BetBurger | Live and Pre-game surebets
RebelBetting - Turn betting into investing

What are the first steps to become a professional bettor?

Ask anything about smart gambling
GiovanniKos87
Gaining experience
Gaining experience
Karma: 2
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:45 pm

What are the first steps to become a professional bettor?

Fri Sep 04, 2020 1:20 pm

Hi my name is Giovanni I am 33 years old. At the moment I am unemployed and I would like to make my passion (betting) my job.
What are the first steps I need to take?
Last edited by GiovanniKos87 on Sun Sep 06, 2020 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Wolfie
Totally Pro
Totally ProTotally ProTotally ProTotally ProTotally Pro
Karma: 61
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:59 am

Re: What are the first step for became a professional better?

Fri Sep 04, 2020 2:21 pm

Since you want to make a job out of it, first thing you should do is making your first trades and your first profits. Since we live in value betting times you should learn the basics and understand why you win by betting valuable odds (Low Prices). There are a lot of discussions on this forum, you can start by reading them. After you learn the basics of what you are doing you should try getting value based on sharp bookies odds. If you are profitable for 3 months, by betting,  your eyes and mind will become sharper and sharper till you find new jewels.
User avatar
CharlieSheen99
Pro
ProProProPro
Karma: 27
Posts: 487
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:56 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:40 pm

Everyone here say that it's better to start with valuebetting.
I don't think so. I think that the starting point should be arbing, and after that, you should move to ValueBetting, with more knowledge than now.

Good luck.
De Graaf
Gaining experience
Gaining experience
Karma: 8
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 10:24 am

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:50 pm

Hello friend,

Given your intention, I'd suggest the first thing you should do is realize you are most likely to fail. What you describe as passion, and that is intimately familiar to many on these boards, may be perceived as a disease since the odds are stacked against you and therefore the activity may prove unproductive. Has it been profitable so far?

From the above it follows that the game you are about to play, for a living, is a game of survival. It will never be about profit, in a sense. You play to survive and if you do it right, somehow you will come on top.

Whatever approach you take, try to learn and imagine as much as you can about whats involved in the activity and how you may fail. In order to do test your best shot, try with very small stakes, something you can really afford to lose.

You will need to spend significant time in trial an error, since a single test may take even months due to minimal statistical sample, so if I were you, i'd try to look for work in the meantime and treat this as a hobby while i get this going.

Good luck
yoha1890
Gaining experience
Gaining experience
Karma: 3
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2020 2:56 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Sat Sep 05, 2020 11:16 am

approach sports betting as a university,but a top university where competition is fierce and dominatred by a clear zero sum game equation

Knowing that,you can t just go for it ljke a hobbie..you need outwork and outlearn during a large time frame the avg market participant

Read all books,forums,and take notes

Be a student before you put sktin in the game
barret19
Has experience
Has experienceHas experience
Karma: 14
Posts: 179
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:16 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Sat Sep 05, 2020 1:36 pm

According to studies only 3% of punters make money on long term. And this can be 100$ per month or 5000$.
I believe the % of punters making money from gambling and living from it may be below 1%, and it´s getting lower since the golden days are way gone in respect to bonuses,harder verifications/selfies/webcam,faster account limits,e-wallets fees, and so on.
Last edited by barret19 on Sun Sep 06, 2020 2:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Yngwie
Pro
ProProProPro
Karma: 21
Posts: 557
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:58 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:03 pm

%3?! Who are making these studies  :D

These numbers are very optimistic. According to my personal experience and observations, this number is less then %0,1. Maybe even lesser..

Everybody losing. Winners are very few.

Professional Handicappers are very rare now. Most of them switched to arbitrage/bonus business or other trade activities. Who is still betting straight in 2020?  :D

I used to be a Professional  Bettor too. I even had a professional service where I was sharing my picks with my clients. That business was profitable but then I discovered sports betting arbitrage and lost my focus on straight betting.

