Professional Sports Betting

Gambler X is a professional sports bettor who makes his living betting legally in Las Vegas. He has agreed to share insights and experiences in the betting industry but prefers anonymity to keep his edge against the sportsbooks.

I am a professional gambler in my mid-30s, based in Las Vegas. Although I dabble in a variety of gambling ventures, sports betting is my bread and butter. For the past five years, it has been my family's main source of income, fed and clothed my children and allowed my wife to go back to school to finish her education. It has given me the type of personal and professional freedom that I try not to take for granted.

Sports betting is my primary investment and wealth driver. Getting 200% a year when stocks or real estate give you 6-12% in a good year is a no-brainer. Originally I only started with 5% of our portfolio in this alternative asset class, but with the guidance and simplicity of the GBT model we now have over 40% of our entire portfolio in-play in. Section 1: Sports Betting as an Investment Making Money by Betting on Sports. Most people think that sports betting is about finding ‘sure things,’ but in reality such ‘locks’ are nothing more than gamblers’ fancy. Just as in real estate, currency, stocks, or any other speculative market, ‘sure things’ simply do not exist.

The life of a professional sports bettor is filled with worry. Imagine busting your butt all day, only to have the difference between a winning and losing day decided by a two-point conversion in a preseason game (that happened to me a couple of times this year). Sometimes those bad days turn into bad weeks, which turn into bad months ... which turn into bad years. It's impossible to not go at least a little crazy from time to time. It's basically a job requirement.

The worst part of it is that the day-to-day variance isn't my main concern anymore. What really keeps me up at night is the fear of losing my edge. I've been asked many times what my biggest fears are for the future of sports betting, and my answer is always the same: change.

Nevada was a bubble, and it was nearly impossible for a U.S. citizen to make a living betting sports (at least legally) unless he or she lived here. But with legalized sports betting now in five states (and counting), that change is here.

And I'm not happy about it.

I was 18 years old when I made my first sports bet. It was with a bookie (gasp) in the small midwestern town where I grew up. I was spending most of my days grinding away in an underground poker game, in which the only thing more common than a bookie was a broke degenerate trying to place a bet with him.

It didn't take me long to figure out that all the bookies were doing was adding a few points to all the local teams, just locking in value. But if you tried to take the other side, they would cut you off after a few bets. What's a young man trying to find an edge supposed to do?

My answer was to start taking bets myself.

I undercut the market by offering the same numbers as everyone else but not charging juice. By offering all my bets at even money, I quickly became the favorite bookie of every casual bettor in town.

It was a worthwhile venture, but it didn't make me rich by any means -- and I still didn't really understand much of anything about sports betting. I did understand that being a local bookie was a terrible way to try to make a living and that moving to Vegas to try to make a living being a professional gambler was probably not my best idea. But it had to be more fun than spending the rest of my life in a dreary midwestern town. And I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try to make it in Sin City.

My big break was that the one guy I knew who lived in Vegas had a similar idea and was already way more successful than I could ever dream of being. I was lucky that he was willing to show me the ropes and that I picked it up quickly. My earliest memory of being a pro sports bettor in Vegas is driving 40 minutes north of The Strip to pick off bad numbers at the then-independent Aliante sportsbook -- nearly every single afternoon.

Being a professional sports bettor is a lot more than just picking winners. It's about getting action down with casinos that actively go out of their way to deny your bets or ban you from the sportsbook entirely. It's about getting five figures on a game and not moving the line. It's about finding an edge and pushing that edge hard enough that you make a great living but not hard enough that the sportsbooks figure out where they are screwing up.

All of that might sound easy -- and to a certain extent it is in Vegas, where there are so many casinos and gamblers that it's easy to stay anonymous -- but it takes time and plenty of patience. And it has gotten harder in Vegas.

The number of sportsbooks here that offer mobile apps has basically tripled. And while my bet sizes have quadrupled, my edge has decreased. It's well documented that most books are banning winners, but my edge has decreased for other reasons. As much as everyone wants to make fun of them, sportsbooks are getting sharper. They are making fewer and fewer egregious errors and doing a better job of staying in line with the sharper overseas markets.

I used to be able to see a bet that was out of line with the market, hop in the car and go grab it with ease. Those days are long gone -- and will never come back.

Now that legal sports betting has spread to other states, there are more variables and more information to learn.

Legalization means more places for sharp bettors to sneak bets through without moving the market. More casinos sharing liquidity and information to stay one step ahead of bettors. More jurisdictions and hodgepodge shops where one is the majority owner, but lines are set by another, and software is provided by a third. It's just more stuff to make my life miserable.

