For a very few people worldwide, they’ve managed to successfully turn their passion for gambling into full-time living as professional players. It’s an aspiration for many, but it has only turned out to be a reality for a select few.
However, how do they manage to do something like this professionally when the vast majority of the world’s population struggles to?
Possessing a mixture of skill and money
Of course, those who regularly engage in betting as a form of employment need to possess a certain set of skills, let alone have a bankroll large enough to help support them. Indeed, gambling is still an activity where losses are the most likely outcome, but having enough money to play is only just part of the equation when making a living from it.
Bankroll management is a practice that everyone should be engaging in. It doesn’t matter how much money can be spent and lost; it’s just good discipline and play to ensure losses are limited as much as possible. The most experienced players – and those who make a living playing – will undoubtedly recommend this as their number one tip and advice to live by.
It’s something that all new players should also look to do when starting out, too. Whenever you check out a site educating visitors about online gambling, it’s a piece of advice that can often be found first. For example, Resource America reviews the best online casinos USA for real money and bankroll management can be found among the tips and strategies that they regularly provide because they know of its importance.
Aside from managing their money effectively, many professionals have been able to utilize other skills when wagering to give themselves a chance of success and create a full-time living doing something they are passionate about. Many have used skills such as being able to specialize in certain sports or casino games.
Others have become successful and made a living by being able to spot market inefficiencies. Where possible, they’ve been able to exploit and capitalize on mistakes made by bookmakers when setting odds. Although this is rare, there have been instances where it can happen. For most, they’ll often use betting exchanges to sell and buy bets or strategies like arbitrage betting, which involves betting on all outcomes across different bookmakers to lock in profit.
Real life examples of successful professional bettors
Haralabos “Bob” Voulgaris became synonymous with NBA betting as he combined his knowledge for basketball with being able to read betting lines and their discrepancies, allowing him to earn over $7 million over a short period. Tony Bloom is another who used his knowledge of football to help him gamble successfully, as he developed a sophisticated algorithm to analyze football data against historical betting odds, identifying value bets with high accuracy. He is now the owner of Brighton Football Club and owns several racehorses.
In terms of casino games, Professor MJ is perhaps one of the most famous examples of an individual who has been successful at playing cards professionally and earning a living from it. With blackjack often being his game of choice, he was a former statistics professor who had made over $1 million by exploiting the casino’s edge in an online game in 2008. He recognized their poor shuffling of oversized cards, allowing him to successfully predict card sequences and gain a significant edge in blackjack. Now, he provides tips and strategies to others through a web service.
Is it possible to gamble full-time and make a living?
As we’ve seen, there are some examples of where people have been able to turn a passion for gambling into a full-time living. However, it’s not an easy thing to achieve or do.
A significant amount of money will be needed in the first place to help fund their livelihoods because losses are inevitable. Wins are never guaranteed and are rare in comparison. Still, with various strategies to use and by having the right skillset, it’s entirely possible for people to try and make a living full-time.
It might not be something that is recommended for everyone, especially when gambling as an activity should only ever really be considered a form of entertainment where individuals play within their means.
