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Some of you have heard this before, if you haven't , it's time you did. Less than 1% of gamblers make their living off their wagers.
Think about that, let it sink in.....remember that the next time you get all hyped to buy some fly by night touts game of the year, lock, or inside information bought and paid for can't lose pick. Do you honestly believe that the hundreds if not thousands of services are all in that exclusive 1% club, the guys that make their living as a gambler? Chances are 99% of the guys you read about in ads, on forums, wherever, 99% of these guys know nothing, have no info, are broke or 1 week from broke, are desperate to separate you from your money and couldn't win over the course of a month if their life were at stake.
I know football season is here....and with it, comes a nearly insatiable drive for many to put their money on the line, whether it's backing the local team, the alma mater or their favorite team....weekend warriors and armchair quarterbacks are all looking for the big score....and I don't just mean on the field. I'm talking money, big money.
Now, I could write an entire article on the estimated amounts bet every week during the football season, the multi billion dollars wagered in Las Vegas legal sports betting operations as well as the billions more wagered offshore. But for today I want to go back to that 1% club, and look beyond the games, behind the supposed glitz and glamour of the high rollers and look at the mindset of a sharp.
Let's look at just a few of the attributes of a real sharp, a true professional gambler.
I know that for many of you, sports wagering is simply a healthy, fun and at times profitable hobby. For others it's a dream to join the 1% club, to be a professional, to make their living doing what I do, and that's pitting my wits, my abilities, against the oddsmaker day in & day out. And so it's to the would be professional that I address a few issues.
For a real sharp, this is first and foremost a business, it's my livelihood, it puts food on the table, pays for the house, car, takes care of the family. It's business, and I treat it as seriously as any business owner, manager or CEO treats their job. This is not fun and games. If you are going to win like a sharp, you have to treat this as a business. I don't win, the bills don't get paid. Simple. There's no calling out sick, no saying the heck with today's games and taking off to the beach. If you treat it as a game you WILL lose and you will not last long.
Second, yes it's my business, it's my job....and I assure you this is not a part time profession. If you think you're going to grab a copy of the Friday edition of USA Today, flip thru the sports pages for 5 minutes, listen to the Saturday morning pregame shows, call a few free pick lines, make 5-10 picks and be a long term winner forget it, not going to happen. Every sharp I know, me included, spend countless hours everyday pouring over stats, trends, running numbers, making their own lines and looking for value in the Vegas line, reading every article they can find from the teams local reporters on games they may have a play on. Sometimes I put in 8-10 hours only to come to the conclusion that there ARE NO solid plays on the board that day. Many think the life of a sharp is sleeping half the day, waking up to a gourmet breakfast served up by scantily clad supermodels, laying around the pool all afternoon, champagne and victory cigars in the evening. Not in this lifetime pal.
Sure, I have my fun time, I live the life....but it's a life I have worked long and hard to attain. If you're not willing to put in 40 hours, 50 to 70 hours of long hard work some weeks, then you will not make it. A few old sayings come to mind....nothing in life is free, you get what you pay for and if it's worth having its worth working for, you get out of life what you put into it. My point is...this isn't all about luck and carefree good times. It's dedication, perseverance through times where it seems your team couldn't cover even if the other team didn't show up, it's being dead serious treating this as a business.
Third is the issue of emotion. You can't get all caught up in the emotion of a big rivalry game, the highs of a huge last minute comeback win, the devastating effects of a last second loss or an o-for day where you couldn't even win a game of Tic Tac Toe against your 6 year old kid. You cannot win LONGTERM if you can't separate your emotions from your wagers. Everyone, no matter how sharp has losing days or weeks. You must maintain your composure during the highs and lows and never allow your emotion to cloud your judgment. If the game wasn't a good bet before you lost your last 3 games of the afternoon, it still is not a good bet. If it was only a halfhearted opinion prior to sweeping the afternoon games, it's still not a good play. Never chase after losing badly, and don't start betting the board just because you won a few in a row.
Last thing today is confidence. If you do not have complete confidence in yourself and in your plays, if you can't stick to your side despite all the arguments against you, you will not win. Make no mistake between confidence and stupidity, there's a big difference between sticking to your guns on a play and proudly ignoring valid information that should cause you to rethink your position.
Now I think I'm a great guy, laid back, easy going, help people out anyway I can....but when it comes to my plays, I have been called cocky, arrogant, stubborn, you name it.....but they all call me a winner. If you are not supremely confident, when the tough times come you will find yourself second guessing, changing your plays, adding bets, canceling bets you would have won.....without confidence there will be no consistency.
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