Introduction
Gamblers fall into three main categories:
- Professional Gamblers
- Social Gamblers
- Problem Gamblers
The term “professional gambler” has become synonymous with “gambler.” We are familiar with professional gamblers because they play the games we all play, they go to the same casino with online slots as we do. The difference is that professional gambler makes their living by gambling.
A professional gambler consistently makes money betting on slots, live casinos, or sports. For someone to claim to be a professional gambler, it’s not enough to just be a skilled player and make money occasionally.
A unique challenge awaits gamblers who must put their wits against the oddsmakers and their emotions in a professional setting. Unsurprisingly, those who can place bets with a sense of calm and detachment are more likely to succeed.
Many professional gamblers are secretive and don’t like sharing their strategies. They also don’t want to reveal how they won the money. The biggest secret they hold is called the edge. The edge is where they take advantage of incorrect odds or utilize casino bonuses. More about that later.
Professional Gamblers’ mindset
The professional gambler and the professional trader may take risks but manage them carefully. They look for trade setups that have a high possibility of success before placing a bet.
Amateur gamblers, or social gamblers, are interested only in fun and entertainment. To be successful as a professional, they need to stick to the methodology that works for them.
Problem Gamblers
Professional Gamblers need to be disciplined; without that, problems can arise. An example would be where you had made some money on a betting site, where you place your sports bets. Such sites usually have an exchange section, a casino, bingo, and more.
Instead of withdrawing your excess funds, you take, say, £10 of your winnings to the slots. If you can stick to the £10 you planned to spend, great.
However, you have a problem if you keep spinning and cannot control your emotions without realizing your balance is rapidly depleting. Then, becoming a professional gambler is probably not for you.
Differences between Professional gamblers and Social gamblers
A professional is only inclined to wager when they believe there is an edge on the bet. If there is no edge, they will not bet, while a social gambler may place a bet solely on emotions and hunches. You’re probably a social gambler if you think about how luckless you’ve been. Professionals are candid about their actions and don’t judge success on chance.
A Professional Gambler will manage their risk and also their bankroll. On the other hand, social gamblers can bet too much and are not considering the chance of them busting.
Professionals keep diligent records. They know what bets they have placed and at which bookmakers. Maintaining the logs over a decent period also allows them to see their past results and any winning trends. Social gamblers remember the big winning bets and those bets that they cannot believe they didn’t win!
Professionals will always play the odds. They have no hesitation in betting on an outcome they aren’t sure will happen if the odds are in their favor.
A social gambler will always try to pick the winner. A professional will always take the value bet over the favorite if the price is right.
Professionals will spend time researching data and then use it when placing a bet. Many different models are used. Casino professional players understand the house edge and, in betting, the odds.
A professional gets enjoyment from betting for a living. The actual act of placing the wagers is purely professional. In contrast, a social bettor enjoys the actual process of betting.
Different types of Professional Gamblers
Professional Sports Gamblers
Sports Gamblers don’t all follow the same methods. For example, while some bet only on football or horses, others diversify their bets across various sports. Below are a few examples of different options for a Professional Sports Gambler.
Exchange Betting
Professional Gambler Exchange betting is often chosen as the preferred method of obtaining odds on a sporting event. The growth of exchange betting has been more rapid than fixed odds.
The best way to describe it is a type of peer-to-peer betting platform. With exchange betting, you set the odds, thus allowing you to cut out the bookmaker, adding more value to your bets.
In return, you purchase peer odds and vice versa; others will buy your odds. On an exchange, you have laying or backing odds. In simpler terms, to back a bet is for the team to win. You are effectively laying the team to lose when you place a bet. The exchange takes a commission on all bets, which needs to be factored into calculations.
Exchanges are also great for an arb where if you find higher odds at the bookmaker, you can lay the bet and make an instant profit, no matter the outcome. Always start small with lower stakes as you get a feel of how it all works, and once you feel you have reached the professional level, you can up your stakes.
Strategic Sports Betting
Sports Betting with a strategy comes in many forms and many sports. Some stick to horses; football, cricket, tennis, and even rugby are some of the sports the professionals will bet on.
If you search online for betting systems, there are pages and pages of information to sift through. A lot of the methods require upfront payment and sometimes rather large sums. Instead, find your strategies via research and watching youtube tutorials.
Again the same as exchange betting, do not start with significant stakes. Start small, and firstly get a feel for the system and whether it works for you. If it is not the right fit, there are many more systems for to try.
