As a regular contributor to the site I was interested in any information from anyone out there who sports bets for a living.

What size bank do you use ?

What sports do you bet on?

What types of bets ? ( h2h, line betting, margin )

what type of profits do you aim for ?

any feedback would be fantastic .

I wouldnt say I do sports punting for a living,but I do
- keep good book keeping records of all wins and lossess
- look at every dollar won as every dollar hard earned
- I dont back
tennis( too risky-player could default), soccer,baseball,golf.

Sports i tend to stick to are league,afl,union and basketball.

I usually back the handicap markets..I dont make any bets unless ive done the research.

I usually get my tips and past results from a variety of sources.

Never ever back half-full double,points over under,or margin betting.

I tend to stick to stick to bets that are 50/50 wins. like Head 2 head or handicap.

I prefer alot of small wins over a span of time than huge wins and losses by taking risks.

I would only go all in if I am so certain of a win and if it is value. stupid but i do sometimes. I usually do this if a team is favourite to win and is in goodform and the underdogs have a last minute injury to key players.

Id be happy if i won $25 for the day. Since i watch alot of sports,alittle bit of punting makes it fun to watch and interesting.

I look at every bet as a losing bet.Once you placed the bet you lost the money.

Hey there Discipline, this thread is right up my alley. I was a bookmaker here in the states since 1989 and worked as a sheet writer before that for a few years during college. Obviously, I was on the other side but I can probably offer some advice. In the US, bookmaking(on sports) is illegal except in Nevada. It is widely accepted and disregarded as not very serious, unless the cops got it out for ya or you unluckily/unkknowingly get caught up in something and get drug into it. This happened to a partner of mine. Anyway, it takes steely nerve and focus to be a succesfull and professional sports bettor, but it can be done. I know a guy who is regarded as the best sports (college football mostly) bettor around. The guy does not lose. here's the rub on him and guys like him. They are known as wise guys. They shop as many books as possible for weak lines and take advantage early in the week, buying it back if they have to later in the week. All kinds of neat tricks these guys have. Did you see the movie "Casino" with DeNiro and Joe Pesci? I'm sure you did. Remember DeNiro's character and what he was in the beginning and the end of the movie? He was a sports handicapper for the mob and he was good at it. What they do is spread their money on games they like all around the country after consulting with their own DeNiro's. First, they call all the offshore books and get the lines, under special arrangement these books hold these lines for a while. Then they get the word out to all their associates throughout the US on who is the play and what the acceptable point spread to take. Now, in return for these Golden Plays, each associate is asked to get the guy above him down for a certain amount, say $5K on the eagles -6(no higher). Associate now calls his local book (Me) to get line for the eagles. i look at my cmputer to check if there are any changes and say, eagles minus 6. Associate says"6 dimes($6k) on the eagles minus 6". I accept. 2 minutes later, after this same process has occurred throughout the whole country, the lines on the off shore books(and probably aussie too) for the eagles starts to go crazy. the eagles go up to 7,8,9.... The book has taken the worst of it, the wise guys have the eagles -6 when it should be 9 and this is why they win--Soft lines and cooperation from the off shore books to hold the lines long enough for the wise guys to get down on soft lines all around the country before the off shore have to cxhange the line so they don't get hammered by these same soft lines they have helped create, but without the knwledge of who the wise guy plays are, you don't know which lines are soft.

I was lucky enough to not get beat by these guys too long because JI could get them down as an associate and tack a little on to each one of their plays.

This can benefit you as a player by subscribing to a line service that has real time odds. I don't know how Aussie sports betting works, but the NFL here is huge gambling market and there are all kinds of line services. i don't know if it's ok to post them here but if it is, i'll do it or e-mail ya or pm ya. Watch the lines moving like crazy on saturday;s around 1:45 am sun morn your time, 15 minutes before kick off at 12 noon here and start playing these games (mostly totals on big ten and ACC games at this time) You won't believe it until you see it. The whole thing is still based on hcping, but remember DeNiro. If you have an AUSSIE site to bet at, they might not change their lines accordingly. I'm talking 6 or 7 point moves sometimes on college totals. A nice edge, no? Heck, you can even bet middles if you want.