I didn't dropped straight betting completely but there's only one event I bet every year: Eurovision Song Contest!  :D
ju
justanarber

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Sat Sep 05, 2020 7:47 pm

GiovanniKos87 wrote: Hi my name is Giovanni I am 33 years old. At the moment I am unemployed and I would like to make my passion (betting) my job.
What are the first steps I need to take?
if betting is your passion? then you have much needed foundations, betting was once (and probably still is) my passion and it was because
of that reason that I had a succesful betting and then arbing career.

but why ask "what are the first steps?" if it's your passion? you should be able to tell the forum and not need taken by the hand and spoon fed.

a talented guy who is passionate about this business will be one of the profitable 0.1% or 1% or 3%, whatever it is? if he applies himself correctly

I wish you good luck Giovanni but you will require, knowledge, skill, patience, self control and a decent bankroll to name a few before luck
has anything to do with it.
arctrading
Has experience
Has experienceHas experience
Karma: 18
Posts: 179
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2018 3:57 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Sun Sep 06, 2020 9:11 am

GiovanniKos87 wrote: Hi my name is Giovanni I am 33 years old. At the moment I am unemployed and I would like to make my passion (betting) my job.
What are the first steps I need to take?
First of all you need a decent bankroll, 1-year living money(lets say your avg cost per month is 1k then the sum you need is 12k in your "living" account), then you need a bankroll. So depending on what youre beating, wether its soft books or sharps, different BR rules apply. If you have like 10s of sets of soft books then sure you can start with 5k if you know what youre doing. From that you can make 50-100eur bets and make like 20-30 units until youre limited from books. From there you can go to sharps like pinny or asia but you need better bankroll as the profit potential is much smaller compared to beating soft books. I would say 10-20 units per month from sharps is quite good. if you make around  few hundred bets per month... Also you cant risk more than 1% of your bankroll per bet, otherwise you will go broke sooner or later unless youre super strong at beating softs which will make you new set of obstacles. So long story short. If youre monthly living costs are 1k then you need: atleast 12k for living, 10k if you start with soft books(5k ive seen it also but then the edge must be superb). Also you need to survive because nr 1 rule is to survive and conserve the ammunition. Those figures are only true if you know what youre doing. If you dont know your edge(or what youre doing) then probably you lose it all and best would be to start learning something else. Betting is worst job ever in terms of profession. Its more like a lifestyle. Psychologically its mental because of swings and losing runs(you will have them much more per year than avg punter had in their lifetime).  So good luck:)
Yngwie
Pro
ProProProPro
Karma: 21
Posts: 557
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:58 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Sun Sep 06, 2020 3:27 pm

Hi my name is Giovanni I am 33 years old. At the moment I am unemployed and I would like to make my passion (betting) my job.
What are the first steps I need to take?
What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

First, a decent bankroll. If you will be a pro, I suggest to bet %1 or %2 each bet. Never ever bet more then %2. More preferably %1.
Second, experience and a good system/model.
Third, reliable bookmakers preferably soft.

By the way, Giovanni c'mon do yourself a favor why mess with straight betting? Arbitrage betting, Bonus hunting and value betting are much more profitable and easier. Who is still handicapping games in 2020?  :D
I would say 10-20 units per month from sharps is quite good. if you make around  few hundred bets per month
You're kidding me right? 10-20 Units/month is a very unrealistic target. Professional players make around only 4-5 units/month in average (50-60 Units a year) which is a more realistic target.
Last edited by Yngwie on Sun Sep 06, 2020 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
arctrading
Has experience
Has experienceHas experience
Karma: 18
Posts: 179
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2018 3:57 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Sun Sep 06, 2020 6:28 pm

Yngwie/Sawyer wrote:
Hi my name is Giovanni I am 33 years old. At the moment I am unemployed and I would like to make my passion (betting) my job.
What are the first steps I need to take?
What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

First, a decent bankroll. If you will be a pro, I suggest to bet %1 or %2 each bet. Never ever bet more then %2. More preferably %1.
Second, experience and a good system/model.
Third, reliable bookmakers preferably soft.

