# Can you make a living from sport betting? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440 "2024-02-11T19:52:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@wolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolly)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/61 "2024-02-13T08:33:00Z")
I was ruined by my parents because my father always demanded money from me and I didn’t want to give him.My mother was the same so I started self harm and I smoked cigarettes.I just couldn’t take it anymore ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/62 "2024-02-13T14:43:39Z")
I’m sorry to hear you went through that, wolly, but I’m not sure trying to add professional gambling to the mix is going to improve your situation. Unsolicited advice you get from random internet strangers is worth every penny you’re paying for it, of course, but have you tried talking to a career counselor or some other counselor for some better advice about ways to improve your prospects? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/63 "2024-02-13T16:39:00Z")
You’ll want therapy, not gambling. Gambling will just make things worse. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/64 "2024-02-13T16:44:45Z")
If you do make a living through sport betting, what do you call your occupation when you do your taxes? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/65 "2024-02-13T16:47:35Z")
Professional gambler ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/66 "2024-02-13T16:50:17Z")
One of the key traits of a successful gambler is emotional stability. There are a lot of players who can play really well when on a winning streak, but completely fall apart and go on ‘tilt’ and start playing recklessly when they are losing. People with a tendency to self-harm would be especially vulnerable to going on tilt in the face of bad beats and obnoxious players. If you aren’t an emotional rock, stay away from gambling. It will destroy you. Or you’ll use it as a tool to destroy yourself. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/67 "2024-02-13T17:44:33Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > All of which underscores that some random person in a room with a couple of thousand dollars or less and no experience is 100% doomed. In a betting thread, this is where someone should set up a spread and bet against you. Say, I bet that 0.1% of the random people over a period of 2 years come out ahead! Absolutes and bad math make betting strangely attractive. > [@wolly](#): > > I was ruined by my parents because my father always demanded money from me and I didn’t want to give him.My mother was the same so I started self harm and I smoked cigarettes.I just couldn’t take it anymore Seriously though, this being the case, I’m with @Kimstu, @Larry_Borgia and probably others in saying that therapy, counseling, or other professional help is a much better investment of time and money. Help yourself first, seek professional or at least qualified local assistance in future career pathing, and then make decisions. But any decision you make while already seeking to harm yourself is likely sub-optimal to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/68 "2024-02-13T18:05:43Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > In a betting thread, this is where someone should set up a spread and bet against you. Say, I bet that 0.1% of the random people over a period of 2 years come out ahead! Absolutes and bad math make betting strangely attractive. Very true! But I could probably set up qualifiers to swing those odds back my way. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/69 "2024-02-13T18:12:49Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Back then, the rule of thumb in the weak lower limit games was that a good player could earn maybe one big bet per hour, but more likely half a big bet. That’s assuming good games. I started out playing 3/6, 5/10, and 6/12, mostly limit poker. The games were ridiculously easy then, and I was making that big bet per hour. But when I moved up to 10/20, 15//30 then 20/40, there were a lot less fish, and my win rate dropped to maybe half a big bet per hour. I almost never played bigger than that. Most of my tine was probably playing 10/20. For someone who doesn’t know much about gambling, could you explain what these numbers mean? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/70 "2024-02-13T18:26:11Z")
Limit Hold’Em poker is played in four rounds. Those numbers describe the betting structure. The first two rounds have lower bets. 3/6 is $3/bet for the first two rounds and $6/bet for the last two. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/71 "2024-02-13T18:50:59Z")
I played a system the couple of times I’ve been to the horse races. I bet on the favorite to place. (Or whatever 3rd is). The odds are set by the other gamblers, and that’s an incredibly boring bet, so it’s undersubscribed. I would bet a dollar, and then pick up $1.07 or something. Over the course of an afternoon, I’d typically win will but one or two bets, and walk away with an extra dollar at the end of the day. I “earned” a lot less than minimum wage, but it made the results of the race more interesting for me. I suppose if I’d bet more i would have won more, but if you bet too much, you skew the odds. And because that’s not a popular bet, it probably doesn’t take a lot of money to skew the odds. Anyway, i agree that the way to make real money betting is by being a bookie, or working for one. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/72 "2024-02-13T19:10:39Z")
To add to @hajario’s answer, in fixed limit poker, when you bet it must be no more or less than the fixed amount. So in a 10/20 Hold’em poker game, you get two cards, then you have to bet or call $10 minimum before the ‘flop’ (the dealer deals out three cards face up, and everyone uses them). You can get raised and re-raised up to three times, so the maximum you would ever pay to see the ‘flop’ is $40. When the flop comes up, you use those three cards along with your two hidden cards to make your best hand, like everyone else. Then there is another small bet round, where you could have to invest a maximum of $40 again. After the two small rounds, there arevtwo big bet rounds. The first is the ‘turn’, where one more card is played face up. Now there is a $20 betting round, capped at $80. Finallu, a ‘river’ card is played, and another $20 betting round. Then all remaining hands are shown and the hand wins or splits if someone else has it too. So in 10/20, the most you can ever lose on one hand is $240. Contrast this to no-limit poker, where all your chips on the table dan be lost in a single hand. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/73 "2024-02-13T19:20:23Z")
