Practical steps to earning £3,000 per month from betting on football

[Datapunter]

The thread actually starts at post # 2 can't delete it as that would delete the whole thread, please start reading from post #2 sorry.

[MPLouis]

Practical steps to earning £3,000 per month from betting on football This thread was partly inspired by my own experiences and ideas, and partly by the infamous 'The reality of sports betting/trading for a living' thread ... http://forum.punterslounge.com/threads/130186-The-reality-of-sports-betting-trading-for-a-living I've been betting on football for a few years now, and have had successes and failures along the way. I've experienced trying to get an edge, and struggled with staking and discipline. If possible, I'd like to make enough from betting to live on. For me, £3,000 per month is enough to live on. For others it might not be enough, but it's a useful amount anyway. And of course, in the UK at least, it's tax free :) I'd like to analyse some of the steps required to earning the above amount, including acquiring an 'edge', bank required, bookmakers, staking (bet frequency and size) and discipline. Step 1 - Get an edge over the market In the long-term, everyone is competing in the same market, and to win, you have to get a decent 'edge' over everyone else. For the purpose of this exercise, let's say that you have been betting for a few years, and established enough of an edge over the market to give you 10% profit. Step 2 - How much do you need to stake each month? So, you want to earn £3,000 per month, and your bets produce 10% profit ('yield'). That means you need to stake a total of £30,000 per month to earn an average of £3,000 profit at 10% margin. Step 3 - Bet size and frequency You are betting £30,000 per month to produce £3,000 profit per month. How many bets will you have and how big will each bet be? One simple option would be to have one bet a day, which means each bet would be for £1,000 (30 x £1,000 = £30,000). Step 4 - Betting bank required In my experience, it is necessary to limit your stakes to a small percentage of your 'betting bank' to minimize the risk of 'going bust'. I usually try to stick to a maximum of 2% of bank per bet. That means, even if I lose 10 bets in a row, I have only lost 20% of my bank. If I was betting 10% of my bank each time, I would make more money in a good run, but 10 losers in a row would completely bankrupt me. So, let's say that I am betting 2% of bank each time, and my stake is £1,000. That means I need a bank of (100/2) x £1,000 = 50 x £1,000 = £50,000. Step 5 - Bookmakers Which bookmakers will allow you to have bets of £1,000? As far as I know, most of them. But at least some will have a maximum 'win' amount and depending on the odds of your bet, this might mean you can't stake £1,000. Another question is - which bookmakers will allow you to make a regular profit without being severely restricted? As far as know, very few ;) In practice, you could start off with well-know UK bookmakers. But if you make a regular profit, you will probably either regularly have to open new accounts or stick to bookmakers who don't operate a restrictive policy - such as Pinnacle, sbo and Betfair. Step 6 - Discipline Let's say you are managing to place thirty x £1,000 bets per month at 10% profit, and are earning £3,000 per month. How can you be sure you will carry on doing this? What if you have a losing run and lose 10 bets in a row. WIll you be tempted to double your stake to try to 'win it back'? Or if you win 10 bets in a row, will you be tempted to double your stake to double your winnings? Does your ego need to win constantly for you to feel good? Do you HAVE to win a bet because you need the money? Can you relax if you have a bad betting week? Most gamblers have problems with disclipine, and what you makes you think you are any different? Step 7 - The rewards If you CAN sustain some discipline, using the above example, the good news is that, if you are making £3,000 per month from a starting bank of £50,000, you would eventually make £36,000 in a year - an annual profit of 72%. If you can keep that sort of return going, you could do very well ... What do you think? What's your experience? Is it realistic to try to make £3,000 profit per month from betting on football? Have you done it yourself? (I've seen posts from people saying they know of people who make £250,000 per year from betting - quoting 'trading and arbing'). If you want to make serious money, is it better to get into arbing than straight betting? How do 'professionals' do it? How much money do you need to start with, and how often and how much do you bet? No matter how good you are, how do minimise your risk of bankruptcy AND make serious money without having a huge bank to start with? What is your experience of trying to make decent returns from betting? Did you win for a while and did things go wrong? Have you heard of other people making a good living from betting? How do they do it? All ** contributions welcome ** Note: The thread management committee for this thread has declared a preference for positive and constructive comments :D