Gambling has very negative aura attached to it, and for good reason. Countless people have lost their life savings chasing that all elusive big win. However, what if there were long-term and sustainable ways of making money online with gambling? In this article, I will show you what it takes and that you CAN make money with gambling – but there is a catch!

At this point, I would like to point out an obvious fact. Becoming a professional gambler/sports trader takes time. Do not think you can jump in and make thousands overnight. It is just the same as blogging, selling stuff on Ebay or any other method of making money online – it requires patience, tenacity and hard work.

Gambling Vs Sport Trading

First, I need to differentiate between a “gambler” and a “sports trader”.

Mentality of a Gambler

A gambler is simply a person who goes to the bookmakers and places a bet on their favourite team and hope they win. If they win then that person is delighted and gets a small return on the bet, if the bet loses then that’s the end of that.

From this point, you can progress to becoming a problem gambler where you would place a larger, or larger quantity of bets, in order to recoup your losses – which inevitably leads to more losses. From here the betting becomes more erratic and emotional and larger losses are incurred.

A normal gambler – “punter” – bets randomly and emotionally. They will bet on celebrities, on random events and on their lucky numbers – there is no system and, for most people, it is just for fun.

Most people who gamble are able to gamble just for fun and nothing else – sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. A flutter!

Mentality of a Sport Trader

A sports trader, however – a term people prefer because the word “gambler” has such a negative connotation attached to it – is someone who bets completely unemotionally. A sports trader will bet based on “the most likely event” and base their decision on statistics, real life events, odds and good old fashioned experience.

A professional sports trader does not let emotions enter a trade or a bet. They simply look at the odds, statistics and consider the most likely outcome. They combine this with real life news stories and external influences.

A trader is also willing to study the way the odds move and reacts to real-time events – such as when goals are scored and at what time frame, and compare it to other time frames within a football match to see a comparison in odds movement. Sounds geeky but that’s what it takes!

Once they place a bet they have a very regimented betting system where they only bet around 2% of their overall bankroll to minimise losses – there are always loses.

This is obviously quite a simplistic explanation but for the purposes of this article, that’s all I need to say.

The key mentality of someone who wants to make money gambling is that they think long term. It is not about making money today, it’s about making money in a week from now, or a month from now. Emotions do not enter into it – it’s purely a mathematical likelihood of something happening, or not happening.

I will write another post soon where I will show you examples of bets a professional gambler would make and why.

How Much Money Do You Need?

This is another misconception people have. You do not need a large bank to start trading professionally. Of course, having a large bank will definitely be an advantage, but it’s not essential. There are many full-time traders who started with as little as £500 bankroll.

Is The Income Long Term?

Absolutely. Creating a long term and stable income online by gambling is more than possible and many people do it. However, it is a lifestyle and you need to have the right mentality in place to become a full-time sports trader.

There are so many sports to trade, ranging from football, golf, rugby, tennis, horse racing to name only a few! With that many areas to potentially make money from you can easily find a niche where you can profit.

Most traders aim to increase their bankroll by about 10%/20% per month – more if possible. So, if you have a £10,000 bankroll and you are able to return 20% per month then that is quite a tidy income.

The Catch!

Patience. Tenacity. Good mentality. Tolerance for losing money.

This is the catch! You need these characteristics in order to learn how to make money with gambling. Managing your bankroll is key and it is not about making large wins, it is about managing your losses.

Losses are inevitable and the difference between someone who makes money by gambling, and a normal punter, is the bankroll management and self-control.

Another problem is that you actually need to know “how to trade”. A skill which involves a lot of trial and error, which can cost you a lot of money. As long as you can learn from your mistakes quickly but most people will have a hard time with this. Also, the complexity of the huge variety of trades you are able to perform and the movements of the odds make it tricky for newbies to get started.

There is a great forum on Bet Angel where you can have a look at the sort of statistics and experience people use to place their bets/trades. I highly recommend you have a look there.