Best Way to "Pay Yourself" from Sports Betting?

[jolmscheid]

Hey guys...I am not at the point where I can regularly "pay myself" from my sports betting endeavor. I am trying to get my roll up to a minimum of $10,000 before doing so. Now I am wondering how you guys "pay yourselves?"

Do you take out any profits you make over $10,000 for example weekly, monthly, after each sports season, etc?


Is it best to set up a bank transfer to have funds sent right to your bank account, etc?


These may be very silly questions to some, but I would like to gain some insight as to how some of you guys structure your "salary?"

[jolmscheid]

Thanks for the help guys...look forward to some insight!

[Demonata]

You live in USA?

[TomG]

if you want to be a pro, avoid taking money out of your bankroll until you're able to bet the max (or close to it) on everything in which you have an edge. that might mean living below the poverty line. the opportunity cost of a winning sports withdrawing from his roll (to buy trucks, motorcycles, etc) while simultaneously trying to build it up is a huge leak.

otoh, if you're a recreational sports bettor take it all at and just bet for whatever amount you budget for entertainment.

[jolmscheid]

Yes im in the usa.......and why does one need to bet the max in order to be a pro?

[TomG]

because a professional is concerned with such things as winning more money rather than less

[JVP3122]

Yes im in the usa.......and why does one need to bet the max in order to be a pro?

I don't think he was saying that you need to bet the max. I think the point was more to the thought that if you can build your bankroll to $10,000, don't start withdrawing money then, but continue to work on building your roll. If you're good enough to get it to 10,000 you're good enough to get it to where you're making max bets and then there's even more money to be withdrawn.

[jolmscheid]

I don't think he was saying that you need to bet the max. I think the point was more to the thought that if you can build your bankroll to $10,000, don't start withdrawing money then, but continue to work on building your roll. If you're good enough to get it to 10,000 you're good enough to get it to where you're making max bets and then there's even more money to be withdrawn.

Thanks for the insight....would anyone even consider keeping that much in a book at once?

[gmcarroll33]

if you want to be a pro, avoid taking money out of your bankroll until you're able to bet the max (or close to it) on everything in which you have an edge. that might mean living below the poverty line. the opportunity cost of a winning sports withdrawing from his roll (to buy trucks, motorcycles, etc) while simultaneously trying to build it up is a huge leak.

otoh, if you're a recreational sports bettor take it all at and just bet for whatever amount you budget for entertainment.

Nice shot at Poogs

[HedgeHog]

Hey guys...I am not at the point where I can regularly "pay myself" from my sports betting endeavor. I am trying to get my roll up to a minimum of $10,000 before doing so. Now I am wondering how you guys "pay yourselves?"

Do you take out any profits you make over $10,000 for example weekly, monthly, after each sports season, etc?


Is it best to set up a bank transfer to have funds sent right to your bank account, etc?


These may be very silly questions to some, but I would like to gain some insight as to how some of you guys structure your "salary?"

I try to take 5% every month, which is about 2k to me. I take it from the Book (s) with the most surplus and by the cheapest method (hopefully one which offers a free withdrawal per month). Some months I can take double (4k) and sometimes I get nothing at all. Nature of the beast.

[jolmscheid]

I try to take 5% every month, which is about 2k to me. I take it from the Book (s) with the most surplus and by the cheapest method (hopefully one which offers a free withdrawal per month). Some months I can take double (4k) and sometimes I get nothing at all. Nature of the beast.

Thanks Hedge...yea that's kind of what I was thinking...have a set amount to keep in the books...like $10K for example, and then anything that I am up over that after each month (if any) then I withdraw that amount....

[ColdBeerHere]

My goal is to get all my books up to 5k each...Then I plan on doubling that bankroll hopefully every month...Once it's doubled I will with drawl 5k.....I think this should keep me under the book's radar, and bring me in a nice little bonus each month....

Now I know it might not be every month but could be longer before it's doubled.

[Pokerjoe]

TomG's point, which I think is being missed, is that if you take, say, 20k out to buy a car, if that 20k, left in your BR, would have allowed you to win an additional, say, 10k over the next year, then your 20k car is now costing you 30k (there's more to the math than that, to time-value the 20k withdrawal properly, but you get the point).

Most simply put: live as cheaply as you can until BR growth stops leading to income growth, and then live as well as you want.

My system (poker is easier) is simpler. At the end of every month my wife tells me how much my half of the family bills is, and I say "Get it from my box at the card room" and she says "I already did." Seriously. Good system. Oh, and after playing cards, after cashing out, I stick hundreds back in my day-roll, non-hundies in my wallet for spending money.

