In this article I would like to consider betting on sporting events exactly as a long-term investment of money, and not as options like “betting for fun and gambling”, “betting to be more interesting to watch the match” or “to make a quick score on bets”.
Betting on sports – a long-term investment
Professional gamblers always consider betting on sports as a long-term investment like real estate or securities and never as a quick way to get rich. For the bettor, it is always about the long haul, or more precisely the long haul profit (1000, 2000, 3000 bets), rather than winning a single bet or profit for a week, a month.
Differences between investments in securities or real estate and investments in bets
The main difference between investments in securities and investments in sports betting is that the investor can easily lose 20-40% in a week or a month on the securities market, while on sports betting the investor can either increase the investment up to 100% or even more, or lose everything, and in this case only in 2-3 hours.
How many bets does a professional bettor (handicapper) make per year?
A professional bettor can place up to 2,000 bets in a single season, and there is nothing surprising about that. One playing season is taken as one playing year in this case. If you consider the North American professional leagues NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB as an investment, it is a piece of cake to make 2,000 bets, given that these four leagues have over 4,000 sporting events per season.
How much can I earn by investing in sports betting?
Let’s calculate how much we can earn in a playing season (year). Let’s assume that we have an initial bank of 100 000 rubles. By the way, for such a deposit you need a reliable bookmaker. Our Bookmaker Rating will help you to choose a bookmaker. We will bet 2,000 dollars on each bet. The minimum odds of our bet must be 1.85. The total number of bets is equal to 2000. At a long distance, according to probability theory, we will have a percentage of passability – 50%. That is, for 2000 bets we should get 1000 bets which will pass, and 1000 bets which will be losing. Roughly speaking, we can bet at random and the percentage of passing over a long distance will be 50%.
To be in the black, we need to guess 55% of outcomes. That is, for 2000 bets placed 1100 must win. In case of 55 percent pass rate for every 100 bets we must guess 55. You must admit that it is not very difficult, provided that we do not bet at random, but at least make a superficial analysis of the event. If you do not know how to predict the outcome of matches, the article “How to make predictions on matches” will help you. Let’s go back to the calculations and determine our income under these conditions:
- How much we will earn:
- 2000 * 1.85 = 3700
- 3700 — 2000 = 1700
- ——————-
- 1700 * 1100 = 1,870,000 dollars
- How much we will lose:
- 2000 * 900 = 1,800,000
Net income equals 70 000 rubles per season, which is 70% of the invested capital. Agree pretty good percentage per annum, in fact, it is difficult to recall where else you can get such a percentage. It is important to keep in mind that with an increase in the percentage of passability or odds, your income will also increase. For instance, with the same odds 1.85 and betting amounts of 2000 Rubles, but a pass percentage of 56%, you will get a net profit of 144,000 dollars (144%). And with 57% passing rate, your profit will increase to 218,000 dollars, which is already 218% of the initial bank for the season.
Why not everyone invests in sports betting?
Now it is clear that sports betting should be regarded as a long-term investment and only then can you make a profit. Making a living from sports betting is possible, but it is a very difficult occupation and not everyone is successful at it. Only a few percent of the players in the world can call themselves professionals.
“Theoretically, you can make money on betting. But then why are there so few plus players in the world and so many minus players?” you ask. The answer is quite simple: yes, because according to statistics only 1 player out of 10 treats betting as a long-term investment. The rest bet for fun, gambling or view sports betting from the perspective of “quick money”. Eventually they lose the whole bank (or a considerable part of it) and “finish their career of betting investor”. They join those nine players out of ten, starting to bet small amounts for fun and excitement.
How are professional bettors different from amateurs?
Professional bettors differ from amateurs not only in their attitude towards betting, but also in their approach. For a professional gambler, betting is a job, hard painstaking work that requires a lot of time, effort and patience. For the bettor important income and only income. He does not feel excitement, he is not interested in the process of watching the matches when the money is on the line. He watches the match broadcast because he is not indifferent to the sport, he catches a thrill from watching the game. He is not interested in the fact of investing money in sports betting either.
For a professional bettor the main thing is to make a profit, not the betting itself. A professional makes a prediction and invests money. For amateurs, in most cases, betting means increasing interest from watching the match, getting a portion of adrenaline, etc.
