Making a living with sports betting?

[Delgado]

I would like to know how many people on this forum have actually managed to turn sports betting into a serious money making business and have been able to support themselfes with it? How was your road to making money with sports betting?

I'm in the experimental stages of betting and i'd like to hear some ideas from the pros.

[Johnny 55]

Train hard. Eat your Wheaties. Say your Prayers and work hard. I will also say learn basic mathematical concepts and understand most pros use a blended risk approach and dont try to do it for a living unless you have a six figure bankroll and understand how to manage a bankroll.

[sam in so cal]

gambling losses cost me my marriage and my house.

gambling winnings replaced both.

pow! pow!

[KongKiller]

It's very identical to day trading or currency trading. You must focus on minimizing risk. Money management and ratios are key.

[capri5421]

It's a long road, My basic outline is NOT to play every nite, just because there are games being played. I look for special play, last nite was Tuesday, I played Wyoming PLUS 24 at Tennessee. Thank God it came thru for $1000 for me. Tonite which is Wednesday the 16th, I won't be playin no games. I was leaning to Wake Forest -7.5 at UNC-Wil. but I pulled back. You need to be strong and not just bet because there's a ton of games on the board. Alot of research and luck, It can be done, Good luck to you.

[scottel]

more people selling picks than betting for living......that tells u a lot

[Shempy]

That is such an interesting topic. There are a good number of professionals that live normal lives in Las Vegas with a home and a family. They bet high amounts on games(one I know of actually plays up to $10,000 per game) and they are good at what they do. It takes unending disipline to be able to stay on top but they do it. They know that it doesn't take 80% to win, that would be great but just around 55% does a good job on a consistent basis. It's an interesting life!

[PhatBaztard]

U need a very large bankroll to even consider making a living off of it, plus the absolute strictest money management. To me it's a better supplemental income. I mean, why not work a regular job, get benefits, retirement, etc and profit a few thousand a year betting sports. I do it mostly cause I have fun, like sports, and it gives me something to look forward to just about every day. I wouldn't want the pressure of providing for my family on it though.

[alex81]

I use sports betting as a supplemental income. I follow John Morrison's systems and rarely anything else. His systems have been a money making machine for me. I use a very disciplined money management system and this is how i've been successful with his systems. I bet on football for much smaller amounts and more or less for fun. The reality is that everyone would love to bet on sports for a living but it's certainly not as easy as it seems. Honestly, you gotta be good and you also gotta have luck on your side as well.

[Johnny 55]

Most professionals use John Morrison, he is a genius with a Sterling reputation, rule number 1 for professional gambling, follow John Morrison's plays religiously and then be religious in your life and you will win.

[SOCALSCOTT]

only well known person i know is lem banker out of vegas.....never use to sell his picks till recently.....people like this are out there never hear about them cause they dont have to sell there picks to make a living...people like dave cokin play there own but play very small amounts

[Joey10]

U need a very large bankroll to even consider making a living off of it, plus the absolute strictest money management. To me it's a better supplemental income. I mean, why not work a regular job, get benefits, retirement, etc and profit a few thousand a year betting sports. I do it mostly cause I have fun, like sports, and it gives me something to look forward to just about every day. I wouldn't want the pressure of providing for my family on it though.

Almost exactly what I do! I only look to make about $10,000 - $20,000 extra a year and with good money management it is very possible. I mean to do this you should have about a $5,000 bankroll to start. I have been with many different services but seem to have found a home following just a select few. IF you follow any service you need to do it for a season (football, baseball, hockey, hoops) NOT just two weeks. The more successful services I have followed for different reasons have been:
Real Animal (College Football)
ATS (College Hoops)
Win or Lose (Hockey, Baseball, NFL)
SCORE (over 400%'s only- NFL and College football))

As they have very good records (Consistent) for long time and do not fudge what they have done in the past. Very straight forward and each have made me enough money to have the extras in life like the big screen TV's, family vacations, kids college money, additions on house, and give kids nice gifts. I use my own style of money management and if I REALLY had a BIG set of BALLS I could probably make sports betting my sole income. One thing that always worries me is even though many services (the ones I mentioned) have been around for over 10 + years don't want to give up my job and find out they stopped selling their picks.

[ifk_niklas]

Joey10, sorry for ask, but wath is collage hoops? Football?

[NeVa_CaSh]

Most professionals use John Morrison, he is a genius with a Sterling reputation, rule number 1 for professional gambling, follow John Morrison's plays religiously and then be religious in your life and you will win.

can someone point me to a link where I can read about this Morrison system plz yes I am late to the party

[MarkTX]

can someone point me to a link where I can read about this Morrison system plz yes I am late to the party

I'll save you some time - don't go down that road.... It's a chase system that can get you into some serious trouble...avoid anything that ever mentions chase....

