thinking of becoming a professional gambler

davek2011 · 25-08-2011 10:53am #1

I am thinking of becoming a professional gambler and am looking for advice from people who are professional gamblers.I am 24 and i focus mainly on soccer and golf at the moment and i back horses the odd time.If their is anyone out their that can help it would be greatly appreciated.

UrbanSea · 25-08-2011 11:26am

A fairly obvious but necessary question

How profitable has your betting been?

longshotvalue · 25-08-2011 1:52pm

If you have to ask any questions on a forum like this , you havnt done anywhere near enough research yet..

The_Kew_Tour · 25-08-2011 3:39pm

unless you know your stuff, you really should keep away from being professional..

know a lad who is one and the man spends 14-15 hour days doing research etc...

his focus is horse racing which is something I am not expert on really..

think long and hard though before you do because you need to be exactly that "professional" if you want stand any chance of making a living...

personally i stay away...

davek2011 · 25-08-2011 5:13pm

I have been very profitable since i started to keep proper records but i have only being using small stakes until i can commit fulltime to gambling.

amacachi · 25-08-2011 5:15pm

What is "very profitable"?

davek2011 · 25-08-2011 5:17pm

The last four weeks i have profited over 1500 euro

ft9 · 25-08-2011 5:45pm

davek2011 wrote: »

The last four weeks i have profited over 1500 euro

What about the previous 4 though?

The last week Ive made about 2500, but I'm far from pro.

Be lucky to make 25 next week

UrbanSea · 25-08-2011 7:07pm

And how small were the stakes to get this profit?

25-08-2011 7:49pm

I doubt anyone can be a professional punter from betting on Golf and Soccer and horse racing the odd time, in soccer there are two teams competing against each other, it's a 3 horse race (inc the draw), bookies don't price matches up wrong too often.

Golf is a lottery imo, the players can't know how they'll play in advance of a tournament.

To realistically consider it you'd want to be making €30,000ish per annum minimum, I wouldn't like to wake up every day knowing I needed to make money over the next few weeks to live. Grand in theory, in practise it's not too enticing me thinks.

Also consider your CV and future prospects, should it go wrong you'll need to work again, be it self employed or a routine job, it won't look good on the Cv, gambling is frowned upon by many, having pro punter on your CV could have folks reckoning you are anything from a grade A f***tard to a Walter Mitty type dreamer to someone who may have a gambling issue that can't be trusted with cash etc.

Keep gambling as you are and I reckon you'll reconsider your thoughts over time, I'd give it two years minimum to see can you consistently return what you have done recently

The_Kew_Tour · 25-08-2011 8:02pm

RoverJames wrote: »

I doubt anyone can be a professional punter from betting on Golf and Soccer and horse racing the odd time, in soccer there are two teams competing against each other, it's a 3 horse race (inc the draw), bookies don't price matches up wrong too often.

Golf is a lottery imo, the players can't know how they'll play in advance of a tournament.

To realistically consider it you'd want to be making €30,000ish per annum minimum, I wouldn't like to wake up every day knowing I needed to make money over the next few weeks to live. Grand in theory, in practise it's not too enticing me thinks.

Also consider your CV and future prospects, should it go wrong you'll need to work again, be it self employed or a routine job, it won't look good on the Cv, gambling is frowned upon by many, having pro punter on your CV could have folks reckoning you are anything from a grade A f***tard to a Walter Mitty type dreamer to someone who may have a gambling issue that can't be trusted with cash etc.

Keep gambling as you are and I reckon you'll reconsider your thoughts over time, I'd give it two years minimum to see can you consistently return what you have done recently

think you hit nail on head there..

OP I think if you could make few bob for yourself yearly from gambling with a full time job outside gambling then that be fantastic, but I think you need to look down the road and all..

I know one professional gambler well, but known few from when used work in bookies. The three that come to top my head one has left country and was told not to come back as he owed money, the second lost the keys of his house after turn of card(he was good but got greedy) and third gave up after he went on a bad streak trying recover from it too quick.

