One of the paradoxes of life is that at first glance, gambling for a living seems to be a carefree, easy, and unconfining way to make a living. But appearances are seldom what they seem and that is especially true of professional gambling. Successful, profitable gambling is a process and not just luck.
Like any way of making a living, gambling requires hard work. The more successful you want to be in life, the harder you have to work at it. You can work hard without a plan and get some results, though they may be mixed, or you can work hard with a plan or strategy and get better results. The question is, how much of a payoff do you want for that hard work?
If you don't want to waste time and all that hard work, I suggest you plan your work (learning how to gamble) as well as your gambling. The studying and learning are part of the job, so you have to consider part of pro gambling is education. How you get that education may vary. For some, a gambling mentor or school is the way to go. Other people choose books, videos, and other methods. While you can practice at the race track or casino or sports book, practicing before you study can be very costly.
Successful businesses usually have a business plan, in fact, business experts say that a good business plan is the most important tool for success in business. Since pro gambling is a business (and if you aren't treating it that way, good luck making a profit and luck is exactly what you will need) it only makes sense to have a real written plan. The first part of that plan should be a list of tools that you want to acquire or have acquired to be a successful gambler. Write down what skills you will need to be a success at your chosen gambling venue.
Obviously knowledge of the game, whether it is racing, sports, or casino gambling, is a good place to start. To be successful at a game or business you have to know it inside and out. Knowing what tools (skills and knowledge) you will need and how to acquire them is a good place to start. Also, writing down some realistic goals is another requirement. If you don't know what you want or expect, how will you figure out how to get it or even know when you have attained it?
Money management is an absolutely essential skill that you need to develop and practice vigilantly in order to succeed as a gambler. If this is starting to sound like a lot of work and somewhat confining and less free than you thought gambling would be, welcome to the real world of professional gambling.
Everything should be written down in a business plan. It doesn't have to be real complicated but it should be clear and give good guidelines that you can follow. It is your business plan and you can edit it any time that you want to. I advise you to write your plan including goals, both financial and personal, starting bankroll and where future more money will come from, as well as what tools and skills will be needed. Next, start to budget your time. How much time will be spent each day/week/month on book keeping, learning, gambling? Also, and this is very important, how much time will you spend reviewing your plan or gambling strategy and also, finally, how much time will you spend on other areas of your life such as family and relationship commitments and responsibilities?
Let's not forget that gambling can be fun, but it also is work, in fact, if you do it for living it can be more work than work, if you know what I mean.
Bill Peterson has been a professional horse player and card player for years. His innovative techniques were developed by thinking outside the box. In his own words, the result of "A life well wasted." Bill has been teaching the basics of gambling for years and you can read about Bill's Power Point Poker at http://www.powerpointpoker.com
To see all of Bill's horseracing handicapping methods at http://williewins.homestead.com , The Handicapping Store. "No one can make you a winner but learning the basics and a few little known secrets and techniques can advance you closer to your dream of making a profit at your favorite game. Use my methods and customize them to suit your own style and you will be ahead of 99% of the crowd."
