How much would you need to go "pro"?

[rake922]

50,000 usd

[bettman]

go all in 50% of your starting bankroll on a powerful team and your good for the year. Thats one game for the whole year and if your confident you can bet one a day for a week and see where that ends up.....money in the bank.

[jackpot269]

I know a few who can triple their bankroll. But..... people, most people bet smarter when they are not short stacked. Have a big bank roll but dont bet it like a gambler. Wait for the right games and keep your unit size small. There is nothing wrong with making 30% on $300 grand.

That looks like a very reasonable and sensibly goal in my opinion not as conservative as some others might think!!

[Iceman]

That looks like a very reasonable and sensibly goal in my opinion not as conservative as some others might think!!

Sure it does look good but there is one tremedously HUGE problem with it though, 99.99% of the people on here will never at one time in there lives have 200k or 300k EVER or at the very least before the age of maybe 50.

It's just not realistic to think that nowadays. That is in no way a shot towards anyone at all here as I know I personally am nowhere close to having it either.

So though I agree with and think his goals are realistic for him (and to be fair he did say personally so my bad on that), these goals simply are not attainable for most every single person on this site.

I guess I say this has to do more to the people that answer this question by saying 200k is needed. If that is their belief then it will be almost impossibile to ever get started on doing this.

One of the major reasons that drew me to betting sports, is the one key word in sports betting- leverage. Meaning one can make good money and not need a lot to start by putting their money to work everyday. You don't have to have a 200k bankroll to put 200k to work for you every month, you can easily do that with 25k or so.

I bet very conservatively, playing less then 1% per play and on an average I make around 7,000 wagers total for the year, while winning around 1.5-3% along the way (hoping to improve on that this year for a variety of reasons). At the end of the day I usually end up winning over 100-200%% profit off of my starting bankroll.

None of the numbers I am using are out of the question for most who are in my age range (38) from the starting bankroll, to bet size per play, to win pct, etc....

I think it is nearly impossibile to make 100%+ profit yearly nowadays on any OTHER type of investment that is out there and I think that is all due to the leverage one gets with betting on sports. I may be wrong but I haven't found another one that is out there.

Don't get me wrong, I am not at all saying this is easy either as it can be high risk, high reward daily but if you take the time, put the work in everyday and do the right things, you can play with an edge and that is the #1 thing in all this, playing with an edge.

[SBR Lou]

Nothing, just start with a $100 Oddsmaker freeplay contest and tear it up from there

That would require spending time across the street.

[CaneDawg]

50k

[jackpot269]

Sure it does look good but there is one tremedously HUGE problem with it though, 99.99% of the people on here will never at one time in there lives have 200k or 300k EVER or at the very least before the age of maybe 50.

It's just not realistic to think that nowadays. That is in no way a shot towards anyone at all here as I know I personally am nowhere close to having it either.

So though I agree with and think his goals are realistic for him (and to be fair he did say personally so my bad on that), these goals simply are not attainable for most every single person on this site.

I guess I say this has to do more to the people that answer this question by saying 200k is needed. If that is their belief then it will be almost impossibile to ever get started on doing this.

One of the major reasons that drew me to betting sports, is the one key word in sports betting- leverage. Meaning one can make good money and not need a lot to start by putting their money to work everyday. You don't have to have a 200k bankroll to put 200k to work for you every month, you can easily do that with 25k or so.

I bet very conservatively, playing less then 1% per play and on an average I make around 7,000 wagers total for the year, while winning around 1.5-3% along the way (hoping to improve on that this year for a variety of reasons). At the end of the day I usually end up winning over 100-200%% profit off of my starting bankroll.

None of the numbers I am using are out of the question for most who are in my age range (38) from the starting bankroll, to bet size per play, to win pct, etc....

I think it is nearly impossibile to make 100%+ profit yearly nowadays on any OTHER type of investment that is out there and I think that is all due to the leverage one gets with betting on sports. I may be wrong but I haven't found another one that is out there.

Don't get me wrong, I am not at all saying this is easy either as it can be high risk, high reward daily but if you take the time, put the work in everyday and do the right things, you can play with an edge and that is the #1 thing in all this, playing with an edge.

I agree with you that most here want have that kind of money to start with but the ? was I think-How much would it take to turn pro. It also sounds like that your doing a great job of money mgt.

[Iceman]

I agree with you that most here want have that kind of money to start with but the ? was I think-How much would it take to turn pro. It also sounds like that your doing a great job of money mgt.

I try. It's been a little bit slower process then I think I had first imagined.

Not that I didn't know the math or any of that stuff or that anything has overly surpised me during this past year doing this fulltime (though a few losing stretches have been rougher on me emotionally then I thought), you do end up playing a lot of the "what if?" game throughout the year.

What if I would have bet this much per game on average? What if I started with this much of a bankroll instead? What if I was just a little more agressive at times and played a higher pct of my bankroll?

