A Professional Gambler

I don't think professional gamblers exist. While they might be knowledgeable enough to play well and better than others, the disease of gambling and contagiousness of gambling will result in loss. I've learnt a valuable lesson through a video game, gambling is like a disease, you keep coming back to it on the hope you will win, till you have lost completely even if you made profit at first. Stay away from it people.

 

Professional poker players are most certainly "professional gamblers". They make their living off of playing poker, receive sponsorships, and make public appearances based on their poker career. There is real money in poker.

 

I agree entirely with you, Dame6089.
I personally don't think I could be a gambler, it's just not for me. I much prefer to have a secure job I can rely on for a guaranteed income. I think you'd have to really enjoy it, and I have never looked into it at all. Outside of buying the lottery I have never gambled a day in my life.

 

I would like the money a professional gambler makes, I just don't know if I could have the nerves of steel required. I like the skill part, and that you have to pay attention and think quick on your feet. But you have to have the element of the poker face and the bluff too.

 

While that might be true, whether they're professional players or not, in the end gambling is kind of a disease and poison to the mind because of the temptation it brings. I have tried it but not in real life, as I don't want to risk myself being tempted to keep trying to win. I know that if these poker players kept losing money, and they had a little money they would keep going back and taking the risk thinking they would win but their professionalism isn't always guaranteed.

 

I have to disagree with you. While I am not a gambler myself, I know several people who are and they enjoy it as a form of entertainment. There are many people who have been able to stay cash neutral after years of gambling and that is amazing considering they are basically getting free entertainment. Like everything else in life, moderation is key.

 

This then isn't called "gambling" because the concept of "gambling" or the definition is:

1. play games of chance for money; bet.
2. take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

These are very important psychological factors, to place hope in a desired result while taking a risky action, which is what gambling is even if they are professional. If they don't play for money but for entertainment, I fail to see how it's gambling. It would just be a game, but when it involves risky action in the hope of a desired result, that's what gambling is, it will end up either in a great loss or a great win. But always, a great win leads to a greater loss because of the "desired result" that they will hope in.

 

I definitely don't have what it takes because I don't know when to stop and take bigger risks than I should. I lived in Las Vegas for ten years though and did know a couple of people who quit working to gamble full time. The only ones I knew who were successful at it played poker tournaments. I've tried a couple, but just don't have the patience. Tournaments take a lot of time, attention and patience.

 

There are full time professional gamblers out there who presumably are making a very good living from it but they are no more exempt from the pitfalls of it than the rest of it. They may have more skill and experience than the average amateur gambler to work the odds in their favour but in the end gambling will beat them. Gamblers always lose in the end no matter what.

Professional gamblers are more exposed to the pitfalls than the rest of us due to the lifestyle they lead, unless they are very disciplined by nature. They can succumb to alcohol or drug addiction in addition to their gambling habit or all three, i have known of it. I know i certainly wouldn't have the required level of nerve or discipline to be a successful gambler and anyway i think the words 'successful gambler' are a contradiction in terms, a gambler will ultimately lose.

 

Professional gambling can be great if you know what you are doing and you have the money to throw away at times. I have had loads of fun in the casino but have also realised that money goes very quickly and what I was saying no to in the stores could have been bought a hundred times over if I DIDNT GAMBLE, IT IS FUN THOUGH!

 

No, you are confusing what I am saying. The people I know who gamble regularly, are basically cash neutral. Of course they play for the money. But at the end of the day, if you gambled and didn't lose any money, then you basically got entertainment for free. Believe it or not, some people get a rush out of gambling and that is part of the reason people gamble in addition to the money.

 

I heard that when people calculate the average winnings of professional gamblers and the amount of investment and study that they have to go through (outside of the advertisement revenues), they ended up only ahead of average workers' salary. I forgot what show it was in and I don't really know whether their calculations were accurate too but I think the fact that advertisement revenue is a huge part of pros' income makes sense.

 

In my opinion, self-touted professional gamblers are average people feeling confident to have found a winning formula that mixes luck with mathematics.

My father, without being a professional gambler, used to know ahead on time how a dominoes match would score based on the remainder face-down tiles against those already drawn.

Some years ago I wrote on casino articles, and found that the house never loses, so the so-called professional gambler has to know until what extent he or she can place a winning bet to avoid having the house taking the money that otherwise he/she wants to take.

And this could be another difference between average gamblers and professional gamblers, an average gambler is always at risk to get hooked up in betting and developing gambling addiction, while a professional gambler knows the limits and stops when he or she has to do it in order to avoid a financial breakdown.

 

Professional gamblers probably stick to plan that in the LONG RUN earns them money. However, professional gamblers know that they can't win all the time and they can lose good amount of money at some point. Average gamblers will probably lose their mind at that point and instead of sticking to their method, they would go crazy and increase their wager or something stupid like that. From that TV show though (I can't confirm their calculations are correct), on average professional gamblers only earn only a little bit more compared to typical office workers. It is because those losses that cancel out their winnings.

 

I wouldn't see why they would get a rush out of gambling without taking any risks. Risks is usually what gives a rush, besides, the general idea behind gambling, professional or not, it's not such a good example for society I believe. I think that "professionals" might be good and better than others, but if they get caught into the addiction of winning money till they lose all, they won't be any different from non professional gamblers.

 

The risk is the rush! I think we just disagree on risks. I think there are reasonable risks. Like I said, I am not a gambler, but I know plenty of people who gamble for fun. Just because you gamble doesn't mean that you are going into extreme debt and ruining your life. While some people do this, many people just gamble casually and don't win or lose a lot of money. Then of course, you have the people who are pro gamblers like poker players.

 

I might agree on this point, but in the long run, I would still have to say that these people are more vulnerable than us non players because they're exposed to that environment more and it's sort of like a way of life to them. I think they could be vulnerable to it, so it is still a risk to be a professional gambler.