Not trying to turn you away, but I think really long and hard before you do.

It's your choice, but if in doubt dont go for it.

restingpilgrim · 25-08-2011 9:30pm

You say you made over 1500 euro . From this take out your living costs such as rent food electric etc, and this is with no social spending, and how much have you left. Now consider that if you are going to be a professional punter you need to make this much again to cover your bills every month. If You are only making enough to cover your bills then your bankroll is not growing to increase your future income from the larger bets that would arise from betting a percentage of your bankroll each time. If you hit a small run of losers you will be wiped out in less than a year because of the costs of living. Also you will have extra expense of dedicated channels to get every piece of information you need to get an informed view. The hours involved are often long maybe as much as 70 hours a week as stated above. Even if you make 1500 a month if you are working 70 hours a week you would be better off in MacDonalds as the rate of pay you would be making is less than the minimum wage.

heavyballs · 25-08-2011 11:21pm

davek2011 wrote: »

I am thinking of becoming a professional gambler and am looking for advice from people who are professional gamblers.I am 24 and i focus mainly on soccer and golf at the moment and i back horses the odd time.If their is anyone out their that can help it would be greatly appreciated.

i have a friend who is a pro,has been for about 4 years,he's making a living out of it,a good living but it rules his life
he's on the phone or in the pc the whole time,unless you have really good info and a really big pot to start off with i'd steer clear
my mate backs soccer, gaa and most u.s sports,no horse racing at all

heavyballs · 25-08-2011 11:31pm

davek2011 wrote: »

I have been very profitable since i started to keep proper records but i have only being using small stakes until i can commit fulltime to gambling.

small stakes??????? 1500 profit in 4 weeks ........me smells something

what is 'small stakes' to you?

argosy2006 · 25-08-2011 11:44pm

Everyones lucky at the start, reels you in ,then spits you out ,
then kicks you in the balls and punches you in the nose,
:P

heavyballs · 25-08-2011 11:54pm

argosy2006 wrote: »

Everyones lucky at the start, reels you in ,then spits you out ,
then kicks you in the balls and punches you in the nose,
:P

sound a bit like the wife:D

zimmermania · 26-08-2011 6:22pm

davek2011 wrote: »

I am thinking of becoming a professional gambler and am looking for advice from people who are professional gamblers.I am 24 and i focus mainly on soccer and golf at the moment and i back horses the odd time.If their is anyone out their that can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Keep doing what you are doing and if you continue to win, gradually increase your stakes i dont know what you are punting on but if you are serious have a look again after a year or so.It is difficult to see how anyone could make a living without specialising in one or two areas where ones knowledge may give one an edge,particularly on betfair.Whether you can become a pro or not will be determined by the state of your finances a year from now and you wont require any advice from forums like this.

lamoss · 26-08-2011 10:40pm

The world of a pro gambler looks good and seems easy but it is neither.
The amount of time you have to put in picking your selections is one thing but trying to get them on is another.

You need to know your sport, the form that wins for you this week wont win for you next week ,things are consistently changing you have to be 1 jump ahead of that.

If you bet on-line and you start to win a bit your account will be limited then you will have to go to bet fair ...........Its a long hard road you will be on that computer day and night. If you live in a small town and do your bets in your local bookies you will get banned or set limits of low stakes only. All you can do there is "away day" and that is to get a train or drive to your biggest town in the area and place your bets around several bookies at smaller stakes and hope you dont get reconised in the future.

I suggest you read a couple of books on pro-gambling , The one by Dave Nevison springs to mind .

If I was a pro gambler I would not come on any internet site and give away my secrets as everyone would be doing the same bets in the same markets and driving down my gambling odds.:rolleyes:

ft9 · 26-08-2011 10:43pm

Anyone can do it.

Just keep an eye on the Football Tips thread.

Simples!

heavyballs · 26-08-2011 10:47pm

ft9 wrote: »

Anyone can do it.

Just keep an eye on the Football Tips thread.

