Our Top 10 Professional Gambler Tips for [2024]

Becoming a successful professional gambler is no easy feat and doing so takes dedication, courage and of course a little sprinkling of luck. Some lucky players have managed to turn their gambling hobbies into lucrative careers, with the keys to success being strict with your discipline and sticking to a core set of rules.

There is no barrier to entry, although being a whizz at math and thinking quickly on your feet will hold you in good stead. Here we’ve put together our top 10 professional gamblers tips to help you decide whether you’ve got what it takes.

• Study, study, study
• Carefully focus on one game
• Control your emotions
• Practice bankroll management
• Treat gambling like a business
• Know when to stop
• Exercise patience
• Maintain your motivation
• Enjoy your life away from gambling
• Do it because you enjoy it

1. Study, study, study

You need to accept that online gambling won’t all be wins and good times – playing casino games has its ups and downs for even the best players. Keeping fair and accurate expectations is important, while always considering yourself as a student of the game and learning as much as possible is a pivotal approach.

You obviously need to know the rules of any game you are seriously playing inside out, while finding out your own strengths and weaknesses is a huge advantage. If you want to go down the sports betting route then you’ll need to keep on top of any news relating to your chosen sports, while poker players can study their opponents and calculate odds of potential hands.

Studying is so important because only with knowledge can you make the best decisions possible in the moment and maximize your chances of winning. There’s also the opportunity to refine your skills and improve your knowledge, as learning the statistics and trends around your chosen areas will give you the inside track. A good professional gambler will never stop studying during their career, while a great one will become obsessive about learning.

2. Carefully focus on one game

Especially at the start it is key to focus on just one game and become a master at it. If you think slot games are the one for you then you probably need to reconsider that approach already as in the long run that’s a sure fire way to lose all your cash. Instead opt for table games like blackjack, roulette or poker where you can leverage your skills to overcome your opponents and the dealer to glory. Although these games all still rely hugely on luck, your decision making has a much bigger part to play in whether you end up winning or not.

Poker involves a lot of skill and is probably the most common route to go down for successful professional gamblers, particularly with the number of tournaments that take place around the world and on online gambling sites every year. It’s a strategic game that involves lots of mind games and offers players the chance to read the tells of their opponents and the dealer. Practice as much as possible – whether that is playing for free online or with your friends – before you start putting any real money on the line.

3. Control your emotions

One of the biggest differences between professional gamblers and those who play just for fun is being able to leave your emotions at the door. As a professional, your betting decisions have to be based on cold, hard logic as there is no room for sentiment in the gambling world. Give up on any superstitions you have now as although lucky charms and comforting rituals may feel good but they don’t help you win.

Of course having a lucky poker chip in your pocket isn’t going to harm your chances and if it brings you extra confidence then great, but just don’t let superstitions guide your decisions as they can easily veer you off track. If you are a pro poker player and you exhibit your emotions, your opponents will see this as a weakness and know how to take advantage of it. Even a flicker of anger, anxiety or poor confidence can be read by others and by controlling your emotions you will improve your ability to bluff and think strategically. Every single decision you make as a professional gambler must be made with your brain and never your heart.

4. Practice bankroll management

Money management is one of the most important attributes to master for most successful gamblers. Even if you are one of the most talented gamblers ever, if you don’t have an effective bankroll management strategy that you can stick to you’ll never succeed. Working on good money management habits will help you maximize your winnings and ensure you make the most from every bet you place.

All of your winnings and losses directly impact and are impacted by your bankroll, so firstly you must keep your gambling bankroll separate from your regular money. A smart approach might be to withdraw some of your profits as you play whilst leaving a healthy amount left over to use for future bets. Failing to remove profits might see you wager too much at a certain point and lose all your capital, resulting in an early night.

Even as a pro you must always bet within your means – never bet more than you can afford to lose. Keep to your budgets and within betting limits and remember even if it’s tempting to chase back losses the likelihood is that you will just end up in a bigger hole.

