Celebrating 28 Years in 2025
Making a Living as a Professional Gambler
Making a Living as a Professional Gambler
We're not going to tell you it cannot be done,
but most people who gamble for a living eventually fail.
We're not going to tell you it cannot be done,
but most people who gamble for a living eventually fail.
"The Millers are a small percentage who have made a career out of gambling... earning all their income from gambling."
(Article: "EARNING IT: Life's a Gamble, a few people make it a profession"
by Staff Writer Andrew Bluff)
"...we sought out a few pointers from people who have made a living from sports betting... Mr. Miller likes to focus on four hey numbers..."
(Article: "Enjoy the game, don't lose the bet" by staff writer Matthew Futterman)
"The Millers make a living helping others beat the system. They established ProfessionalGambler.org in 1997."
(Article: "Writer switches from jokes to bets" by staff writer Jessica Hopp)
When it comes to gambling for profit, we have good news and bad news. First, the bad news.
Even though casino games can be great fun, you can't expect to beat them over an extended period of time. Craps, video poker, roulette, slots, keno, etc., must be regarded as being strictly entertainment. The reason is, of course, that the odds in those games are always tilted against the player - sometimes only very slightly and sometimes not so slightly. The house enjoys a mathematical advantage in those games on virtually every bet, so players are bound to ultimately lose. Mathematical laws of the universe simply cannot be violated for an extended length of time.
Before we move on, let's be doubly clear on that. In spite of what you've probably heard from some down-on-his-luck guy in a bad suit, and in spite of what you may have read on a how-to-get-rich-quick-in-a-casino blog, there is no such thing as a professional roulette player and there is no such thing as a professional craps player. If you have a sure-fire winning slots system or can't-possibly-lose keno system, your local casino will gladly send for you with a limo. It doesn't matter how well a player understands these games, over any appreciable period of time nothing will overcome the negative expectations from the built-in house edge. Trick money management won't work, wearing your lucky underpants won't work, nothing will work. The only way to win at most casino games over the long term is to either own the game or cheat. That same rule also applies virtually always to bingo, baccarat, lotteries, etc.
What games do most professional gamblers play?
There are ways to gamble - even in casinos - which do offer beatable propositions: poker, blackjack, and sports betting. None are easy to beat and none offer overnight wealth. Nobody is saying you will get rich in a few weekends. We’re only pointing out that it is possible.
Poker
Against poker, for example, all you have to do is beat the other guys at the table. The casino's profit from poker comes from renting the chairs. If you're better at poker than the other players, you figure to win.
Blackjack
And against blackjack the trick is to know which cards remain in the deck and their relevance to the odds concerning whether you'll win the next hand. Tough stuff but not impossible.
Sports Betting
The best news is sports betting. It is almost self-evident that an expert sports bettor can make a long-term profit. The key factor is that when you bet on sports you're not going head-to-head against the experts. Make no mistake about it, you can't beat the experts. Instead, when you bet on a pro sports event you are pitting your judgment against the opinion of the general betting public. More precisely, you are pitting your judgment against your bookmaker's other customers.
You can beat those guys. That's the critical difference that makes sports betting a beatable proposition. A bookmaker's posted lines are not intended to be predictions. The purpose of point spreads is to make sure the bookmaker gets enough action on both sides of a bet. If public opinion is not reasonably balanced, a disproportionate amount of money would be wagered on one side of a game. That would force the bookmaker to gamble, and bookmakers are not in business to gamble. The bookmaker's role, strictly speaking, is to act as a broker, much like a stock broker or a REALTOR. His job is to 'hold the money,' and to charge a fee for that service. He adjusts the lines in order to get an acceptable amount of money risked on both sides of a proposition. (Not an 'equal' amount of money, by the way, as you've probably heard, but simply an 'acceptable' amount of money - bookmakers rarely get an 'equal' amount risked on both sides. They actually DO 'gamble' in a sense, but that's a subject for a different article.)
You May Find These Articles Helpful:
You May Find These Articles Helpful:
When it comes to making a living as a professional gambler, we're not going to tell you it cannot be done, but most people who try to gamble as their primary source of income eventually fail.
Some forms of gambling can make for a great second income or side hustle, but gambling lovers who quit their day jobs to gamble full time usually find that they lose a good job AND their favorite pastime. When a fun activity becomes your primary source of income, it can quickly become much less fun. Gambling successfully is an art. Artists don't perform well unless they are in the right frame of mind. If you're not enjoying yourself, then you will not count the right cards, make the right poker face or pick the right teams against the spread. But again, if you're looking for someone to tell you it is hopeless, we're not going to tell you that.
It's safe to say you stand a much better chance becoming a professional gambler by teaming up with experts to show you the ropes. The mission of Professional Gambler Newsletter is to take years off the learning time that is necessary. And with our service, you earn while you learn.