Simples!

ballocks mate,

lamoss · 26-08-2011 11:21pm

you were one of the lucky ones who got paid out

what about the ones who on only got € 20 free bet ?

ft9 · 26-08-2011 11:26pm

lamoss wrote: »

you were one of the lucky ones who got paid out

what about the ones who on only got € 20 free bet ?

I'm not sure what you want me to do/say?

I made a donation to charity on behalf of Buckfasterer, who tipped us off.

lamoss · 27-08-2011 12:51am

I can see where you are coming from ft. If iwas logged onto the football tips thread at the time I would have had some of the action myself.
P/P are using the divide and conqure techniques to undermine punter against punter. They like to portray the fat jolly boy image whos out for a bit of fun but in reallity they are just ruthless ba*tards who like to take people to the cleaners. Fair play to you for your donation to charity on behalf of Buckfasterer.

JONJO THE MISER · 28-08-2011 1:43am

you better shape up.

realdanbreen · 28-08-2011 1:57am

davek2011 wrote: »

I am thinking of becoming a professional gambler and am looking for advice from people who are professional gamblers.I am 24 and i focus mainly on soccer and golf at the moment and i back horses the odd time.If their is anyone out their that can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Do you have a regular job at present?
How many hours a day/week can you devote to this new venture?
If you are going to bet online,have you the extremely strong will/discipline you will need?
Do you have a reasonably sized network of people you can trust to get money on at a number of bookies if the need arises?
Have you a float big enough to tide you over for a 9 month period if necessary?

Healio · 28-08-2011 2:17am

1500 over four weeks is only 375 a week without overheads (computer, racing post, petrol for driving to next town for bets etc.)

I would need to be making at least the same; even a good bit more than my current wage to ever consider it.

pakalasa · 31-08-2011 8:51pm

To become a good gamble you will need a firm grasp of the maths involved. You will then be able to work out the true probability of each event and therefore the odds. The irony of this of course is that if you can do this, then you probably also understand the Theory Of Large Numbers which more or les states that the more you gamble, the more you loose. Law of averages, I'm afraid.
The only ones that win at gambling, I believe have some stake in the event itself, like they own the horses involved. Can think of a few.:D
Don't be a fool man!
To say you can win a grand a week, is nonsense. It's a % return, so the more you win, the more you can bet. The whole thing accumulates. If you can get even a 10% return, you will be a millionaire in no time.

restingpilgrim · 02-09-2011 10:30am

Most top pro's would get nowhere near 5% let alone 10. If you read the article in the post on Alex Bird he was working to around 1.8 - 2.0 % on a 2 million turnover. He also had unbelievable contacts in racing.

CiaranC · 02-09-2011 10:37am

pakalasa wrote: »

The irony of this of course is that if you can do this, then you probably also understand the Theory Of Large Numbers which more or les states that the more you gamble, the more you loose. Law of averages, I'm afraid.

Exactly. The more you understand about the mathematics involved, the less likely you are to believe its possible to make a living from it. Its incredibly difficult for limited reward.

Besides if you have the vast intelligence, ability and discipline required to be a succesful pro gambler, you could employ that experience in a far more lucrative manner elsewhere. In fact, you almost certainly already have.

In short, a mugs game.

beeintheknow · 02-09-2011 12:20pm

I am a pro punter myself. I focus mainly on the all weather, and I suspect that I am the biggest all weather pro in the UK today, not the world though, I'm no Saul!

My advice to you would be to try and find the value. The bigger a price you can back winners at, you will find that you make more money in the long and even short term.

Try to avoid laying winners at big prices. This is the road to the poorhouse.

People will tell you odds on can never be a good bet. They are probably right. Focus on the big prices and get big payouts. However odds on can be a good price if you are doing a double or treble.

Best of luck. PM me if you require any more advice.

bryaner · 02-09-2011 12:24pm

A lot of research, a lot of time, a lot of knowledge and knowing your limits.

thinking of becoming a professional gambler

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