by Anthony Megna

Created on: January 23, 2012   Last Updated: June 04, 2012

To make money at gambling, it's important to see how the professionals do it, after all, they earn their living from this unique profession. What is the difference between the professional gambler and the recreational gambler and how can one make money at gambling? Discipline. Simply put, the professional earns his or her living by gambling in a disciplined manner as well as adhering to a strict money management edict. The recreational gambler is one who is gambling for the fun of it, hoping to win but not having to depend upon it to pay the rent.

The question is how do the professionals do it? How do they make money by gambling and not lose it? This is a question that doesn't really have one answer to it, even though having the discipline to be a pro is at the top of the list. A good example of gambling discipline is not steaming (betting way over your head and not with it) when losing a bet. This is  the critical difference between a professional and the amateur gambler. When the professional bets, he or she realizes that no bet is etched in stone, as there are no guarantees. The amateur gambler is so convinced that he can't lose that when he does he tries to get even by betting more the next time. The latter is a sure ticket to the poor house!

Making money gambling means studying the odds. Trying to figure out the correct odds for any bet and wagering based upon the profit potential of any given wager. For instance, when wagering on an outcome in the super bowl, the professional should have all the latest information about both teams in the contest. Even though there might be some partial allegiance to the home team, if the visiting team has a better chance to win, that is the team the pro is going to wager on. The amateur will bet on his beloved home team no matter what the odds say! Right there the amateur has let his heart decide what his head should realize, that emotions have no part in this profession.

In order to make money gambling, one must have the proper bankroll to start with. Gambling cities like Las Vegas thrive on people who have too little time and not enough capital to bet with. When playing with "scared money", the pressure to win the bet is much too great. That is why a poker player who is playing in a game way above his threshold can't win in the long run. He or she is afraid to bet when he should bet, and as a result the professional poker player can bluff him or her every time out of the pot. When money doesn't mean that much, losing just isn't as painful. But when that money is needed to put food on the table, the decision-making process gets clouded by the emotions of the wager.

It's always an amazing thing to witness the professional gambler who loses a huge amount of money laughing it off. How can they laugh when they just lost a bet the size of someones annual income? Because money just doesn't mean that much to the pro when it comes to the wager. They realize there will be other opportunities in the future, and they know that deep down they have the best of it going in and sooner or later they will win the money in the end. There is a saying among the professional gamblers..."Money won is much sweeter than money earned". Nothing in the world of gambling is closer to the truth!

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