And it means I've been traveling all over this summer on fact-finding missions.

I've visited Delaware, New Jersey and Mississippi to see how things are run. I traveled all over to test out the new markets. I pushed them hard. A lot of bets at max limits, just testing every place over and over again with the idea of trying to find some place outside of Nevada that would be sustainable for a professional bettor longer-term. I haven't been particularly impressed.

Take Dover Downs in Delaware, for example. The book is owned by the state lottery, and William Hill sets the lines and decides what bets to take for a very small percentage of profits. This strategy leads to dealing one-way lines, on which they are taking action on only one side and then banning anyone William Hill in Las Vegas deems likely to win money. If the State of Delaware is the primary beneficiary from the sports book, then shouldn't it be required to offer a fair system in which anyone can play?

In Mississippi, I mostly targeted MGM properties. The staff were friendly, and they took big bets with no issues. But as I suspected, they mostly mirror MGM Las Vegas' lines, so there is no real opportunity for me.

And New Jersey? It was supposed to be the golden goose, but there have been several hiccups. Don't even get me started on the recent FanDuel fiasco.

For me, independent books that set their own lines and manage their own risk are the lifeblood of my business. They mean more chances to pick off bad lines, opportunities to arbitrage and more places I can go fire the same bet at the number I want. Of all my travels to the new states, the most disheartening thing to me was how few of those opportunities were out there.

Professional Sports Betting For A Living

The manager at every sportsbook I visited is underqualified and doesn't make a move without checking with the bosses in Vegas first. They aren't really aware that for someone who does this for a living, one tiny mistake or moment of complacency can cost big time.

There are a few lucrative spots in these other states, but the cost to exploit them is so prohibitive that I'm better off crawling back to the desert and trying to gather the facts about the new and ever-changing environment.

That's just the glamorous life of a sports bettor.

The United States is one of the strictest countries in the world when it comes to gambling laws. Out of the entire gambling spectrum, sports betting has undoubtedly had the most setbacks. Discrepancies in federal/state laws, failed legislative attempts, and a tug-of-war with the major domestic sports leagues has left the industry stagnant. However, the latter is the most frustrating part of the ordeal, because the government would be more inclined to lift the ban on sports betting if the leagues rallied behind it.

Even more frustrating - some of the leagues’ representatives have stated on record that they would welcome a regulated sports betting industry. So why hasn’t sports betting been legalized yet? Well, in terms of the US sports leagues, words have failed to transition into actions, pigeonholing the market.

Sports betting is a billion-dollar industry and millions of Americans participate in some form of sports betting annually, whether through legally sanctioned offshore sportsbooks or illegal means. No matter the numbers, there is no denying that the US sports leagues have the power to make a significant impact in the case for sports gambling legislation, they will just need to first get over themselves to make that happen.

NBA Draws Backcourt Violation On Sports Betting Stance

The NBA was the first major league to come out in support of legal sports betting in the United States. In 2014, Commissioner Adam Silver penned an op-ed in the New York Times calling for a change in sports betting laws. Silver notes his organization’s own hypocrisy by saying the NBA has opposed sports gambling for over two decades. However, he also addresses the changing gambling landscape and how there seems to be more widespread acceptance of gambling nationwide.

Silver is aware of how much money is already spent within the industry and wants Congress to implement strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards. Some of his suggestions include “mandatory monitoring and reporting of unusual betting-line movements; a licensing protocol to ensure betting operators are legitimate; minimum-age verification measures; geo-blocking technology to ensure betting is available only where it is legal; mechanisms to identify and exclude people with gambling problems; and education about responsible gambling.”

While all this sounds very nice, Silver has yet to act upon any of his writings. The main irony of his piece is that he mentions the NJ sports betting case—where NJ tried to pass a law authorizing sports betting that was met by a lawsuit from the major sports leagues, including the NBA—yet the NBA is still involved with the case. If Silver were serious about sports betting reform, he should pull the league out of the lawsuit and make a stance on sports betting that other leagues can follow through on.

NFL Commissioner Flagged For Inconsistencies

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is arguably one of the most hated figures in American sports. Goodell seems to be all over the place regarding league issues like sports betting, drug use and code of conduct violations, and fans are tired of his back-and-forth. Goodell has been the most vehement opponent of legalizing sports betting, citing concerns over the integrity of the game as his main issue. However, a regulated sports betting market would provide more transparency between bettors and sportsbooks, altogether creating a better environment.