[MrX]

Don't give away all of the secrets, guys!

[xfrozenx]

Very interesting thread. Great read so far. I have always wondered if people make a real living off of sports gambling. In a certain respect it is possible. I mean if you start with a 5,000.00 bank roll and do 200.00 on certain picks 3-5 times a week and withdraw a good amount every 2 weeks on a variation of 2-3 sportsbooks I assume you could make a living. Of course you wouldn't be living wealthy but you would live ok.

A few bad nights and you're screwed though. So doing it for fun is way better and getting extra things in life is mainly the way to go in my eyes. I only do 20 bucks a Unit and have so much fun betting. Doing 100.00-150.00 max a bet. Usually just doing 1-3 units a game. I would be broke in life if I actually did 500.00-1000.00 a game and took money out of my pay all the time.

Seems like it would be too much stress doing it as a real income. But, for those actually making a really good profit (50k-100k a year) good for them. Reality, that's the life.

[pavyracer]

Fade JJ's spreadsheet every day and you won't have to work another day in your life.

[xfrozenx]

Fade JJ's spreadsheet every day and you won't have to work another day in your life.

haha that's awesome. It's late and off-topic but gratz on 25k.

[pokernut9999]

Get one of these threads every month.

[Joey10]

Joey10, sorry for ask, but wath is collage hoops? Football?

Not sure what you are asking but the services I wrote the College football and Hoops with were what I ONLY follow with those services. They offer other sports but I feel they are the best sports that I follow them in.

[t-bone]

you can't bank on sports betting as a consistent income, but i can personally admit it's a nice hobby!

best of luck to ya

[tltaylor89]

fade Zboiz and Brandon Lang you will be fine

[koby25]

It can be done but you have to say your prayers and eat your Captain Crunch.

[Dunder]

Aside from all the above advice on money management/bankroll and discipline/risk management you should realise that you are in just about the worst possible country to be a professional gambler. The legal restrictions you have face that you are not normally in a position to get the best price for your action.

In very simple terms the difference between having access to e.g. Pinnacle, SBOBet and Betfair (depending on the sports you want to bet on) as well as the lower transactions costs of being able to use Neteller/Moneybookers) and not, is equivalent to the variance in being a 53% handicapper and a 57%er.

Winning in the long run is about getting an edge over the market and you need to sensibly exploit any method you can. Try to look away from mainstream and elite level sports, and get every ounce of knowledge you can on events/sports which have less efficient markets, where you are far more likely to find odds/lines which provide +EV.

If you are able to make, consistently, even a small profit based in the US you can probably earn enough to make it your profession if you reside in a country where there are no restrictions on gambling and where profits are not taxable.

I built a bankroll over a period of 5 or 6 years before deciding to give up my regular job, but when I did so the experience I had gained left me at least 95% sure that I would be able to make a success of it. To even think of doing that, I would suggest minimum starting capital of USD 150,000.

I still isn´t easy though, there are going to be bad runs that last days, weeks or months and the single most important trait is discipline. If you are they type of individual who is ever likely to go ´on tilt´ then you will bust.

[statnerds]

start by reading about Billy Walters and the Computer Group

google Alan Boston and see what comes up. read up on Wong. learn everything you can about the math as mentioned above. +EV betting.

it doesn't take a huge bankroll to start. don't even think about hitting near 60% long term. know that 55% is world class. start with the correct money management and discipline.

most importantly, let that shit roll over. i played offshore and won 3 years and kept taking out the money for dumb shit. now letting it build offshore and betting small with a local.

[GELATINOUS CUBE]

spam thread.

[poker_dummy101]

fk sports after the way the last two nights have ended for me

[Justin7]

you can't bank on sports betting as a consistent income, but i can personally admit it's a nice hobby!

best of luck to ya

If you're looking at your spreadsheet once a year, you can...

[GELATINOUS CUBE]

once a week , pokernutt, i think.

but it gets me thinking.

[GELATINOUS CUBE]

the jj fade angle might be a legit approach.

[ZBOIZ]

Ggggg

[JamesBrown]

Not a pro, but feel like one this week. I'm on a 11-0 run and up 3K...tomorrow I should be great fade material. Doing this for a living would be a tough grind and I would probably lose my mind.

[poochiecollins]

Why would people who win consistently with good money management not want to wager big? That's like telling your employer that you'll work for much less than what you could demand for the fun of it.

[iceminers26]

don't know why anyone would want to do this as a living, it gets too stressful at times