Any of you capable of consistently profiting through gambling?

[Joshuaace]

My Dad ended life as a professional handicapper. He was a longtime recreational gambler that liked playing the harness races. A back injury in the 70's forced him to transition into becoming a professional thoroughbred handicapper. For decades, He was a staple at the stables of all the Chicago tracks when a meet was in session. RIP Buddy Betz.

 

[kahiljabroni]

The rake is a percentage of the pot they take out of every pot no matter who wins the pot. That's how the casino makes their money by hosting poker games.

For tournaments there is a fee you have to pay on top of the tournament entry or they could take money out of the prize pool. Depends on the location.

I used to play 6 hours a day in the party poker days. The rake was miniscule because they could make it up in volume and they had a lot of competition.

I went to the local casino recently and could not believe the rake. I don't know exactly their rake structure but it was insane. Like 7 dollars out of a 40 dollar pot. Beating the rake is a very real factor in poker and I realized it's impossible with these numbers.


This is a state sanctioned casino that takes a portion of the profits. Really goes to show the difference between the free market and the government controlled market.

 

[Fedorgasm]

There used to be a poster on sherdog that made a very detailed thread explaining how he profits from MMA betting.

It was all about looking for different sites that had odds that were different from each other, and then exploiting those differences by betting a certain way. I don't recall how it all worked.

I bet it was possible though because MMA was small and a hardcore fan probably knew as much as the odds makers.

I wonder if it's more difficult now that the sport has grown.

 

[kimocomplex]

I wish I was as good with real money as I am with Sherdog vCash

 

[Plutoburn]

Nobody makes profit long term against the house. Only the very top percentile of poker players make a profit. I am guessing top 1%

If you mean make enough money as a profession, yea it's a very small percent. But if the goal is to just make profit, you don't have to be elite, you just have to be willing to play in smaller stake relative to your skill level. With online poker, there are microstakes that are 0.01/0.02 or $2 buy-in SNG and it's full of people who are just blowing steam from higher stakes, people that are just looking to pass the time, newbies, etc... The key is to be in the game with people that are worse than you.

 

[SSgt Dickweed]

My Dad ended life as a professional handicapper. He was a longtime recreational gambler that liked playing the harness races. A back injury in the 70's forced him to transition into becoming a professional thoroughbred handicapper. For decades, He was a staple at the stables of all the Chicago tracks when a meet was in session. RIP Buddy Betz.

I'm fascinated with horseracing but don't know much about it. I assume the Chicago tracks were corrupt as hell and fixing matches was a daily occurrence?

Anyone in the horseracing industry?

Before the lockdown, the only thing I knew about the industry was the Seabiscuit movie. I went through the rabbithole watching a bunch of yt vides about the topic. It's such a specialized industry that it's fascinating, from having a stable owner, manager, trainer, groomer and jockey to match...

forums.sherdog.com

 

[Plutoburn]

As somebody who used to work in the industry, I stand by what I said.

What I said was applying to poker only. People who think they can beat the house are bad at math.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

I tried to be successful in Poker for over a decade now and I have it profited really. I actually even banned myself from Pokerstars, it's too addicting.

 

[BB in Crazy!!!!]

Slot machines. I have almost always left with more money that I arrived with. I play small amounts, but am pretty consistent. Only twice I left with less out of about 7 or 8 times gambling.

 

[LEWIS540]

Slot machines. I have almost always left with more money that I arrived with. I play small amounts, but am pretty consistent. Only twice I left with less out of about 7 or 8 times gambling.

Slot machines are literally where casinos make the most money.

Their rake is between 5-15%.

7-8 short sessions is such a small sample size to be largely irrelevant, statistically.

 

[BB in Crazy!!!!]

Slot machines are literally where casinos make the most money.

Their rake is between 5-15%.

7-8 short sessions is such a small sample size to be largely irrelevant, statistically.

Well yeah, I still make out well typically. And I get a bunch of free drinks while I do it. Double win. And it’s not short sessions. Usually 3+ hours.

 

[LEWIS540]

 

[Beechwood]

I haven't gambled much in my life. It tends to give me a headache. It is one of the few things that does.

A guy that used to live up the street from my parents house was a professional gambler. Don't know anything about his career though other than being told he did well at what he did. He had a stroke a few years ago and afterwards moved closer to family.

 

[ralphc1]

I've always said that they don't build casinos with the money people win in them.

 

[Travis Alexander]

Mikki Mase has, when I want to beat the casinos I go with him.

 

[Natural Order]

I have won a lot of Sherdog Sportscash by betting against whatever Chael Sonnen predicts

Also doing the opposite of what Jim Cramer recommends will net you consistent gains

Congrats on Modship, Shermano!

Some of the funniest stuff I've ever read here, keep it up!

 

[Natural Order]

Nobody makes profit long term against the house. Only the very top percentile of poker players make a profit. I am guessing top 1%

You don't play poker against the house, Chief. They take a portion of the ante.

Maybe you meant to say blackjack?

 

[Fuglee]

I play poker. It's the only game I play. It's the only game I'd ever play. I'm a solid player and I've made a good bit of money in low stakes and a tourneys.

I will say that I've been playing on and off for about 20 years and I was an absolute shit player for about 14 of those years. I knew how to play the game, and I thought I was decent, but over time I realized that I quite literally had no approach to the game I was playing and really no idea what I was doing.

Now Im a good player. Not great, but good. I would like to play more large field tournaments. That where I feel happiest.

It takes a certain kind of person to be good at poker. And even if you're good you may not be able to make a living at it. Game selection and bankroll management are absolutely massive. You need to be disciplined as all hell. I make an extra few k a year reliably, as I don't have the time or live the kind of life where I can be a full time player.

I understand the rules of other games but I don't play them and never will. I've dedicated too much time to being a poker player and I'm not interested in playing games that are rigged for the house and taking away time from poker.

 

[Spounman]

If so, by what? Sports betting, blackjack, roulette?

I'm not talking about huge scores like in heist movies or whatever but consistent profits. No need to share the secret sauce.

Yes, through Draftkings daily fantasy. I was a data analyst for years so I like looking at #s and patterns. I don't play huge ones but I win consistently. For example since I last cashed out, I deposited $20 and I'm up to around $250. I keep a spreadsheet for each sport I play NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL. My biggest win in a day was 4k on a $18 single game NBA contest. I came in first which was $12k but I split it with two others.

I also play Prize Picks and I make money, won $625 on the UFC earlier this year. But I normally only play 2 picks and I make money that way.

 

[Shogun515]

I'm not profitable buying lottery tickets.... yet