Does anyone use sports gambling as a full-time income?

[Hulu]

This is the best thread for some time!

Lucas, I noticed in the latter pic you were wearing the same clothes that were hung over the radiator in the first pic. If that's your only set, thank you for not turning the camera around.

[Mudcat]

A remarkably observant and funny post, Hulu.

[Viking]

It is probably easier to be a professional player with a normal life in the US than in Europe because of the time zones, I know I am stating the obvious here, but if you want to bet 2nd halfs of NFL games, you have to stay up all nite in Europe.

By the way I am new as well, new to the forum but many year addict of SBR.

Hi everybody!

[Santo]

NFL's not too bad, most games start at 6pm and 9pm in the UK, same with NCAAF... MLB and NCAAB are the real killer.

That said, I'd rather do it in England than America, don't have to worry about health care, gambling is tax exempt, and have zero worries about the legality.

[Viking]

Santo, I couldn't agree more when it comes to legality and living in general, I have lived both in the States and Europe, I am on your team.

You must agree though, that you must have missed many good bets because of the time difference... or you have missed out on other things by staying up untill 4am, I've been there....

[Lucas]

This is the best thread for some time!

Lucas, I noticed in the latter pic you were wearing the same clothes that were hung over the radiator in the first pic. If that's your only set, thank you for not turning the camera around.

Great eye Great estimation
Personally I think unerwear is not necessary for pro action... when I am cold I wear professor´s cloak and his mufflers.

and the time zone... yes... I am going to move souther and easter... right to the source

[Santo]

Santo, I couldn't agree more when it comes to legality and living in general, I have lived both in the States and Europe, I am on your team.

You must agree though, that you must have missed many good bets because of the time difference... or you have missed out on other things by staying up untill 4am, I've been there....

To some extent yes..though I usually set an alarm for times when I know to expect a release, or the CBB/MLB overnights to come out etc.. MLB overnights have been out so early this year it's not been a huge issue. Of course there have been times I stayed up til 3am or so, and those times I've slept 10am-3am, woke up to bet a west coast game and gone back to sleep. I think the UK has 1 hour over Central Europe and 2 hours over Cyprus (where I also spend some time), so that helps a little.

I'd also argue that I've gained many good bets I'd have missed if I was in the US, by betting sloppy overnight lines that I assume Americans miss because they're asleep. The limit is relatively low ($1K) but it's better than nothing.

I also hit many tennis bets that I'd miss in America during the summer, so I think it evens out..

[Zikaris]

Hmm. I wonder how the people who bet on sports for a living do their taxes and such? I know sports betting is illegal in my state and many others. It must be just overlooked?

[Santo]

It's legal in the UK and tax exempt.

It's mentioned specifically in the UK Tax code that "A Gambler who is so proficient that he earns a living by gambling does not classify as a trade".

[Zikaris]

Wow thats really cool Santo.

[kiwi]

It is probably easier to be a professional player with a normal life in the US than in Europe because of the time zones, I know I am stating the obvious here, but if you want to bet 2nd halfs of NFL games, you have to stay up all nite in Europe.

Or just change to soccer betting... living in Europe requires also to make oneself familiar with the most popular sports there. ;-)

Apart from that also the costs for a living are an important factor for a full time bettor. A good idea is to have betting accounts in a currency with a high value and then move to a country with a currency with a lower value.

[MY BUM]

Hello all.I'm new here.I am fairly new to gambling and tried to make it a full time income but I always lose my account on a huge upset.I bet with the greek and deposit $400 each time.Well I always get it up to just under $2000 and then slowly it drops to about $1000 then I see a for sure bet like manchester united home to lowly sunderland (united -$900!!!!!) which of course I have parlayed my account balance with.And my other games come in and the man-u sunderland game ends in a draw(0-0). I often wonder if certain games are fixed.A couple of years ago in the NHL pittsburgh were the laughing stock of the league while dallas were playing at the top of their game.Something like pitt winning 1 of their last 10 and dallas winning 9 of their last 10.Well low and behold,pitt beats dallas 4-0.Come on,if this is not a fix,I dont know what is.I lost thousands there,and i'll never forget it.I have since never placed a hockey bet.I just bet on soccer and basketball now.Does anybody have the same troubles that I have?

[noyb]

no offence mybum, but that sounds like the worst betting strategy i ever heard of. parlaying big favourites just because teams are big favourites is asking for trouble,
ofcourse big favourites do lose every now and then to big underdogs (without the game being "fixed"), it's sport.. nothing is ever a surebet.

[MY BUM]

bets

Well noyb I don't believe my system is as bad as you see it.You are clearly showing me that you aren't betting the same sports as I am.If you follow soccer or basketball you will agree that 9 times out of 10 the detroit pistons on their home court will beat the atlanta hawks.And chelsea at home will beat everton.Parlee these 2 together and your chances are high.Like I stated,I always turn $400 into between $1400 and $1800 in a couple of weeks.But then I seem to set stung by that darn 1 out of 10 upset.So no I don't agree that it is the worst betting strategy.I win way more bets than I lose.The only problem is,is that when I get stung by an upset,I really take a bath. And another thing noyb.You seem to disagree to my claim of some games being fixed.Do you realize that italian soccer was rocked with 3 or 4 teams that were charged and convicted with match fixing?

