Professional Betting: How To Become a Professional Bettor

Want to become a professional bettor?

Being a professional bettor certainly has its perks. You get to quit your full-time job, “work” at your own pace – and watch sports for a living. Pretty damn cool. 

However, only a tiny, tiny percentage of punters ever become professional bettors. Moreover, there is so much risk involved that becoming a pro gambler is definitely not for everyone.

Is it possible, though?

Absolutely.

And in this guide, we’ll show you how.

Set Your Bankroll 

A recreational gambler doesn’t have a bankroll – but a professional bettor does. And it’s their bankroll that allows them to create betting and staking strategies so that they know when to go small, and when to go big.

A bankroll is essentially the amount of money bettors have to gamble with. Once you know what it is, you can set rules and limits, such as never betting more than 10% of your bankroll at any one time. This will allow you to stay disciplined, and it will also ensure you never “go out of business” due to one bad bet. 

What should your professional betting bankroll be? 

It’s entirely up to you. A good rule of thumb, though, is for your bankroll to never exceed more than you can afford to lose, and do not include any essentials, such as money for bills and food. 

Choose Your Sports Wisely 

Recreational gamblers easily fall into the habit of betting on anything and everything. If there’s a sporting event on and they’re watching it for fun, they might throw one or two dollars at it.

Professional betting works completely differently. In order to become a professional bettor, you need to choose one, two, or three specific sports to focus on and get to know them intimately so that your knowledge of the sport is sound.

This means learning everything there is to know about each sport, from the teams and players to statistics, form, leagues, and so on. This requires a lot of time and effort on your part, and you will need to absorb every aspect of the sport, and this includes watching multiple games. This is the only way you can become a sound enough judge of any sport so as to profit from betting on it. 

Find Value Bets

Once you’ve set a bankroll and chosen your sports, the next step is to find value bets.

What are value bets?

Value bets are the only way to make money consistently in professional betting (unless you can somehow predict the future). They’re bets that have been mispriced by the bookmaker, and which you can therefore take advantage of once you understand a sport intimately.

For example, in men’s tennis, there are some players who are notorious for “tanking” (giving up halfway through a match). Because a sportsbook doesn’t take into account tanking mid-game, you can spot a tank occurring and take advantage of incorrect prices. 

Or, it might be that you’ve found data that suggests a specific bet is more likely to happen than not in soccer. Let’s say it happens 19 times out of 20, but the bookies haven’t cottoned onto it yet. This is a value bet, and by finding value bets you’re able to beat the bookies at their own game and stay in profit consistently – rather than firing wildly in the dark as most recreational bettors do. 

Don’t Chase Losses

If there’s one thing that sets professional bettors apart from the recreational gamblers, it’s that they’re disciplined enough not to chase losses.

“Chasing” is a popular term in the sports betting world, and it refers to the act of chasing losses. For example, if we lose $100 on a tennis bet and we then increase our stake to immediately win it back on a bet we’ve barely thought through, we’re chasing. We’re not betting with a level head. 

A pro bettor accepts that losses happen. They are just part and parcel of sports betting. Take each loss on the chin, don’t react, and wait for the next opportunity. It will come along. 

Final Thoughts On Professional Betting: Be Realistic 

Lastly, as well as maintaining self-discipline and control, it’s important that you stay realistic as a professional bettor. Yes, you will win big now and then, but patience is rewarded in this world. If you set huge goals – such as $50,000 per week – it probably won’t happen. 

Instead, it’s a much better idea to set modest goals at first, take the time to understand your sports, put together a staking strategy – and take things from there. Don’t get over-excited by a big win, and don’t get stressed by a loss. Stay realistic with your sports betting. That way, you’ll become a professional faster – and stay one.