Sports Betting Tips: What Does it Take to Become a Professional Bettor
Sports betting is one of the hardest industries to break into as a professional bettor, and anyone who has ever tried to do so will tell you that it's far from an overnight success story. Sports betting will take up the majority of your time and requires the kind of dedication that most people can't commit too. You may think a professional sports bettor builds his reputation off of how much he wins. And while that may be true, there is a whole lot of strategy testing and losing that comes way before that.
If sports betting were easy, everyone would be considered a professional bettor because they wouldn't lose. However, as we know, sports betting requires a professional bettor to have an extremely expensive knowledge of the sporting world, enough funds to invest in the journey, rigorously-tested strategies, a staking method, and extreme patience. Even after all of those things, there is still a long way to go to get the reputation and credibility that comes with being a pro bettor.
In this article, I will run down a list of every trait or strategy you should consider before starting your journey to become a professional sports bettor. Keep in mind, some of the things you read about will be common sense, but others will be things that take a while to come to fruition.
Funding your Professional Betting Journey
As a hobby, sports betting requires you to have a few bucks in your pocket in order to get some action on your favorite team or get in on some of the major sporting events that take place throughout the year (Super Bowl, March Madness, etc). Someone who bets as a hobby or sporadically will spend $50-100 per event and have no problems if they lose it.
A professional bettor, who makes a living off his winnings, will bet every single day of the year. They will get down on every sport across the board if they feel they have the edge over the sportsbook, and will likely lose around 40-45 percent of their bets. The difference between considering betting a hobby and as a way to make a living is the bankroll you have to work with. A professional bettor will start the year (or season) off with a certain amount of money in their accounts for their journey. Typically this would be upwards of $1,000+ in order to make it last the season.
You may be wondering how $1,000 can last the season if a pro bettor loses 40-45 percent of the time. Well, the answer is a staking method.
Develop a Staking Method and Stick to it
A staking method is crucial to a pro bettors plans of maximizing profit. When you bet for a living, losses are bound to happen. The key to maintaining a solid bankroll is to limit your losses when you don't win. By deploying a staking method that is suitable to your bankroll, you will maintain the edge you have over the book. Here at Doc's we utilize and preach a staking method that ranges anywhere from three units to seven units, with a rare eight-unit play sometimes featured. By sticking to that, we are able to rate games properly and effectively manage our bankroll. If you decide to forgo the staking method and decide what amount to bet on a whim, then your journey into professional betting will be a short lived one.
Becoming a Specialist
Believe me when I tell you that there are not enough hours in the day to properly handicap every single game in every single sport. Instead of working harder, professional bettors work smarter and dedicate their handicapping time to what they know best. To some that could mean strictly NFL, while others may be extremely well versed in the PGA. Whatever sport you have extensive knowledge in, start with that. You do not need to be dedicating valuable handicapping time to sports that you very rarely watch or are familiar with. Even if you are familiar with it, the betting aspect of things adds a whole new dimension. Stick with what you know until you are comfortable branching out.
Beating the Sportsbook
The name of the game is to turn as much a profit as you can while winning more bets than you lose. If you want to make enough money to have a long pro betting career, then it is critical you find a sportsbook that suits your betting methods. Some sportsbook pride themselves in offering the best lines, while some are offer up crazy bonuses and then proceed to restrict your account when you begin winning money off of them. It's also very poor practice to have just one account at one sportsbook. Each sportsbook is unique and can offer up something different, and so in order to maximize your profits you must be able to shop around for the best lines.
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