There is an exception to this. If there are only two players left after everyone has folded, the two of them can raise each other back and forth until someone runs out of money. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/74 "2024-02-13T19:35:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Anyway, i agree that the way to make real money betting is by being a bookie, or working for one It is not sport betting, but I am very intimate with the insides of online gambling. I got paid really well. Guess why? Our payout was in the region of 97%. We still made a massive, massive profit. It is all about volume. Don’t do it. Or rather, if you are a developer, do do it, but working for the company, not gambling on a game. ETA: running manual tests on online slot machines ranks amongst the most boring work I have ever done. I think I had more fun in detention back at high school. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/75 "2024-02-13T19:47:46Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I played a system the couple of times I’ve been to the horse races. I bet on the favorite to place. (Or whatever 3rd is). You’re talking about a show bet, which is where you win if your horse comes in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Nothing wrong with that kind of wager; a friend of mine almost exclusively plays show bets. We joke that at the end of the day, he’s won enough to buy himself a cup of coffee. But at least he’s won enough to buy coffee; the rest of us who play exotics (exactas, trifectas, etc.) can’t always say the same. At any rate, you’ll never get rich betting on horse races. If you enjoy studying the Form and making selections, and backing those selections with a few dollars, it can be a pleasant hobby. But if you look at it as being some sort of moneymaking venture, you’re going to be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/76 "2024-02-13T20:05:48Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > You’re talking about a show bet, which is where you win if your horse comes in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Nothing wrong with that kind of wager; a friend of mine almost exclusively plays show bets. We joke that at the end of the day, he’s won enough to buy himself a cup of coffee. But at least he’s won enough to buy coffee; the rest of us who play exotics (exactas, trifectas, etc.) can’t always say the same. Exactly. Both times I’ve tried this “system” I’ve ended a pleasant afternoon with enough winnings to buy a cup of coffee. I don’t win much, but it’s fun to win. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/77 "2024-02-13T20:07:56Z")
Is a show bet strategy betting a lot of $$$ a possible successful way to earn a living, depending on your bankroll and the percentage of times it pays off? I’m assuming not, or people would be doing it. ETA: The couple of times I’ve been to the racetrack, I used @puzzlegal’s “bet a little bit to make it interesting” approach, though not show bets. A lot of fun. The kiosks they have make putting bets down easy, and the races become much more exciting when you have a stake in them, even a $2 stake. A lot of laughs—“Woo hoo! I won 50 cents!” ---
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/78 "2024-02-13T20:10:38Z")
I had a nephew that was sure he could make some side money with sport betting. He committed suicide last year, leaving his family a couple hundred grand in debt. So I would advise against it. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/79 "2024-02-13T20:12:47Z")
I am skeptical of ANY strategy that can beat horse racing. The track hold is typically around 18%. I suspect if anyone is making money from it they’ve either found a loophole somewhere, or they are being fed information about the horses and jockeys that other bettors don’t have. BUt 18% is a hell of a hill to climb over. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440/80 "2024-02-13T20:27:44Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Is a show bet strategy betting a lot of $$$ a possible successful way to earn a living, depending on your bankroll and the percentage of times it pays off? > > I’m assuming not, or people would be doing it. No. Remember, racing uses a parimutuel system, where, generally speaking, the more money is bet on a horse, the lower the odds on that horse get. That’s why the odds on the tote board are constantly changing—as bettors place wagers, the odds reflect the ratios of money bet on one horse against money bet on all others. Put a large bet on a horse, even to Show, and that will drive the Show odds down. Plus, the Show pool has to be divided three ways, because it needs to pay out the Show players who backed the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd finishers. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I am skeptical of ANY strategy that can beat horse racing. The track hold is typically around 18%. I suspect if anyone is making money from it they’ve either found a loophole somewhere, or they are being fed information about the horses and jockeys that other bettors don’t have. BUt 18% is a hell of a hill to climb over. The takeout, as it is called, ranges from 18% to 25% depending on the wager. Win, place, show will be 18%; the exotics will typically be in the 23% to 25% area. That’s money that comes off the top, incidentally, so you never really see it disappear. But if you think about it, when you place your $2 wager, you’re actually paying the track a fee of $0.36, while the remaining $1.64 goes into the betting pool. The track is a business, and the takeout is how it makes its money. But yes, when pretty much every casino game has a house advantage in the single digits, that 18% to 25% is a hell of a hill to get over. That’s one of the reasons why you’ll never get rich playing the races. But like I said, it can be a pleasant hobby. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-living-from-sport-betting/997440.md?page=5)