How to become a professional gambler? The answer can be found here! Read more about famous gamblers and how to become one in just a few short steps.
Professional Gambler: First Steps
There is no reason to search for guides on how to become a professional gambler. Everything is right here! There is no unique strategy for how to become the number one punter both in real life and online. However, there are some basic things you need to understand in order to progress from being a layman to a high roller. These things include your understanding of yourself as a gambler, what exactly a professional punter lives and works for, as well as how casinos and tournaments can help you reach the heights of a real pro.
True gamblers aren’t born; they’re made! First and foremost, you need to have some passion for the game. Whether its playing online blackjack for real money or sports betting, you should already really enjoy whatever you do near the casino table or at a horse racing venue. So if people feel like they want to get more from the game, they try to get some deep theoretical knowledge and practical experience. They know when to stop, and they also know how to manage their bankroll in order to stay in the game constantly.
Secondly, you have to make it a full-time activity for a substantial period of your life. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to quit your job or leave everything in order to succeed. However, it does mean that you may have to dedicate some part of your vacation or weekend for a live or online tournament, as well as getting to know more about recent trends.
Every pro has made an effort to conduct wide research. Nobody knows all the tricks used in a specific game. This is why the vast majority of professional gamblers try to look through some specific theories that might be helpful when playing; like those published in Edward O. Thorp’s “Beat the Dealer” book or the Martingale system in roulette.
So they are always digging deeper into the rules and different variations of casino games to increase the odds and beat their competitors. In all seriousness, the biggest household names in the industry do treat gaming as their profession. Such a serious attitude does enable these people to carve out their own style and individual understanding of the various methods out there that can help them increase their profits.
So if you have a gut feeling that playing cards, craps, roulette, or slots machines is something you are destined for, don’t hesitate a bit; you can embark on your journey to become a pro right about now!
Famous Professional Gamblers
Every sphere needs a role model. This is why it is important to have someone to look up to. Here we have decided to give you a list of famous professional gamblers, who may inspire you to take the path of a pro.
Zeljko Ranogajec
Among the teeming pool of professional gamblers, Australia has one star who really stands out from the crowd. Zeljko Ranogajec, known for his tremendous $7.5 million win in KENO, is persona non grata at all Australian casinos. Due to his outstanding photographic memory, he has become one of the best punters on the whole continent.
However, this ban didn’t ruin his success, as there really is nothing in the world to stop a dedicated gambler! He decided to pursue a career in horse racing bets; and soon enough, these bets eventually became his cash cow. His annual profits are estimated as high as $1 billion, which is already 6-7% of the Tabcorp Holdings turnover.
Justin Bonomo
This star poker player who has won a staggering $42,900,00 in prize money will blow your mind! This is the man who has managed to conquer both the online poker world and real live tournaments. Ever since the tender age of 16, he has known he was going to become a professional card player. He is living proof that if you set a goal and start playing immediately, then you can have a better chance of succeeding in the future. Watch the WSOP tournaments or some other live competitions to grasp some aspects of his outstanding technique.
Edward O. Thorp
Succeeding in blackjack is impossible without this man! His “Beat the Dealer” is a cornerstone book for pretty much every card counter, without exception! Ever since it was published in the 1970s, this guide has caused a lot of problems for blackjack dealers over the years. So if you ever decide to hit the blackjack table, this book is a must-read! And if you by any chance have a few doubts about this, just read E.Thorp’s biography. That huge $800 million fortune from his hedge fund resulted from techniques developed in Beat the Dealer. This is not about card counting, but also about mastering the theory of blackjack!
Doyle Brunson
His gambling winnings have brought him more than $6 million in poker alone. The lifetime work “Doyle Brunson’s Super System 2: A Course in Power Poker” is one of the most decisive things in professional gambling. Read more about this maverick and form your own successful poker strategy!
Viktor Blom
This guy is a big fan of Chris Moneymaker; but he’s also become something of a legend himself in the online poker arena! This Swedish star is sometimes known as Isildur1, and he has scooped as much as a million dollars in online winnings. However, he had some major upsets as well. He could lose more than $4 million in one game and then snag $6 million in another one. Gambling is his profession, and if you follow him, you’ll see a great example of an amateur becoming part of the top brass in real live and online poker!
Moving from Amateur to Pro
Before you do anything else, it’s time to reconsider some of that traditional thinking about gambling, as brought to us by mainstream Hollywood movies. Forget about all that fancy stuff from the entertainment industry, and just use our practical approach instead! Don’t expect huge wins to come your way from the very beginning. This is a long-lasting process that takes years of hectic work and enormous effort.
Being a full-time gambler is very different from a 9-5 job, and it will occupy more or less all of your time. Assume this is a freelance job that requires you to set your own schedule. Also, you can choose between live and online casinos. So if you’re afraid of playing for real money, then there is the option of starting with an online social gambling platform and then mastering one of the games you like.
So just start with some small things and don’t just quit the first time you feel you losing! Winning and losing streaks do happen from time to time, and there is no reason to drop out of the game when you have lost several times. Nevertheless, there is no need to drain your bankroll in one night, nor indeed to recklessly raise your bets if you get carried away with the game. Taking control of the game is one of the crucial aspects of becoming a pro!
Controlling your emotions is one of the basic characteristics of successful players. Don’t let emotions influence your mood and facial expressions or moves. Blinded by their feelings, many professional gamblers end up committing serious mistakes. This is why it’s of vital importance to distract yourself and avoid being overcome by the wave of feelings that is threatening to overwhelm you.
