We have all heard of the professional gambler. We can even watch professional poker tournaments on television where people play for very high stakes running into the thousands of dollars. But how practical is it really to live the life of a professional gambler? Let’s take a look at the pitfalls and probabilities of success in this lifestyle.
First, let us differentiate between the tournament gamblers and the people who live in the casinos. A tournament gambler may have sponsors and may only gamble in tournament-style play with the sponsors’ money. This kind of professional gambler is someone who has proven him- or herself at the tables (almost always card games). There are professional gambling teams who work together to beat table games like roulette. These are are not really tournament-style gamblers but they are working in a business-like fashion. Some of them may be criminals.
The people who “live in casinos” are just the regular gamblers who are hoping to take home enough money to pay the bills and maybe lay aside a stake for their next visit to the gaming halls. Some of these professionals live a feast-or-famine lifestyle, where they buy new cars with cash and then take out title loans when they run out of money. These guys may prefer the card games but sometimes you can find them hitting the slots.
Some professional gamblers really do make a living playing the slots. I knew one guy who only played the slots and he made several thousand dollars every month. He wasn’t rich but he lived the lifestyle he wanted to, where he didn’t have to answer to anyone but himself.
You might hear about strategies people use to play the slot machines but the truth of playing slots is that you are completely at the mercy of the random number routine. The only real strategies are about managing your time and your money while you wait to hit a big payoff. If you want to know how the slot machine games determine their random numbers, read this really long but interesting article: Myth Busting: What are the Odds that the Experts are Wrong?
If you want to play a game with some real strategy, you have to look at the card games. Blackjack players can use strategies, for example. But even so the probabilities are stacked in favor of the house, not the player. This article provides a quick, simple overview of the odds in Blackjack.
One of the common mistakes that new gamblers make is assuming it is better to play a game that offers a large jackpot or payout. This article on the odds and probabilities in keno (essentially a lottery game) should open a few eyes about just how unlikely it is for anyone to win a lot of money.
If you want to earn a living as a gambler you would do best to settle for a modest above-average take on the games you play. For example, if you only take home $2000 a week (above recovering your stake) then you’re making about $100,000 a year. That is more than most people make in any job. You should be able to put some of that money back for the future.
But all the games are designed to make the casinos profitable. They would not host the games in the first place if they thought they would lose money over time. Take the game of roulette, for example. It was designed to provide casinos an advantage over the players. The odds in roulette are not as good as those in blackjack and the probabilities are even worse. (In case it’s not clear to you what the difference between odds and probabilities are, odds are what the casino pays and probabilities are the chances of any given outcome).
I don’t make a living by gambling. My hat is off to anyone who is able to do this but you’re fighting an uphill battle, in my opinion. With the game rules set against you the chances of your staying ahead of the casinos are very slim. You have to manage your money well enough that you can build up a substantial stake that is not only capable of surviving huge losses but also keeping you in the game (any game) long enough to rebuild itself and send you home with your weekly “pay”.
Gambling is all about taking risks in exchange for the chance to acquire more wealth than you risked. But if you lose everything you need a backup plan that will help you land on your feet so that you are not left destitute and completely dependent upon the goodwill of others. That goodwill does not last very long, especially once they learn that you are trying to live by gambling.