You’ve heard stories about people winning millions of dollars at a time. But you’ve also heard stories of people losing it all almost just as quickly. And all of this has really just left you wondering: can gambling be profitable?
With gambling being as popular a hobby as it is, most people will probably tell you that it isn’t a good way to make money. After all, it’s estimated that around 94 million Americans gamble on a regular basis but very few of them will tell you that they actually walked away with money after a gaming session.
However, very often, you’ll find that there are several reasons for contributing to the fact that most people land up being losers rather than winners. We have a look at a few of the factors that impact your gambling profitability down below.
3 Factors Impacting Gambling Profitability
1. Your Game Choice
So, a lot of players fail to realize how important choosing the right game to play can be in being profitable while gambling. If you only play progressive slot games, it really is no wonder why you probably have never walked away with some winnings. These games provide you with a one in a million chance of getting that jackpot.
If you really want to walk away with winnings, what you would be doing is looking for games with a lower house edge. Roulette, craps and blackjack are such games. You may not win millions of dollars with small bets but you have a chance of building your winnings over time.
Similarly, with sports betting, you should always stick to betting on sports you know, understand and actually follow. If you’re a football fan and don’t know anything about basketball, you shouldn’t be betting on basketball, even if the football season is over.
2. Your Betting Patterns
So, above we said that games like roulette, craps and blackjack are great to play if you are looking for some consistent gains. Well, this is only true if you are making bets that reduce your risk of losing.
Roulette and craps offer you the chance to make even money bets. But these games also offer you the chance to make dumb bets that you are really unlikely to win. You could choose to go into a game of roulette with a red or black bet that pays out 1/1 but also practically gives you a 50/50 chance of winning.
Or, you could choose to go into the same game with a bet on a single number, which pays out 35/1 because players almost never win with this wager. We’re not saying that you shouldn’t try your luck on a risky wager every now and again. However, if you only make these bets, you are probably not going to see returns on a regular basis.
In addition, you should always stick to the golden rule of betting a maximum of 10% of your bankroll on a single wager. If you go all-in on a dumb bet that is high-risk/high reward, chances are you will be waiting till your next deposit to gamble again.
3. Greed
A lot of players don’t know when to walk away from a good thing. They keep playing on a winning streak and sometimes don’t stop when their winning streak comes to an end. And, this is a problem if you are trying to make gambling a profitable hobby.
Gambling games are all chance-based, so you always walk in to a game with a chance that you will win or a chance that you will lose. If you are lucky enough to find yourself on a winning streak, you need to adjust your strategy to accommodate your winnings and remember to stick to a reliable betting pattern.
So, let’s say you have managed to turn $100 into $1000 during a session because you are on a hot streak. You need to set a low and high limit for when you will walk away from the game. So, for example, you could say that you won’t let your bankroll go lower than $500 after you have won $1000. Similarly, you could say that you are going to stop the game session if your bankroll reaches $5000.
Setting limits helps you retain your winnings. We know that everybody wants to win more money and that if you quit on a winning streak, you’ll wonder how far you could’ve gone. However, the alternative to stopping while it’s good is being forced to stop because you have nothing left.
So, Can Gambling Be Profitable?
Yes, gambling can be profitable. You just need to maintain a level-head during a gaming session. Don’t get wrapped up in greed or the idea of how much you could win by making certain bets with ridiculous odds.
Instead, focus on a slow and steady game in which you incrementally increase your bet size and reduce it when you lose. This way you will be able to make sure that you have the best chance of walking away with at least something.