The league does not seem to have a problem with Daily Fantasy Sports operators like DraftKings and FanDuel. There are franchises in the NFL that have business partnerships with the two DFS providers. NFL owners also unanimously approved the Oakland Raiders relocating to Las Vegas, the one place in the country where single-game sports betting is legal. The Raiders are set to get a brand new stadium that could technically play host to mobile sports betting—and the NFL would have a hard time doing anything about it. The fact that the NFL is launching a franchise in the sports betting capital of the country while still not embracing sports gambling is the epitome of hypocrisy.

Goodell is remaining stubborn in his opposition to regulated sports betting, but the NJ sports betting case could push the NFL towards legalization. Couple in the potential business partnerships between the Raiders organization and Las Vegas casinos and you have a recipe for some administrative changes. Some believe Goodell is just too stuck in to give up on his dated stance on sports betting, but if things keep moving in the direction they are, and if New Jersey wins their lawsuit, he will have no choice but to sing a different tune.

Major League Baseball Waiting In Dugout

The MLB has been the second-most vocal organization regarding sports betting legalization. Commissioner Rob Manfred has said on record that his league is “reexamining” their stance on sports betting. Manfred believes a regulated sports betting framework will help boost fan engagement and we may as well regulate the market because it already exists.

However, Manfred is just as guilty as the NBA in that his league’s presence in the NJ sports betting lawsuit contradicts their supposed stance on the issue. Manfred said he would meet with each individual MLB team owner to discuss the possibility of a sports betting framework. With US sports betting, progress is progress, so it is hard to be mad at a commissioner for stating on record he would be looking at the issue. The inactivity after so much time is what complicates things. If Manfred and Silver could join forces, other leagues would likely follow suit.

NHL Putting Issue On Ice

The NHL has been the quietest regarding sports gambling. They have made public statements in the past about it being bad for sports, but the NHL joins the NFL is launching a franchise in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights are a new franchise set to represent Sin City in the upcoming season. The same situation applies to the NHL as does the NFL. Sports betting is legal in Nevada, meaning residents and visitors will be able to walk into brick-and-mortar sportsbooks to place bets on games. They could also place bets on their mobile devices (most casinos have downloadable apps).

While the NHL and other leagues have a lot of sway with sports betting, they have no legal power, so they would not be able to stop wagers from being placed. The National Hockey League’s involvement with the NJ sports betting case marks their stance, but they too may be forced to adopt a new philosophy in the coming months.

Breaking News - NCAA Still Greedy

Professional Sports Betting For A Living

Aside from the NFL, the NCAA has been the most outspoken against sports betting. This is not surprising coming from an organization that makes millions of college athletes without paying back a dime to them. The NCAA has actually gone so far as to purposefully not host any tournaments in the state of Oregon, one of four exempted from PASPA, to force the state to halt their Sports Action betting system.

This is a clear demonstration of the power these sports leagues have on the market. You can find NCAA betting lines in most legal sportsbooks, so again, the market is there. It is almost surprising that the NCAA wouldn’t try to weasel their way into getting some revenue off the billion-dollar industry. The NCAA will certainly not make any advancements unless forced to do so.

All Eyes On New Jersey

UPDATE 5/14/2018: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey and the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act has been deemed unconstitutional and is therefore repealed. The ban on state-regulated sports betting has been lifted and individual states are now free to pass legislation to legalize or prohibit sports gambling within their borders. This also changes the application of the Federal Wire Act which now only prohibits interstate wagering, or in other words, betting across state lines. How this will affect those states who have entered into interstate gambling compacts is unclear at this time.

Professional Sports Betting In Las Vegas

This article has alluded to the NJ sports betting case several times, but that is because it is of pressing importance. If New Jersey wins the case, PASPA will likely be repealed and will allow other states the opportunity to introduce legal sports betting. The case has moved through the federal court system all the way up to the Supreme Court. The fact that SCOTUS took the case on (even after the acting Solicitor General advised not to) is a positive sign for New Jersey.

Best Online Football Betting Sites

Proceedings are expected to formally begin later this year. It seems all the major leagues are waiting to see how the case unfolds before jumping over to the pro-sports betting bandwagon. This approach is a waste of time and tax dollars, especially if the court rules in favor of NJ, but such is the way of American politics—delaying the inevitable. The case is expected to carry into 2018, but if New Jersey wins, expect a swift wave of sports gambling legislation as many US states will attempt to legalize sports betting.

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