Full time sports betting?
 

How hard is it make a living out of sports betting? I've a friend in the early stages of doing this, too early to tell yet how he'll fare in the long term but I'm thinking of looking in to based on his results so far. Is anyone here a professional sports bettor and what % of all bettors are good enough to make a living at it?

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

1. Drop out
2. Lay 25% of your bankroll on the Pats -7.5
3. ???
4. Profit

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

I don't know the number but it's very very very low. Like less than .1%. It's a very hard living. It's not something you just "get into". It takes years and years of discipline. You'd be better off playing poker.

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

[ QUOTE ]
1. Drop out
2. Lay 25% of your bankroll on the Pats -7.5
3. ???
4. Profit

[/ QUOTE ]

i bet wvu -6.5
i bet 4 team teaser that included Florida -2.5
I bet these hard
I cried
I cant sports bet for two weeks cause now I have no gambling funds.....waaaaaaa

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

The problem with sports betting for a living, is that in order to know for sure that you are actually a winning bettor, and not just running hot, you will need a very large sample size. You really won't ever be able to get the sample size you need, because you can't just work at it 40 hours a week. There are only so many games each week, and once you handicap them, you just have to wait till next week. So after 20 years, you might be able to look at it and say 'meh, I guess I'm not really a winner at this.' Oh well, that's life...

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

In order to make a decent living at sports betting, your friend will need a few things:

1) Ability to consistantly beat the books on at least one sport (more is better).

2) He'll need a large enough bankroll to allow him to have bet sizes large enough that a ROI of 2-3% on will return enough to support him in the lifestyle he'd want.

3) He'll need a lot of discipline - in what he beats, in dealing with losses (and wins), in bank roll management, in bet size management, etc.


There's more, of course. I'm sure others will add..

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

If you aren't sure you can make a living out of sports betting, then you aren't ready for it.

Go to BBV and read posts by people who are running bad at poker. It's possible to run bad at poker for a very long time. Fortunately for them, poker players usually have the luxury of being able to complain that their AA all-in pre-flop lost yet again. As frustrating as that can be, at least there is comfort in knowing you got your money in as a large favorite.

You'll very rarely find that large of an edge in sports. Neither will you have the assurance that you got your money in as a favorite. Downswings occur more often in sports betting than poker and IMO they are even more damaging psychologically. At those times you'll need to rely on your time tested conviction. Thus if you aren't sure now, you aren't ready for it.

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

[censored]. This [censored] be ez f'real. If I can do it, anyone can. Holla!

Not really. ROIs should be >3%. Most of the ROI quotes you see are basically rubbish. If you work backward through the numbers and find what the soft side of an arb would give out... You would be >3%. You do need to have discipline and bankroll and short term expenses saved up.

Handicapping is overrated. I handicap no sports and manage to pay my bills just fine. Obv its something that I'm working on and I'm very good at the other things I do, but you don't need to study NFL football or anything of the sort to pay the rent.

The swongs are pretty bad. But yeah I'd be surprised if even 1 out of 100 who're long term winners can hack it as a pro for more than a couple years.

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

If he is smart enough, skillful at his craft, hard-working, curious, persistent and has self-control ... then it really isn't that difficult to do well. While I think many people have these qualities and could make a living betting sports, I think the vast majority don't even think about it or try to do it. That's because they are doing really well in their jobs, why quit a $200K job with health benefits (especially if you have kids), 401K, company stock options, etc. and take the plunge into something that seems a lot more volatile and risky ... and probably frowned-upon by other members of society, including the family-in-law.

The reason why so many people fail at sports betting may have something to do with the people themselves, rather than the difficulty of sports betting. Sports betting (and gambling in general) draws in people who enjoy gambling, and often enjoy it too much.

In my opinion, it is the rare person that can succeed in other industries who decides to choose sports betting instead and not be a person with a gambling problem. Most people who choose sports betting etiher have a gambling problem or they are having a tough time succeeding in other industries.

Re: Full time sports betting?
 

[ QUOTE ]
why quit a $200K job with health benefits (especially if you have kids), 401K, company stock options, etc. and take the plunge into something that seems a lot more volatile and risky ...

[/ QUOTE ]

well, it doesn't hurt if every job interview ends in rejection. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

by the way, the steps to profit should clearly begin with:

1. find A+ rated book offering 800-1 on tigers to win world series