[mikeanite]

if you do it for awhile doesn't the recreational books kick you out?

[Daveyboy]

The best way to "pay yourself" from sports betting is to win... seriously.

[135steward]

bookies and brokers

if you do it for awhile doesn't the recreational books kick you out?

Bookies are like brokers and market makers, right? Just like a broker doesn't care if a stock goes up or down (he gets his vig from brokering the exchange), neither does a bookie care who wins or loses: he pays the winner from the losers' draw, and odds are adjusted up to the start of the game. Just like stock prices are adjusted to the closing bell. Bookies set betting limits just like the exchanges set circuit breakers, to minimzze meltdown. Kicking out a winner is killing the bookies' own cut.

[Tackleberry]

Bookies are like brokers and market makers, right? Just like a broker doesn't care if a stock goes up or down (he gets his vig from brokering the exchange), neither does a bookie care who wins or loses: he pays the winner from the losers' draw, and odds are adjusted up to the start of the game. Just like stock prices are adjusted to the closing bell. Bookies set betting limits just like the exchanges set circuit breakers, to minimzze meltdown. Kicking out a winner is killing the bookies' own cut.

This only works when there is adequete volume. Smaller books with low volume can not handle a sharp player pounding their lines.

[CHUBNUT]

The point that Gambling is an addiction is being missed here. Why do people kid themselves about money management and the topic of this thread, the real ambition is to have bigger and better bets to fuel our obsession. Do you seriously think someone who was betting 500 a game will take cash out of his bankroll and then start betting 400, hardly. Thats what makes the think tank great, the smart talk hides what we all really know but cant face up to.

[mikeanite]

Bookies are like brokers and market makers, right? Just like a broker doesn't care if a stock goes up or down (he gets his vig from brokering the exchange), neither does a bookie care who wins or loses: he pays the winner from the losers' draw, and odds are adjusted up to the start of the game. Just like stock prices are adjusted to the closing bell. Bookies set betting limits just like the exchanges set circuit breakers, to minimzze meltdown. Kicking out a winner is killing the bookies' own cut.

u're talking about an exchange. matchbox and betfair, they don't allow americans. the regular sportsbook will lose money if they don't kick out the virus that takes their money. they is no way u can be a pro if u're betting at a recreational book for awhile. they will show you the door once you get them for enough money

[That Foreign Guy]

The point that Gambling is an addiction is being missed here. Why do people kid themselves about money management and the topic of this thread, the real ambition is to have bigger and better bets to fuel our obsession. Do you seriously think someone who was betting 500 a game will take cash out of his bankroll and then start betting 400, hardly. Thats what makes the think tank great, the smart talk hides what we all really know but cant face up to.

I think you need help. I'm not trying to be rude, your posts genuinely suggest you have compulsive gambling issues.

Unless you need the money to avoid being evicted, no winning sportsbettor should withdraw money to go from betting 500 to 400 (for the same kelly fraction). It's nothing to do with feeding an obsession unless that obsession is with maximising your wealth.

[135steward]

bookies'profit

u're talking about an exchange. matchbox and betfair, they don't allow americans. the regular sportsbook will lose money if they don't kick out the virus that takes their money. they is no way u can be a pro if u're betting at a recreational book for awhile. they will show you the door once you get them for enough money

You're right that a small bookie will lose money if the odds line is, for example, 5:1 and I bet $10k and he only took in $25k in bets. But when a book is handling say $100k/game, he made ~$10k vig off the winners, and paid off from the losers' draw. The only time this fails is when the line is off more than 10%. That, btw, makes line efficiency a big deal for bookies.

When you bet on sports, you're not beating the book so much as beating the guy on the other side of the bet. Books adjust bets by what they bring in on either side. Hell, 5Dimes odds even change in the middle of a bet sometimes.

[rsigley]

Neteller DC -> withdraw $980 in 20s ($1000 daily limit but ATM fees count) -> put in your bath tub->wait 24 hours->repeat

[wantitall4moi]

Some really bad answers in here.

I stopped sports betting for a living almost 3 years ago now, so the landscape has changed in regards to fees and what not. So I cant really address them specifically so I will give common sense stuff. Try and find a place with a free withdrawal once a month and find out if the max is enough to pay yourself. But basically find the cheapest solution to get the amount you need.

