
I’ve been a big player of fantasy sports. While luck is a serious component, there is no doubt in my mind that skill is the majority. In addition, I’ve played poker and enjoy playing it. I will never turn down a good poker game.
Gambling is a tough way to make money, but you can make money instantly if you are good.
List of the Richest Gamblers in the World
Here, you’ll find a rundown of some of the most successful players at the tables, and you might get some top tips that will help you to improve your game. Pro gamblers continue to look for an edge in order to succeed.
There’s definitely a difference between rich and wealthy, but either way, these gamblers made out very well.
1. Bill Benter – Maths Genius Supreme
Bill is a perfect example of how to make money gambling. He used math and provide analytics to make money at the casinos.
Born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1957, Bill Benter is a self-proclaimed mathematical genius. Having studied physics at university, he put his skills to good use, learning how to count cards. Having honed the art, he headed to Las Vegas where he plied his trade at the blackjack tables.
He was so successful that he was finally banned from all the top Sin City casinos within seven years.
However, Benter wasn’t ready to call it a day. Instead, he relocated to Hong Kong and began working with Alan Woods on a formula to predict the most likely outcome in horse races.
The result was the first gambling operation in the world to be assisted by software, and it is still regarded as the most successful model today.
Benter is now believed to be raking in around $100 million every year thanks to his formula, and he has been rumored to have collected up to $10 million on just one race day.
2. Edward E. Thorp – Card Counter Extraordinaire
Edward E Thorp invented the skill we know today as card counting. Born in 1932 in Chicago, Thorp earned a PhD in maths at UCLA then began to work there as a professor.
Mr. Thorp was the first person to ever use computer simulation in the development of a strategy for blackjack, and he created a card-counting scheme which would improve the odds for the player.
He first tested his calculations in the casinos of Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Reno and thus proved his theories to be valid.
He then penned his book “Beat the Dealer”, still considered to be the definitive guide to the art of card counting.
Ahead of his time, Edward Thorp also invented the wearable computer in 1961 which he used at both blackjack and roulette tables for over two decades until it was finally banned in the mid-1980s.
His skills at the gaming table paired with his ability to predict the movements of the stock market have led to a fortune of approximately $800 million.
See Related: How to Watch Ads for Money
3. Zeljko Ranogajec – An Advantage Gambler
Ranogajec, the son of Croatian immigrants, decided to give up his university education in favor of a life of advantage gambling. With his impressive maths skills and a photographic memory, he began playing blackjack and soon found he could turn a $100 bet into a 7-figure win.
Soon, the Australian casinos got wise to his abilities, and he ended up being banned. Undeterred.
However, he turned his talents to the world of horse betting. His mathematical skill helped him to predict the outcome of the races, and he soon became a billionaire.
Although he has never publicly confirmed his fortune, it’s believed that he could account for as much as 8% of Tabcorp’s turnover. He has certainly known to have had a record Keno win in the 1990s in the sum of $7.5 million.
4. Billy Walters – A Serious Sports Bettor
Anyone who knows anything about sports betting knows about Billy Walters. Having had a humble start to life, Walters was the son of a poker player and the nephew of a professional gambler, so it wasn’t surprising that he began gambling at just nine years old.
Three decades later, he was fined for running an illegal bookmaking service and relocated to Las Vegas where he works with analysts to improve his decision-making.
It is reported that he makes around $15 million every year and is rumored to have scored up to $2 million in a single day.
He has an estimated net worth of $200 million.
While he is banned from betting in Vegas and barred from most bookmakers, he now uses celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Bruce Willis to place wagers for him!
5. Alan Woods – A Pioneer in Horse Race Betting
Alan Woods is sometimes called the godfather of horse betting software. The Australian pioneer was born in 1945, and during the first few years of his gambling career, he was a card counter at the blackjack table.
During the 1980s, he relocated to Hong Kong where he got together with Bill Benter to develop horse racing software that could accurately predict the outcome of races based on form, weather and track.
When Woods died back in 2008, he was believed to be one of the world’s best and biggest gamblers with a fortune to his name of $670 million AUD.
See Related: Best Money Management Tips
6. Patrik Antonius – A Poker Star
Poker star Patrik Antonius has the honor of being the first poker player ever to win a seven-figure pot in an online poker game, having won a hand worth $1,377,000.
Born in Finland in 1976, the professional gambler continues to equally divide his gambling time between Monte Carlo and Las Vegas. Antonius wasn’t always set on a career in poker playing, in fact, he originally aspired to be a tennis player.
However, an injury to his back led him down a different path. When he was young, he enjoyed playing card games with friends, and later he traveled to Helsinki’s casino to play in tournaments.
Soon, he progressed to playing online poker and went professional a few years later in 2002. He relocated to Las Vegas and focused solely on the game. Just a year later, he ranked among Europe’s top internet poker players, and today he is believed to be one of the world’s best PLO players.
To date, Antonius is Finland’s all-time top moneymaker with total career earnings to date coming to more than $4 million.
See Related: List of Apps That Pay You Real Money
7. Phil Ivey – A Poker Icon
Phil is the riskiest version of how to make money gambling. He uses his skills but at the same time he’s taken on a lot of risk.
Having earned the title of the greatest poker player in the world, Phil Ivey is famous for having no less than 5 wins in the World Series of Poker Tournament before the age of 30.
Making A Gambler Barstool Episode 1
Ivey is the same age as Antonius but was raised on the other side of the Atlantic in New Jersey. He learned to play poker at a very early age, with his grandfather teaching him how to play 5 card stud.
It’s no wonder, then, that Ivey’s professional move into gambling came at a very young age. He won the World Series of Poker title for the first time at the age of 23, beating famous players like Amarillo Slim and Phil Hellmuth.
His personal fortune has reached figures or more than $14 million, and he is believed to be one of the toughest players to beat. Unlike many of the other gamblers on this list, Ivey doesn’t use mathematical skill to win games.
He believes in taking risks, and it’s a strategy that’s paying off for him.
See Related: Jobs that Pay Cash Daily
Conclusion on Richest Gamblers in the World
Have you been inspired to place your next wager? These gambling legends are proof that with the right skills and enough determination you can make your fortune at the gaming table or on the race track.
These are all far different than the traditional income opportunities for financial freedom.
What do you think of the richest gamblers in the world? Would you consider a career or side hustle in gambling? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!
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