Professional Casino Gambler
Choosing the best gambling game for you requires a complete understanding of all the rules and strategies involved. Then, explore all the options and determine what you are most comfortable with. Whether you prefer:
- Correct management of money playing slots or roulette;
- Games like poker or blackjack that require skill;
- Anything else.
Professional Slots Gambler
Professional Slot Gamblers take advantage of bonuses offered at online casinos. These include:
- Deposit Bonus
- Welcome Offer
- Free Spins
The selection of online casinos is vast, and there are many choices. A professional slot player will know how to read the Terms and Conditions of the bonus offer and decide whether the offer is worthwhile. First, an offer that would be considered viable must be from a reputable casino with adequate licensing and protection for its customers.
The respectable licenses worth looking out for include the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, and a Curacao license. All casino bonuses come with wagering requirements. Not that many years ago, before the advent of so many professional gamblers, wagering was, on average, x10 – x20% on a deposit bonus.
Nowadays, it ranges between x35 up to x60. However, even with this increase, slot professionals know how to turn it into income.
The mathematics behind winning at slots firstly includes your edge. You are playing with your deposit, but you are also playing with extra free funds. The bonus funds give you an edge, although each session will bring different results, with, on average, many losses and some wins.
However, if you stick to the maths and, over time, with enough offers, your estimated value (EV) will be a healthy profit. It does require extreme willpower and the bankroll to fund any losing streaks.
Professionals keep accurate records, and an excellent way to see their gains over time is to plot an EV graph in a spreadsheet. It takes hundreds of offers to get an accurate picture but theoretically, over time, the graph should mainly be on the incline with a few dips along the way.
Professional Poker Players
Becoming a professional poker player involves studying, practicing, and business sense. To become a successful poker player, you must have a plan to progress. Top poker players worldwide have worked incredibly hard to reach the industry’s top. You must constantly analyze and work through situations to apply them to the game.
As they say, what happens away from the table is as essential as what happens on the table. Some top tips to take from the Professionals:
- Spend at least 20% of your time studying the game. Glean as much information from resources and try different strategies.
- Don’t play only one type of poker. However, tournament players can increase their skills in short-stack play; you need to be able to diversify with deep-stack poker skills too. An all-rounder with the proper discipline achieves better results.
- Treat it as a business. Keep detailed gameplay records, including all your profit and loss figures.
- Technology is key. Use all the resources available. Watch other players and learn from them. Identify things that they do that you don’t.
- Don’t play the victim. Critical calm thinking and figuring out how to improve are crucial to success.
- Keep your body fit. Tournaments can last for up to 16 hours. Therefore, you need to be physically and mentally prepared, so eat well and exercise.
- Remember, there are no paychecks. To succeed, you need self-discipline and a will to improve your game.
Match Bettor
A match bettor is someone who takes advantage of all the free offers that are available from betting sites. When new customers sign up at a sportsbook, they are offered a bet x get x. Both bets are laid off at the exchange using a matched betting calculator. It is classed as hedging your bet.
The outcome will not matter to you as you place the first bet purely to collect the free bet. The first bet might cost you $1 to use the system. You will either win back your money at the exchange or the sportsbook.
However, you now may, for example, have a $50 free bet that again gets laid off at the exchange. You are not using your funds for the free bet; any profit is yours to keep.
On average, the return on a free bet using this system should be between 75-80% of the free bet amount. So, a good amount to get back from your free bet should be around the $40 mark.
Match bettors also can claim free bets in Horse Racing, Football, and other popular sports. Big horse racing festivals are a match bettor’s dream. Cheltenham Horse Racing Festival is the most significant event on any match bettor’s calendar.
The bookmakers offer free bets for horses that come first, horses that come in the top 3, and much more. There are also many extra place races where match bettors use spreadsheets or lay the bets at the exchange and take value from the different places some bookmakers offer.
Taxes
Certain countries tax players on winnings. Some only get taxed after certain earnings, while others tax the total amount. In those countries, the gambler will need to submit annual tax returns.
Professional Gamblers in the United Kingdom do not need to pay taxes on winnings. This is because the UK government does not tax any gambling monies, and gambling professionals get to keep everything.
Conclusion
Now that you have some information on various forms of professional gamblers, you can decide which option would best suit you. The main thing to take from our professional gambler article would be to do your research.
You can never have enough knowledge, and even professionals across the gambling spectrum constantly evolve and learn new skills.
There is money to be made as a professional bettor. Not everyone will have success, and you will very quickly know whether it is something that you have the mindset and skills to achieve. Good luck!