This article first appeared here at casinovalley.ca on 11th September 2020
1: Plan a Tight Work Schedule
Genuinely professional gamblers are rare, but my experience proves it is possible. Many more have the expertise to consistently make a profit but prefer to keep their gambling as a side income to their main job.
That was me for the decade before turning professional. It wasn’t a decision taken lightly. It required building a decent bankroll – equivalent to one year’s living expenses. Before leaving my normal job, I needed to prove to myself that I could win regularly and systematically over the course of a year, working part-time. Half the hours of my full-time job, to make half my wage.
A weekly schedule mapped out around live sport. Since turning pro, the number might range from 40 to 50 hours, but the planning still applies.
It is really important to stick to the hours. You need to preserve energy and brainpower, so don’t move onto an unplanned extra event because you’ve had a winning day or chase losses. Of course, NEVER chase losses.
2: Learn To Grade Your Bets and Keep a Tight Staking Plan
Discipline is everything in gambling. This is an incredibly emotional, sometimes stressful, pastime. Let alone when paying the bills depend upon it. A bigger reason for gamblers losing than simply picking bad bets is erratic, inconsistent staking. Back a winner, then bet more on the next one. Back a loser, bet bigger to chase the stake, run out of cash quickly.
Never think that way. Every bet has a particular worth, based on how confident you feel.
For example: either A, B, or C. A is the most confident, so stake to earn 30 units profit. B is the second best to earn 20 units. C is ranked third, to earn 10 units. (To clarify, this example implies a bankroll of 500 units).
Stick to this staking plan rigidly. Not only will it keep your staking under control, but the process of ranking selections will also improve your decision making.
3: Keep Records To Analyse At Regular Intervals
Another essential lesson. It is easy to fall into the trap of forgetting about losers or misrecalling winning streaks.
Keep a record of every bet – the selection, stake, type of market
Then commit to a date – every three months perhaps – to analyze all of these bets. Calculate which markets, or types of bet, are paying off and which aren’t.
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2 responses to “Five Tips For Aspiring Professional or Semi-Pro Gamblers”
Hello Paul,
Thanks for your advice. I have been dipping my toes into semi-pro gambling.
I have been winning all of my recent bets, which are based on sure things, with winnings only around 1.2x each time; but I’m guessing that one has to take on more risky bets in order to make it as a pro, so that even if one were to lose one bet and win another, one would still be up (e.g. -2.5 + 2.6 = +0.1). Would this be a fair assumption?
Thank you
Hi Neil, sorry for late reply. Pro gambling certainly involves taking big risks, but I wouldn’t say there are golden rules regarding odds. A bet at 1.1 (90%) can be of equal value to one at 100.0 (1%) – it depends on the quality of the selection and whether those odds are ‘correct’ or ‘value’.