Do you want to handicap sports for a liviing?

[Nick Douglas]

Pretty simple question. I promise there is no ulterior motive for asking. I am just curious about how people on this board feel.

For those of you curious about me, I really don't want to. I just think it is a little bit too much of an isolationist profession for me. The other thing about it, and I think many professional gamblers would agree with me on this, is that there are about a million other ways to make better money for the amount of time, effort and stress that goes into being a professional handicapper.

For those of you that do handicap sports for a living, my question is are you happy with it and do you imagine yourself ever wanting to give it up?

For those of you that want to do it but don't do it at present, my question is why?

Do you not have a large enough bankroll to realistically make enough money per year to live, so you are working a regular job until the time you can build your bankroll to that point?

Do you think that you don't have the ability or discipline to rely exclusively on gambling for income?

Have you tried making a living at it in the past and decided that it wasn't for you?

I hope any of you who are professional gamblers, have tried to be pro gamblers or have thought about being pro gamblers respond. Thanks.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Nick have to agree with you. Would be at the very bottom of list of proffesions that would appeal to me but do find it tons of fun from a recreational standpoint. Would not like the long hours and high and low swings. The biggest drawback is at what point would you be "financially secure" knowing you might go on horrendous run at any time.The supposedly,biggest high roller in vegas, comes to mind.He was up millions and on verge of busting Binions and broke the next day.Takes me back to my younger years when I use to bet much more than now with much less liquidity. Could never figure back in those days why all the Country Club affluent would wager peanuts for most part in golf.As I got older I could understand.They worked hard or stole successfully and had the world by the a$$ so why subject risk into the equation.They spend mucho bucks avoiding or transferring risk via insurance so why risk their nest to someone who many times is carrying their entire stash in their pocket.Bottom line is what do you have to gain vs what you have to lose.
However one key point in your summation was being a pro which I deem quite different from the ave gambler who for the most part are much akin to the lottery player,tryingto make a big lick with little or no effort.I have the utmost respect for the pro for they work the long hours and have contolled one of the hardest factors in life to be successful and that is emotion.Just wouldn't be my cup of tea.

 

[yyz]

I think when a lot of young guys think about a "pro gambler", they envision a guy partying all night, waking up at noon, and phoning in his bets for the day. Then, it's off to the golf course, or Gold's Gym to insult the Russains. On the way home to the lovely wife, you let a few of the local babes enjoy the "eye candy" you represent, in your new $800 suit. Then, it's off to dinner at the finest restaurants in the city, where reservations are for the tourists, and less well known folks. You're greeted with smiles, and handshakes, and eager ears hoping that you will drop a pearl of a play for them to get out from behind for the week! Slip a C-note to all the "boys", as they lick your shoes in sheer adulation.

No, I think the time it would take, and the uncertainty of cash coming in, would make most people balk at trying this for a living.

 

[dawgball]

I ditto what DTB said. Never aspired to be a professional gambler, but I love having it as a hobby.

 

[DNOMYAR_5791]

I am a person who would love to handicap sports for a living. As the only saying goes you can't get rich working for someone else. But realistically this would be a very very risky profession if you ask me.

1. I wonder how hard it would be to get credit. I could just imagine when I go to get a home loan and put on my credit application Occupation: Professional Gambler Income: Varies. I would have to pay for my own health insurance etc.

2. As good as I may be, I cannot control the outcome of any game. I can only make an educated guess as to what the outcome may be. There are so many untold variables that I do not get wind of by not being directly connected to many of the games that I do handicap. Even if you do have "inside" information that is not going to be a lock. I really do not have "guaranteed" income coming in. As confident as I am in my abilities, a few slumps come and all of a sudden I can't make my bills on time. Most jobs guarantee income and while that income is not very good some times, you already have a predetermined budget to live by etc. With gambling you can even set goals for what you want but if that one jumpshot does not fall or that illegal immigrant misses a kick then what???

3. I would not have a problem being an "isolationist" as I would have to pour much more time into my trade.

4. Discipline is not a problem for me but as I mentioned earlier even with sound money management slumps will hurt you. And when you are relying on that money to live on and need to pay yourself your bank roll is being double-dipped causing more problems.

5. I would have to move somewhere where this is legal.

6. I have a sizeable bankroll and could live off of it, but I cannot stress enough the ups and downs of the season. And if you only specialize in maybe a sport or 2 what do you do for income between seasons?

7. I did try to be "Pro" while I was in College and H.S. It worked pretty well, but I had to work as an intern to get experience toward my profession.

I am by no means takign a stab at pro gamblers in my quck response. I am merely outlying all of the cons that I could come up with that would not make it worth it to me to step into this profession. It takes a real special sort of cat to do this and I don't necessarily think that I am that special.

 

[yyz]

I think that if you really wanted to make a stab at it, you might want to concentrate on a certain sport and conference within that sport. Get to know that region pretty well, instead of trying to pour over stats and info from 500 teams, and 5 sports.

 

[ferdville]

It is an interesting thought and certainly probably every person that has ever gambled has envisioned doing it for a living. However, much to the amazement of most, the hours are not only long, but they usually suck. Plus, you usually work on holidays and always on the weekends. 30 or so years ago before the Racing Form started provided every statistic a horse player could possibly want, I thought that I might have a chance to make it playing horses. I knew all the little tricks about inside fractions, track variants, jock-trainer %, race strength, etc - all before the Racing Form put them into print. At that time, having that knowledge was a big edge. I'd tape and review every race - another very helpful method. I knew most of the top jockeys and trainers on the SoCal circuit. But doing it "part-time" was taking up about 50 hours per week. It didn't take me too long to realize that if I wanted to work 80 or more hours a week, I might be able to make a few bucks. But, I figured I would work less with my regular job without any risk. The job of a professional handicapper sounds enticing, but is a grind. My hat is off to anyone that can do it and stay sane.

 

[djv]

YYZ your idea is a good one. Even for us just trying to pick a few winners. We have some here trying to show they can do it. Believe they are finding out it's not so easy. A couple are making it just a couple.

 

[PerpetualCzech]

Very interesting thread. I don't know if I would consider myself a "professional" but about 70% of my income from the last 3 years has come from gambling. The one theme that has struck me the most from this thread is that everyone thinks it takes so many hours to do the job properly. I'm not sure where this idea comes from. I believe you can be a successful handicapper by putting as many hours as any other job and actually be able to cut it down the more experience that you get.

With regard to the swings, they are definitely lousy when you are first starting out but if you are keeping records then after a while they start to go down (the mental swings I mean here, not actual swings in your bankroll). I personally just finished a nightmare month, my worst ever, and I don't pretend that it doesn't feel like crap but if I just take a look at my overrall record since I started keeping track then it really helps my state of mind a lot. I think I have got as used to this aspect of betting as much as I need to.

To answer your question Nick, overrall I guess I am happy, certainly happier than at any other job I've ever had. Unfortunately I personally get bored very easily so if I found something else that would put my money to better use then I could easily see myself trying it out. I still wonder every day whether I could do this in the long run. I personally do not motivate myself very well and with no fixed schedule or deadlines to follow there are days where I literally do nothing, and I find that to be both physically and mentally very unhealthy (I've also put on 15 kilos since I started this). Overrall if I had to do it again I would because money is very important to me and there's no way I could find a job that pays me as much as I've earned during this time, but I've still got a ways to go before I can say I am truly happy with gambling for a living.