It's All You Need...And There's Nothing Else to Buy!
It's All You Need...And There's Nothing Else to Buy!
Professional Gambler Newsletter
Professional Gambler Newsletter
Since 1997
Since 1997
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A subscription to PGN pays for itself many times over. Our service is one-of-a-kind. No other service does what we do.
A subscription to PGN pays for itself many times over. Our service is one-of-a-kind. No other service does what we do.
We post all results to our picks at our "Track Us" page on this site. Make everyone do it!
We post all results to our picks at our "Track Us" page on this site. Make everyone do it!
We Handicap NFL, NBA,
MLB, NHL, WNBA NCAA College Football, NCAA College Basketball
We Handicap NFL, NBA,
MLB, NHL, WNBA NCAA College Football, NCAA College Basketball
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You get our exclusive, for-Subscriber-only podcasts; JV Miller talks business and reveals everything your bookmaker doesn't want you to know
We accept no revenue from sports books and allow no advertising. We do not participate in bettors' losses.
We accept no revenue from sports books and allow no advertising. We do not participate in bettors' losses.
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"In spite of what you've probably heard from some down-on-his-luck guy in a bad suit, and in spite of what you may have read in a how-to-get-rich-quick-in-a-casino blog, there is no such thing as a professional roulette player and there is no such thing as a professional craps player."
Yes, I know there are people who have won a fortune playing the lottery, or by hitting a mega-jackpot against the slots. They are outliers. Those people make headlines. They come from places like Buck Snort, Tennessee, risk $12, and hit the $50 million Super-Wooper Slots Jackpot...but a reality check quickly confirms that as a percentage of the whole, only a small fraction of gamblers so much as break even. Research has shown that in Las Vegas the average local resident loses about $1200 per year playing slots.
Mind you, we are not saying you should never play casino games. They’re great fun – and certainly more enjoyable than sitting home watching Dancing with the Stars. We only point out that you can't realistically expect a long-term profit from playing roulette, keno, craps, bingo, baccarat, etc.
JV Miller and J. R. Miller
J.R. Miller and
R. J. Miller
Can You Make a Living as a Professional Gambler?
Can You Make a Living as a Professional Gambler?
JV Miller Interviewed By KLVA Las Vegas in 1985
Consequently, if you can outwit public opinion more than 53 times out of 100 - (or, to be more specific, if you can outwit your bookmaker's other customers more than 53 times out of 100) - you figure to be a winner over the long haul.
Moreover, unlike blackjack wherein an expert player takes the casino's money and risks being kicked out and banned, big sports books actually have no real incentive to care who wins or loses on a regular basis.
Forget horse and dog racing
Forget horse racing and dog racing – in the United States at least. Our parimutuel style of gambling results in gigantic vigorish charges that are suicidal to any sports bettor trying to show a profit at the end of the day. The 'drag' from horse and dog racing is typically higher than 15-20 percent. That's why race tracks are going broke throughout the country - bettors are getting too sophisticated to stand for a 15% "tax." You'd actually be facing better odds playing the Wheel-of-Fortune. When was the last time you met a rich horse player, anyway? Not to mention, it’s quite cruel to the animals.
The key to becoming a successful sports bettor is education
Learning successful handicapping techniques is much like learning anything else - you must go to 'school.' Study what experts have to say. Read books by proven experts. Team up with professional handicappers like JV Miller, whose service focuses on not just winning picks, but educating Subscribers how to be a professional sports bettor.
Concerning 'how-to' books, be sure to read several different authors. The more you read, the better you'll be able to separate the legitimate pros from the phonies. Be especially wary of authors touting progressive betting schemes. Progressive betting systems are for suckers. They're a sure sign of a non-professional. Also, avoid authors who claim they can pick an outrageous percentage of winners. Against pro football lines, for example, nobody can consistently pick 65% -70% winners. My uncle, R.J., for example, was a winner in the 1997 "Pick the Pros" contest sponsored by the Barbary Coast, Gold Coast, and Orleans casinos in Las Vegas. He beat out some 39,000 other entries by calling 69% of NFL games straight up, without point spreads at all.
In any event, if you're considering gambling on a serious level, sports betting is without a doubt the best way to go. Concentrate first on those sports which interest you most. Look for fundamental differences between perennial winners and perennial losers. When studying stats look past the scores at other factors that affect scoring. In football, for example, the stat concerning total rushing yards has a direct correlation to a game's outcome. That team which gains the most rushing yards usually - but not always - wins. Therefore, if you can predict which team figures to gain the most yards on the ground, you can usually - but not always - predict the winner of an upcoming game. Just remember, you can't help losing bets, but you can usually avoid betting on the wrong team.
How Do Professional Gamblers Make Money?
How Do Professional Gamblers Make Money?