How Much Can You Win by Betting
One of the most frequently asked questions regarding sports betting is how much money you can make out of this activity. And the answer is more complex than a certain sum. That’s because there are different circumstances to take into account, like the stakes, the punter’s expertise, the odds, and so on. For example, the Betfair Cheltenham Festival offer is very popular among betters and horse racing lovers because it gives enough information which can make your betting experience more enjoyable and interesting!
A very high percentage of bettors fail to make a profit in the first year of betting, and many of them give up. So if you ask any of them, they’ll tell you it’s impossible to make money from sports betting. On the other hand, if you ask a seasoned pro, they’ll say you can actually make a decent living out of it. But even for professional punters, the profit depends on the amount wagered and the type of bets they make.
However, for any gambler out there, successful betting, and especially sports betting, is not about picking winners and getting them right out of luck. It’s a lot more than that, as you have to be a math pro and know your probabilities better than the bookmakers.
In case you don’t know yet, most bookies calculate the odds offered to bettors so that they get a 5% to 10% profit on every bet people place. So think about it this way: if you bet $100, you just decided to part with $5 or $10. Moreover, the bookies’ calculate their odds in such a way so that their books are always balanced and their profit is guaranteed.
For instance, in a tennis match where the contending athletes have equal chances of winning, the bookies won’t offer you even money; 5/6 odds are more likely in this case, meaning that regardless of the outcome of the match, the bookie wins. If you decide to place a $10 bet on the winner, you make profit too, but you don’t double your money, you get only $8.30 plus your initial $10 stake.
You need luck to win a bet, we don’t deny this fact, but winning consistently is only possible with some math skills and hard work. That’s why it is paramount to keep in mind that sports bets are profitable on the long run, and in order to make some money, you just have to win 55% of your wagers.
So the simple answer to the initial question in this article is that, in the betting world, you can make as much money as you stand to lose. It all depends on your math abilities, your consistency and patience.
That’s the general trick behind betting successfully on the long run and making a career out of it. But there are also lucky people who won huge amounts of money on a single occasion, with small stakes, and their stories reached the media and were told to the public, making everyone believe that betting is some kind of pot of gold.
In 1999, a man called Mick Gibbs who worked as a roofer in day-to-day life wagered £2.50 on football betting and got the winners right for nine games across Europe, thus easily making £157,000.
In 2011, a very loyal baseball fan bet on his favorite team, though they hardly had any chances of becoming world champions, and his faith paid off. The anonymous fan predicted that St. Louis Cardinals would become the World Series champions at odds of 999. He placed a $125 bet and won $375,000.