As for your specifics. 10K isnt a lot. But it really depends on your goals and what you want. If youre setting up for the long term then keep rolling it over. Find a comfortable unit size and stick with it, then once your bankroll goes up 50% or so raise the unit to match the new amount. So if you start with 10K and bet 1% ($100)for a unit when you reach 15K make youre unit $150 (same 1%). Some people might say up the amount before then, but if youre looking long term its best to hold off. Length of time will vary but if you take money out it is going to take along time to reach that plateau. You might never actually reach it if you are 'paying' yourself regularly. But you wont go broke either and youre basically living on 10K. But if youre living a 'normal' life that isnt possible either. So hard to give advice when the specifics arent known.

But with 10K it is going to be difficult to follow a sound strategy and take any money out for awhile. 10K is a nice start for the rags or riches approach. Then if you get lucky you have a legit BR to start using a better approach. I dont condone the rags to riches strategy, so the only other thing I could suggest is find a good book with decent limits, bet into some overnight lines ( look to teams you like), then watch the lines to see if you can get some buy backs for a guaranteed profit. If not then buy back part and make the risk a 'normal' unit win or loss. Risk there is getting a line that gies the wrong way. So it has risk but not as much as the rags to riches where you take 10K and start betting 500 a game and hope.

But with only 10K paying yourself off winners isnt a viable scenario.

[jolmscheid]

Some really bad answers in here.

I stopped sports betting for a living almost 3 years ago now, so the landscape has changed in regards to fees and what not. So I cant really address them specifically so I will give common sense stuff. Try and find a place with a free withdrawal once a month and find out if the max is enough to pay yourself. But basically find the cheapest solution to get the amount you need.

As for your specifics. 10K isnt a lot. But it really depends on your goals and what you want. If youre setting up for the long term then keep rolling it over. Find a comfortable unit size and stick with it, then once your bankroll goes up 50% or so raise the unit to match the new amount. So if you start with 10K and bet 1% ($100)for a unit when you reach 15K make youre unit $150 (same 1%). Some people might say up the amount before then, but if youre looking long term its best to hold off. Length of time will vary but if you take money out it is going to take along time to reach that plateau. You might never actually reach it if you are 'paying' yourself regularly. But you wont go broke either and youre basically living on 10K. But if youre living a 'normal' life that isnt possible either. So hard to give advice when the specifics arent known.

But with 10K it is going to be difficult to follow a sound strategy and take any money out for awhile. 10K is a nice start for the rags or riches approach. Then if you get lucky you have a legit BR to start using a better approach. I dont condone the rags to riches strategy, so the only other thing I could suggest is find a good book with decent limits, bet into some overnight lines ( look to teams you like), then watch the lines to see if you can get some buy backs for a guaranteed profit. If not then buy back part and make the risk a 'normal' unit win or loss. Risk there is getting a line that gies the wrong way. So it has risk but not as much as the rags to riches where you take 10K and start betting 500 a game and hope.

But with only 10K paying yourself off winners isnt a viable scenario.

Good points here.....I do believe $10K isn't enough to make a living on, but it would be a good place to start I think....and can one really buy both sides for a guaranteed profit anymore nowadays with the lines / linesmakers getting sharper and sharper?

[robertg]

if you want to make money consistently from sports, you have a much better chance taking bets, than placing bets.

good luck

[That Foreign Guy]

if you want to make money consistently from sports, you have a much better chance taking bets, than placing bets. good luck

This is true where it is illegal, but the penalties are not very nice.

Where sportsbetting is legal it is true but you have to be much more professional.

[Arilou]

Transaction costs in time and money are high. Avoid churn, and only take out money if you need it and are not going to want to put it back. In general if you're serious you want to go big or go home, so take out the bare minimum.

[WendysRox]

You're right that a small bookie will lose money if the odds line is, for example, 5:1 and I bet $10k and he only took in $25k in bets. But when a book is handling say $100k/game, he made ~$10k vig off the winners, and paid off from the losers' draw. The only time this fails is when the line is off more than 10%. That, btw, makes line efficiency a big deal for bookies.

When you bet on sports, you're not beating the book so much as beating the guy on the other side of the bet. Books adjust bets by what they bring in on either side. Hell, 5Dimes odds even change in the middle of a bet sometimes.

In another thread, someone suggested that you "read more and post less" for a while. I thought that was kind of an asshole-ish thing to say to you.... until I read your comments in this thread. I know this might offend you and I sincerely hope that you'll take what I say as advice rather than criticism, but the ideas that you are offering are a little sophomoric. If you'll hang around a while, I think you'll see that *most* of the posters in HTT are some pretty intelligent people that have a lot to offer in the way of learning sports gambling. I know I've learned a lot in the short time that I've been here.