The following article is from Stan Sharp as told to (and posted by) a pregame.com staff writer. Stan is not willing to take time away from handicapping to write, but we convinced him to sit for an occassional interview that we'd convert into an article.

My name is Stan Sharp, and I am a Las Vegas professional bettor! There are various philosophies that can be followed when wagering on sports, but you'll find the one I follow gives you the best odds to winning. Some people like to wager on 2 or 3 games a day, and some like to wager on 7 or more games a day. The best percentage you have when wagering on sporting events is 50/50, and that occurs when you wager on just one sporting event. When you wager on a game against the line, you have a 50/50 chance of winning. But when a handicapper starts to break down the games and various factors that support one side that winning percentage expectation becomes much greater. As you wager on more games on the same day, your odds of winning go down. I make my play each day on just one game, and that's one of the key factors to my success and high winning percentage year after year. As more of my handicapping factors point to one side my one bet is no longer a 50/50 proposition. To win you need to be correct 52.4% of the time and my winning percentage is much higher than that. Just remember, the philosophy that suits you best in wagering should be the one that you're most comfortable with and the one that produces your biggest profit - not for that day, but for the entire week, month, season, and year.

Whichever philosophy you choose, the most important thing is to be consistent! You should never bounce around by playing 1 game today and 5 or 6 the next. If you're going to play just your best bet today, you should play just your best bet tomorrow and the next day also. Consistency and patience are 2 key factors to being a successful gambler. Don't panic and bounce from one philosophy to another if you have a bad day or two, or even a bad streak. You're going to have streaks, both good and bad. Don't get overconfident during the good streaks, and don't panic when in a bad streak. I look at every game on the card each day, and throughout the day I narrow my search for that one best bet by eliminating plays that may have conflicting factors that I take into consideration. I have certain handicapping factors I consider to be stronger than others, so as I weight my plays accordingly, I get a good feel as to the ones I want to keep and the ones I eliminate. I am constantly gathering information on the games I am considering for my one play for that day. Once I get my list down to 2 or 3 games, I know I have a couple of great contenders for that day's play. Each day I get to this point where I have 2 or 3 solid plays, the excitement builds, as I am in anticipation of another winning day!

 All that's left is to narrow this small list down to one the absolute best play on the day's card. I then watch the ...line moves based on smart money versus public money, updated injury reports, weather when it applies, and final reports from my various contacts across the country. It's now time to make my final decision and it's that game that I make a sizeable bet on! I then go to one of Vegas' many great restaurants have a nice dinner wait for the winning score, and get ready to start the same procedure again the next day ... win, lose, or draw!

Remember ... Patience and Consistency . . . it's the way of a professional - and the way I've made a living betting sports for over a decade. And now you can bet the exact same games as me.

Stan has agreed to only make his plays available here at pregame.com

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