How to Become Successful at Gambling

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Wednesday, March 29th, 2017 | Written by Shane Larson

Thinking about making gambling a full-time career? If you want to become a successful gambler, you will need more than just skill, though. With that in mind, here are some handy tips to help those who want to make the transition from avid enthusiast to serious pro successfully:

1. Consider It a Real Job.

Many people wish to become professional gamblers because they see gambling as a game and think it would be exciting and fun to do it full-time. However, individuals who try to make the leap into the pro arena with this mindset are rarely successful. While gambling is fun and thrilling, if you want to be a professional, you need to think of it as a career, and commit yourself to spending time studying strategies and learning how odds work. Needless to say, you will need to be adopt a dedicated and disciplined approach to your new profession.

2. Take the Time to Personally Reflect.

Becoming a professional gambler means making sacrifices. Pros are almost always on the road attending poker tournaments and visiting different casinos across the country. Even if you intend to only gamble locally, you will have to commit many hours to playing online or visiting land-based gambling venues. This can have a major impact on a person’s social and family life, though, and as a result, professional gambling simply isn’t for everyone. In other words, make sure that you take the time to carefully consider the downsides before you quit your job and focus on gambling full time.

3. Stay Focused on Real Strategy.

Don’t let yourself become a superstitious gambler, like the many recreational players who base their decisions on what they think will give them the most luck. You can only take luck so far, and instead, you will need to rely on a strong foundation of knowledge and real strategy to win. Emotion has no place in professional gambling, and while you will likely experience many highs and lows, you will need to weather them in order to be a success. Stay focused on your strategy and on your knowledge of the game to get you through bad times, and don’t get caught up in the excitement of a hot streak.

4. Learn to Manage Your Finances.

As a professional gambler, you need to always control your bankroll, set limits for yourself, and know when to risk it and when to walk away. You will also need to sit down and review your finances before you segue into the professional arena, as many professional gamblers have to tighten their budgets and spend less on incidentals and entertainment when they first begin to gamble full-time. You should also make sure you have some savings accumulated before you foray into the world of pro gambling.

5. Guard Your Reputation.

While you may not aspire to be a famed pro, your reputation still matters. Casinos and online operators do know who their frequent players are and will watch how you conduct yourself. Always be honest and keep your integrity intact as getting banned from one casino can end up leaving you shut out of the industry entirely.

6. Choose Your Preferred Games

It is important to find which games are most suited to your skills, and stick to them. For instance, if you find you have a talent for sports betting on football, then try to avoid other sports which fall outside of your expertise until you have at least gained a greater understanding of their intricacies. Similarly, if you decide to become a professional poker player then it is important to avoid giving back your poker profit by gambling at some of the casinos’ other games, such as roulette, slots and blackjack.

Cautionary Tales for Poker Players

It is worth expanding on the final point further as the poker world is full of stories of successful players who ultimately lost vast sums of money by developing addictions to other gambling games. One of poker’s most famous pros, Stu Unger, for instance, died almost penniless because of his appetite for horse racing and sport betting. Then there is the case of Archie Karas, who experienced the world biggest winning streak after turning $50 into $40 million over a three year period. Things went awry after he switched from poker to the casinos’ table games such as craps, however, with Karas eventually losing all his profits over the space of just a few weeks.