5. Treat gambling like a business

When you’re casually playing casino games or placing sports wagers you can enjoy the thrill of the chase without any need to focus on the serious elements of gambling. However, if you are set on becoming a professional gambler you need to treat every spin and bet with devotion, as if it is your business. Creating a business plan as you would with any other venture is a solid idea, as well as understanding why you are going into this. Is it just to bolster your income or do you want it to be a full-time job?

If you want to be successful, then you need to prepare for total commitment. That might look like watching five basketball matches a day or spending hours studying your opponents for nuggets of information you can use when playing against them.

6. Know when to stop

Gambling can be risky business, if you indeed decide to make it a business. Playing cards with your friends and winning might feel good, but it’s totally different in a real casino. Online casinos allow you to experience the thrill of games like blackjack, poker or roulette with a live dealer holding court, but even in the comfort of your own home this isn’t an endeavor everyone can handle. If you have issues with discipline, concentration or focus then becoming a professional gambler may not be the right career path for you to take.

Knowing when to stop is possibly the most important facet to the practice of being successful in these sorts of arenas – utilizing that ‘clutch’ management to get out when the going is good. The phrase in the UK says ‘when the fun stops stop’. That is a little reductive in this setting, but knowing how to exit any game when you are up is crucial. Chasing losses, continuing to play believing your luck is just about to change or battening down the hatches and not listening to your partners or reading the room won’t serve you well. Just trust us on this one.

7. Exercise patience

They say patience is a virtue and when it comes to online gambling this is totally true, as those who expect instant wins are bound to be disappointed. Of course we’ve all read about the lucky so-and-sos who won millions on practically their first spin of a roulette wheel, but the reason these stories make the news is that they are astoundingly rare. You need to be prepared to put in a hell of a lot of time and effort into any game before you can start to yield significant results.

Commitment to the craft is one of the key aspects that differentiate those who play for fun to those who play to win. You shouldn’t expect to see big wins in the first days, weeks or even months of your professional gambling career. Perhaps even the first year is a learning curve. True success in this field will be seen over the course of a number of years, when all your hard work and time can bear the fruits of your labor.

8. Maintain your motivation

The grind of playing games online for a job can take its toll on even the best players, even if you love the game in question. Professional gambling can be quite a lonely existence at times as by its very nature it isn’t exactly a social endeavor. So you’ll need to be able to find different ways to push through the regular spells of monotony to sustain your motivation to not only keep playing effectively but maintain winning.

Improving different aspects of your game is a great way to stay motivated in the long run, which might involve going on courses or reading new strategies for gamblers. Whatever it takes to keep you present and focused and stop you from slipping into any bad habits or routines that could cause you to lose motivation and discipline.

The excitement of improving your knowledge is one route to go down, whilst you might also benefit from talking to other gamblers about how they maintain their motivation. Building a trusted network of peers who you can exchange advice with could be very beneficial in the long term and help you pick up little tricks and tips along the way.

9. Enjoy your life away from gambling

We don’t want to come across as too philosophical here, but you must never forget that there is more to life than online gambling. Having a full personal life away from the poker table or roulette wheel is important for longevity and you must always be wary of the potential pitfalls associated with gambling. Gambling addiction is a very real threat and the sheer number of horror stories should put everyone on alert that it is something that could affect them.

There’s a fine line between being obsessive about your craft and learning every angle to the game you are playing and never being satisfied with your wins and losing control when you lose. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a great way to keep your mind and body in good shape, but will also directly help you manage the rollercoaster of emotions that can come with professional gambling.

Nurturing your relationships away from the casino is important as you will want to share your successes with friends and family – and will need them when you suffer setbacks. Having many positive hobbies and interests is also useful to ensure you don’t spend too much of each day gambling.

10. Do it because you enjoy it

Hopefully you are attracted to online gambling because you enjoy the process – you like to gamble and you are totally aware of the consequences. You can control yourself in this environment and feel secure. Basically you need to do it because you enjoy it not because you see it as a way of making money – your easy meal ticket to wealth.

If you have issues with spinning the reels, turning over the cards or adding up to 21 then casino games are just not for you, regardless of your mathematical abilities or prowess in playing socially. You need to have a passion for gambling to become a successful gambler, one that makes money and doesn’t waste it. Hopefully, this guide equipped you with the confidence (or acceptance) that you will make the right decision.