You also need to understand what you are dealing with! For instance, if you decide to trick the roulette, the chances of succeeding are pretty slim. You may find different strategies for predicting the outcome on the wheel, but you need to understand that this mainly a game of chance. The results are random, and the speed of the wheel or some sophisticated system is not going to increase the odds. On the other hand, in blackjack or poker, it’s crucial to predict your future steps. Watching and studying the top players, as well as scrutinizing books for the mathematical part of these games, will help you lower the house edge.
It’s even more important to ask advice from experienced players! From the level of their knowledge, they can give you some useful tips. For example, Jamie Gold, who is one of the WSOP champions, used the advice of the live tournaments legend Johnny Chan before his historical win in 2006. So if you get a chance to ask someone to guide you through the game while you’re in the initial stages of your professional career, then it’s definitely better to take this opportunity!
There are two pathways you can follow separately or simultaneously: the first one is online gambling, and the other is the real-life one. The first option is way more convenient to practice at home at any time and without any obstacles. Once you start the account, you can pick up your nickname and pay the minimum bet. Online minimum bets can go as low as $1; this is much cheaper than real-life casinos, where the minimum wager is $5, and even this figure may be doubled during business hours.
Start playing online, and then once you feel confident, you can switch to wagering some huge bets at brick-and-mortar casinos. Of course, if you don’t enjoy sitting at home, staring at the monitor, then you can start at the venue you like. We would just advise to start with the minimum bets. Small wins are no worse than big ones.
The interesting thing is that in real life casinos, the nicknames come with the fame of the players. Sometimes they use their online names, but sometimes they are called by some distinctive feature of the character or appearance. Amarillo Slim got his nickname from the town he resided and because of his slim body shape. Viktor Blom is still frequently called Isildur1, because of his online nickname.
The Gambler’s Routine
Once you become a professional gambler, your life depends on the frequency of the games and tournaments. As it was mentioned above, there is no schedule for the punter. You are the master of your time!
As for sports bettors, things may be a little bit different. Everything depends on the time zone you live in and on the kind of sports event you are betting on. Sometimes it will be necessary to consult your bookie in the middle of the night to place a wager. Nowadays the picks are sent by e-mail, so it’s much easier to decide on the bet with a few clicks on your smartphone.
Another important aspect concerns tournaments. Like it or not, participating in these events is precisely what forges each individual gambler’s will and style. No wonder there are thousands of laymen entering such major tournaments as WSOP or others to practice their skills! It requires a certain level of dedication to follow such an event, or even to go to a specific place and watch it. High rollers usually travel from one event to another, spending money on expensive buy-ins and accommodation. Those who prefer online tournaments to live events have fewer expenses, but they are of course competing for smaller prizes.
Contemplate the next steps in between the games! We strongly advise you to think your strategy over if you participate in various tournaments in a row to avoid ending up with a losing streak; especially if you play poker or blackjack. Most famous punters do so, and they do, of course, make sure to keep track of their progress.
What about salaries? Being a professional gambler never guarantees stable profits, unless you have signed a contract with one of the major gaming providers or tournament organization companies. There are many factors to influence your professional gambler’s ROI:
• Type of game or sports betting
• Return to Player rate of the game
• The skill of the punter
• The methods you use to win
• Bankroll and the size of the bet
• Luck
Sports betting and casino gambling differ in their approaches. The first one strongly depends on analytics and information. To become a Jon Price of sports betting, you need to monitor the news, and then develop a successful algorithm for predicting a win. But if this approach doesn’t suit you, there is always the option to use professionals to make picks for you. The majority of them would claim that they can predict 85% of the matches, which is totally not true! If the prediction rate is 65% of wins, then this can be considered a great result.
When it comes to pokies and video poker, everything is based on the design of the machine. For instance, the famous RTG Megasaur can offer up to 95% RTP or video poker Deuces Wild offers alluring 100.76% payout. Also, when you’re playing online, pay attention to the cashout process; so that you won’t be waiting for too long to withdraw your winnings!
Before participating in huge live tournaments, look at the price of the buy-in and the number of entrants. Sometimes it may be exhausting to pass all tables to reach the final round. Also, check the amount of the prize pool. For instance, the main WSOP 2019 event in Las Vegas will have the prize pool of $5,000,000 and $1,000,000 to a winner with the $500 buy-in. This is totally worth visiting once in a lifetime!
As for the salaries of professional gamblers, there are no precise numbers on that. Usually, such figures are volatile. A skilled poker player may snag up to millions of dollars in one game and lose the same amount in the next one. However, poker players are judged by the size of the prize money they get, whilst horse betting gurus are estimated by the amount they get from a single bet. For instance, Alan Woods used to scoop several million a week on horse races and left a 670 million AUD fortune he had gained from gambling and software development for races.
Profession and It’s Future
Many gamblers come from different places and professions. The most successful ones, like Bill Benter or Jon Price, come from the financial sphere; whilst the most famous card counters tend to be people with a mathematical background like Jonathan Ferguson, aka “Stanford Wong” or Edward O.Thorp. However, there is no use to put them on the same stage. Many masters of the game never acquired any kind of education and left their schools and universities, right after they chose the path of a punter.
Sometimes professional backgrounds really help us to count cards or create software to pick up winners, but none of this is an obligatory element of a successful career. Everyone can mount to the top if they put enough effort into it!
As time goes on, there are more and more people coming from the online sphere to live tournaments. Since Chris Moneymaker made his historical win at the WSOP main event in 2003, there have been thousands of followers emerging all around the world following the example of this amateur punter. Viktor Blom, Fedor Holz and many others have been inspired to take their first steps in online gambling and switch to real-life events later on. This tendency is going to get even bigger in the future, and you can definitely become part of it yourself!