This is my first year since 1989 not taking football. It is a bittersweet feeling but I'm glad that part of my life is over. The game (sports betting) has changed too much and now almost favors the player instead of the bookie. I saw this gradual change coming about mid 1990's. Last year was the worst season the bookies ever had and I had to stop the bleeding, but I had already decided it was going to be my last year anyway as my daughter is now almost 3 and it would not be fair to spend every fall weekend tied to a phone and constantly working. IT IS THE HARDEST JOB I"VE EVER HAD. very time consuming and the phone is always ringing. Even when you are not manning the phone , you are out collecting and paying customers. The money made it worth it. I still always had a job and used the book as my second job(noticed I didn't say part time job.) I learned a lot of do's and dont's from taking all types of sports punters and I'm sure I can help somehow.

Another nice angle is first and second half betting on football. If you have a strong opinion on say a total in a game and the total is 42 you bet your side (we'll say under/42 points for $100). If you made a good play and the score is 7-3 at half, you have a choice to make. You can call the bookie and ask for the second half total (it's 24 say). if you bet over/24 in the second half, you have gotten yourself a nice 8 point middle for the total to end up between 34 and 42. It is an insurance bet with a huge chance of cashing both ways. I would usually bet less in the second half like this because I would get mad if I gave all my money back on a well thought out play in the first place. I did really well with this for a couple of seasons and have a book explaining it but I never have read it all the way through. Keep diligent records in an organized and legible manner. I have so many old racing forms around that I never know where look for stuff that I need, and this has cost me winners. Horses to watch that I've forgotten to write down for example. Use as many credible bookies as possible, and don't get lazy. Check all of them for line variations because that half point you think won't matter will end up making or breaking you in the long run. It's part of your advantage. Other people are lazy and don't research their games, if you do, you are half way home.


If you decide to start following the NFL, check out "winning points." It is a handicapping newsletter that breaks down each game in a very informed manner. you don't have to play their picks,although their best bets aren't bad, just read the info and stats they give. Even if you don't know anything about the NFL or college(especially)_I believe you can go in cold and still apply the wise guy method and half time betting system and do great. Or maybe you can apply some of these to the Aussie game. Good Luck

im gonna totally agree with you there on the shopping around with bookies for the handicap markets. Needless to say i havent learnt my lesson. I lost when the bulldogs couldnt beat the handicap market last years GF and just last week when i needed that 1 point which i could of gotten with another book maker in the knights dragons game.. Cost me.

Why didn't you take the point with the one book? Not busting your chops fan, just kinda of taking a poll. I've done it myself enough to understand that frustration when you realize it's going to come into play. And I don't even know what league your talking about. Is it Aussie Rules Football?

nrl.. dragons scored a late try and they had to kick the conversion..

well currently i have four book makers i use. On one of them i tend to have a losing streak going on there so i havent used that account in a while. tab sports bet on the other hand pays only 1.85 when i can get better value ranging from 1.90 to 2.00

Can i ask anyone who reads or posts in this forum. Do you ever withdraw winnings or have you ever withdraw winnings. I believe this is the first step in successful punting.

I always, repeat, always take the points over the divvie - always.

I too have felt the anguish of a narrow loss whilst chasing an extra 5 cents from a dividend. Didn't take me long to learn i tell ya!

Saratoga - i take it you be a big NFL fan? Hope so, any chance you would post some thoughts on each round during the season? I would love to follow NFL, of all the american sports, a little more closely. No presseure though!

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I like Bing Lee.

heres one of my biggest tips for sports punting as a job. Do take into account youve done the research youself rather than taking tips off people on forums and making a bet. I believe its your money,and you only have yourself to blame if the tips go wrong

Always withdraw winnings...keep your bank at a set amount..and dont be tempted to add to the bank during a rough trot,,,i find that when my bank starts dwindling i'm more selective and succesfully get back to the original amount..
After each 1/4 i then add a percentage (25%) of winnings to the bank,,
My goal is to have a bank of $100,000 using this method by the end of the next finiancial year..,,i'll then try being a fulltimer ..
hopefully with the extra time i'll have i'll look into sports betting more seriously as i can see mainly by this forum that it can be profitable..

this system has worked for me for the last 19 months or so ,,,i've never needed to top up my bank ..even after losing 30% during a hard time..

i also spend most of the winnings i've withdrawn..to alleviate temptation..
pay off the house , any loans or credit cards ..or put it aside for a trip to the World Cup cricket tournament in the West Indies in the near future,,