By the way, Giovanni c'mon do yourself a favor why mess with straight betting? Arbitrage betting, Bonus hunting and value betting are much more profitable and easier. Who is still handicapping games in 2020?  :D
I would say 10-20 units per month from sharps is quite good. if you make around  few hundred bets per month
You're kidding me right? 10-20 Units/month is a very unrealistic target. Professional players make around only 4-5 units/month in average (50-60 Units a year) which is a more realistic target.
No im not kidding you. If youre really good you could have 5-10% ROI on pinnacle so within 200 bets its what, 10-20units? I think you meant beating big games when you said 4-5 units.. There is a difference between 500eur limits and 15k limits game. Know people who bet only basketball, prematch with 1k limits and have 15% yield with avg 8 units per month, by making less than 50 bets per month on pinnacle.
I know the US style of capping is beating NBA lines but Pinnacle does offer other sports also where limits are 600 per click and where they make mistakes which are unbeliavable.. Offering line which are off by one point, keeping market open when it should be suspended and so on. So handicapping is still possible in 2020 if you dont want 5k per click :)
alfonso88
Gaining experience
Gaining experience
Karma: 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:41 pm

Re: What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:41 pm

Yngwie/Sawyer wrote:
Hi my name is Giovanni I am 33 years old. At the moment I am unemployed and I would like to make my passion (betting) my job.
What are the first steps I need to take?
What are the first step for become a professional bettor?

First, a decent bankroll. If you will be a pro, I suggest to bet %1 or %2 each bet. Never ever bet more then %2. More preferably %1.
Second, experience and a good system/model.
Third, reliable bookmakers preferably soft.

By the way, Giovanni c'mon do yourself a favor why mess with straight betting? Arbitrage betting, Bonus hunting and value betting are much more profitable and easier. Who is still handicapping games in 2020?  :D
I would say 10-20 units per month from sharps is quite good. if you make around  few hundred bets per month
You're kidding me right? 10-20 Units/month is a very unrealistic target. Professional players make around only 4-5 units/month in average (50-60 Units a year) which is a more realistic target.
Hello, how often do you adjust your value of one unit? For example i have bankroll 5k -> 1% of bankroll per one unit = 50$.

After first week my bankroll will decrease to 4k so should i adjust the value of unit to 40$? Because in this case i will not be in profit never.
But another question is if my bankroll decrease to 2.5k i should adjust my staking because 50$ per unit is too much for this bankroll.

I would like to know your opinion here guys and your advices.
User avatar
Wolfie
Totally Pro
Totally ProTotally ProTotally ProTotally ProTotally Pro
Karma: 61
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:59 am

Re: What are the first steps to become a professional bettor?

Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:09 pm

No, you keep the stake 1% of your initial bankroll otherwise you will be in loss when winning streak comes in.
But you should have a solid value formula.
De Graaf
Gaining experience
Gaining experience
Karma: 8
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 10:24 am

Re: What are the first steps to become a professional bettor?

Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:02 am

" Hello, how often do you adjust your value of one unit? For example i have bankroll 5k -> 1% of bankroll per one unit = 50$."
Wolfie wrote: No, you keep the stake 1% of your initial bankroll otherwise you will be in loss when winning streak comes in.
But you should have a solid value formula.
I'd have to disagree with Wolfie here. Adjust your stake as much as you can, ideally after every bet. To preserve 50 stakes (1%) out of 5k when your bank decreased by half to 2.5k is a sure way for going bankrupt.

What you will get in your regular recalculation is a fraction.if you bet online, never bet stakes such as 20.376 (you have to round, prefferably to floor, so 20).

To the OP, This may be useful to you as well, in case you are unfamilliar with the staking details. Most heuristics on these boards that correctly say to stake 1- 2 %, come from this:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_criterion

Search this forum for kelly as well, there are multitude of instances with information.

Bear in mind, full kelly is not for the faint of heart. Real rollercoster. Apply half kelly to have peace of mind.
Last edited by De Graaf on Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Wolfie
Totally Pro
Totally ProTotally ProTotally ProTotally ProTotally Pro
Karma: 61
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:59 am

Re: What are the first steps to become a professional bettor?

Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:38 am

If we take for granted you have a solid value formula and you did go from 5K to 2.5K than it means its just variance. So losing streak will end. Now that the winning streak comes in you will find yourself with lower stake resulting in less winning than you should have, destroying your whole strategy altogether. One experiment i would try is after a loosing streak dont lower your stake but rise it. Because just like blackjack card counting strategy when you see many Low cards going out what you do is rise the stake because now the probability of a High card coming out is way higher.

Return to “Newbie's questions”