[bisonravi]

Mybum, any successful betting strategy relies on you betting at odds that are greater than the true probability of an event happening. If you don't, whatever the "certainty" of an event happening, you will lose. If you do (and if you are right about the probabilities) then you win. Books always try to price the odds they offer less than the probability of the event, which is why they make money. It doesn't matter how high or low the odds are: it's just as sensible to take on a bet at 300/1 when the true odds are 150/1 as it is to take something odds on.

If you don't understand this, then you just are emptying your wallet into the gambling industry.

No professional gambler I know would take on a parlay or an accumulator, as this multiplies risks. If you are certain you have value, then take a single.

I make enough to live on from gambling - in fact between 2 and 3 times the income from my day job (which is pretty well paid). I've lost count of the number of newbies I've encountered who think they have a foolproof system. But if you don't get value, the numbers will beat you every single time.

Couple of general points, there are two other keys to making money. One is money management, i.e. you can have all the value you want but it will be useless if your bank is emptied before you win. And the second key is turnover: the more bets you place, the more you make. That's why I spend much of my time betting on UK horseracing, where the events come up at 10 minute intervals.

[noyb]

mybum, ofcourse when you bet favourites you win more then you lose, problem is your payoff is also very low. so you can win almost all of your bets, then you lose one, and your bankroll is wiped out, like you said yourself.
your strategy might work for you looking at your betting screen and see all those won bets and give you a good feeling about yourself, but unless you haven't some sort of strategy besides just betting plain favourites you will keep losing more that one time you lose then you win all those times you win together.

and ofcourse i'm not saying fixing doesn't happen, it's been admitted to happen very rarely in some leagues, but i'm not really fond of blaming losing bets to fixing, without any proof.
ofcourse man u can draw against sunderland without it being a fix, if man u would always win against sunderland why would any bookie offer odds on it. upsets have always happened, odds of a 100-to-1 will occasionaly win and 1-to-100 will occassionaly lose.

anyway, it's no problem for me if you think just plainly betting favourites will make you rich, i'd say go for it.

[bisonravi]

Laying favourites at a betting exchange might very well be a winning strategy - betting on favourites very rarely is.

[pags11]

agreed bison...would have been even more of a hectic day if gambling was my only form of income...what a day...

[MY BUM]

Great posts fellas.Thanks.I must admit that I am fairly new to this and bison really lost me with all that odds,probability,value stuff.The points I did pick up from these posts is that parlee's are the wrong thing as I can have 5 different parlee's with what looks to be a guarantee on all 5 and lose all 5 bets on an upset.However,if say I had 5 parlee's with some being 2,3 4 or 5 game parlee's,and one upsets,I would have won 4 out of the 5 bets had I played them single.Also I do see the fact that although I do win 5 out of 6 times I bet,when I win,I win a little bit and when I lose,I lose a lot.I can win 5 bets and lose 1 bet and lose more on that 1 bet than I made on all 5 wins.So what is the answer? Do professional gamblers bet on soccer or basketball? Do they take the dogs and get a goal,goal and a half or even 2 goals in some casses? I have thought about that angle.I have no knowledge in horses and I find baseball and hockey very unpredictable.What I do know is that soccer and basketball are the most predictable sports (by myself anyway) but the odds are very big.So is taking them singally the answer? Or will I still come out the loser because of the odds factor?

[bisonravi]

Easy to understand value. Take a coin toss and bet head or tails.

The probability of head or tails is 50/50, i.e 0.5, i.e. evens (2.0 in decimal odds)

If you bet (decimal odds) at 1.9, your average return will be stake*0.5*1.9, i.e. less than your stake. You lose over time.

If you can get decimal odds of 2.1, your average return will be stake*0.5*2.1, i.e. you win.

So if betting, you'd want the second case. If you were offering odds, you'd want to offer the first case (and there are plenty of punters who would take that bet, as idiotic as it seems).

Whenever you bet on anything, you need to be certain that the probability of something happening is greater than the odds you are getting to bet on.

Why are sure things, bad things to bet on? Well Federer always wins. You can usually get odds of 1.01 (i.e. return is 1.01*stake) in early tournament matches. This is marvellous: a 1% return on capital in about 2 hours! However if Fed loses more than 1 game in a hundred, you will lose more on this occasion than you gain on all the others.

Professional betting is all about numbers - the skill is knowing when you have value and taking the losses on the chin while you build to profit, or manipulating the returns so you always get a return. You need to understand this before you start committing a bank to try to earn a living. Otherwise you will be taken to the cleaners.

[pags11]

good post bison...

[MY BUM]

I do understand those numbers,but how the heck do I apply that to the 2 bets I like this weekend? CHELSEA to beat CHARLTON at -$600 and LYON to beat TROYES at -$350.I would generally parlee these both together.

[isetcap]

Nobody can convince me that anybody is cooler than Lucas.

This thread contains the proof.