You try and not let it bother you. I realized like most, no matter how much I win (or make at any job), it is normal to want it to be more.

Bottom line we all have are own threshold of pain and I not sure I have a very high one. I am just not wired that way for some reason. I don't think I handle stress very well. I guess I like sleeping well at night.

My famous line to others is "I may never be rich doing this but I don't think I will go broke either." and to me that is more important in my life right now.

*on a side note- why am I the only one in almost everyone of the threads that I post in that doesn't ever get a bonus point after he posts? Maybe I am missing something here. Not trying to cry about it or am I overly concerned but am I doing something wrong? I almost embarassed by it at times being the only one without a point in an entire thread. Is it because I don't have enough posts overall at SBR? I looked around to see if that was the case and that doesn't seem to be it either I don't think. Been debating on asking but now I am completely stumped. So I decided I would ask as I can't figure this out.

How does this exactly work? I look around and see guys with 3 word answers get a point and I post look winded responses at times and nothing. Maybe I am getting punished for overposting too many words, LOL. Like I said I not trying to rock the boat in any way, I am just curious what is going on with how this whole thing operates. Maybe someone could explain. Thanks

[durito]

lol

[Matt Rain]

Obviously no universal answer to this. Depends on your fixed expenses, your risk tolerance and the amount of time you're willing to put in. Personally, the magic number is set at 100k - that would allow me to maintain a similar lifestyle and still sleep at night without ever worrying about having a winning night soon. That's assuming no other income and no ramen consumption.

Am not quite halfway there, and I've been stagnating there for a good while.

[SBR_John]

Good comments by some excellent posters. Iceman made the comment that its very difficult to get a bankroll of 200k-300k. For sure that is tough. But, guys have to be realistic. You wouldnt open a resturant $50 grand when it takes right at a million. Same logic here; don't attempt to go pro with 50 grand when you really need 250 large at a minimum.

[jjgold]

If you take the $100,000 and invest in blue chip stocks and hold or buy rental apt property your wayyyyyyyyy ahead of the game

Why risky 100,0000 gambling where you certain to lose it all in due time??

[Iceman]

Okay I officially suck.

I thought the little gold point thingy on the bottom of each thread was there because that particular post had been REWARDED a point. So since there wasn't ever one under my name I thought none of my posts were ever getting points and more or less everyone else was. In reality I couldn't give myself points was the reasoning.

I honestly only checked this once or twice bit though I must have missed something like signing up somewhere, etc..

Okay I get it. Thought I would ask. I suck

[durito]

yea that was why i lol'ed earlier

no offense, i didnt know exactly how it worked either

[milwaukee mike]

jj which "blue chip stocks" and where is the rental property?
many people bought aig, citigroup, cit, bear stearns, lehman brothers, etc thinking they were "blue chip" and lost 90%+
many people bought rental property in las vegas, california, florida, etc and lost 60%+

i guess my point is it's always better to see what was a good strategy or investment AFTER the fact. if you were only betting $500 a game on limited action with that $100k over the past year you are probably much better off than if you held bank stocks or a florida condo.

i do agree though that there are usually better ways of making money than being a "professional" gambler as most eventually find out.

[onthewhat]

I am on my way to Vegas as I write this to try this exactly. I worked all summer long bartending to save what I felt was the necessary amount to make it as a "pro". I saved a little over $9,000 and that includes my first 2 months rent and travel and clothes. I am pretty sure if nothing else, I can make a decent run at it with that bankroll.

[Rich Boy]

Let me get this straight Durito...

Did you actually say you should make -EV wagers?

[xxdjstriderxx]

Go get a job instead and save yourself a life of misery and being on welfare

[tltaylor89]

Very entertaining thread

[jjgold]

Go Pro and you might as well committ suicide because you will lose everything

No one wins betting one side to any sporting event

[pavyracer]

The best way is to find a book that gives you rebates for losses. Then no matter how much money you lose you will always be a winner.

[CashMoney]

Great responses thus far.

[BeatTheJerk]

So how much you got CashMoney ? Are you in the vacinity of this amount of cash ?

[CashMoney]

So how much you got CashMoney ? Are you in the vacinity of this amount of cash ?

No....not even close. I wager to make a few bucks here and there. Having a decent year in baseball which is why I started this thread in the first place. My buddy was like "Wow, you're on fire....you should go pro." I said I wasn't even close to the bank roll I would need to feel comfortable in going pro. He responded with "How much would you need?" I responded with $200K is my number.

[goldengoat]

if i had $200,000 i would just buy a house. wouldn't feel safe or responsible having books in charge of that much money unless $200,000 was a fraction of my net worth.

[20Four7]

Depends which books. If your in Pinny, 5dimes, cris, thegreek your good. Now I don't think I would have been comfy in Lazer wager, bigjuicyodds, etc with similar amounts.

[durito]

Let me get this straight Durito...

Did you actually say you should make -EV wagers?

Yes. Learn the difference between expected value and expected growth.