I want to take a minute and respond to a question that was asked by one of my clients in my daily forum thread...and after seeing a few more people respond and ask my opinion on the topic, I thought that it was definately worth discussing more thoroughly. The question was : How do I take out Profit and pay myself as a sports bettor ?? Now please keep in mind that we each have different obligations and responsibilities, as well as lifestyles...so I think that a different plan of action may be needed based on individual goals, but since the question asked what I did in particular, I thought I would share it with you...

Because I was brought into the business working under men who were more successful than myself, I realized that the best thing for me to do was try and follow their lead. So I would ask as much as I could about money management and was actually trying to come up for an answer to the very question we are discussing today...because I was hoping to increase my bankroll, but at the same time, provide a decent living for myself. And that is when I found out why so few sports bettors are actually able to make a living doing this...because unfortunately, one of the main characteristics in most sports bettors, is definately not "discipline"...and since being a professional sports bettor means that you are a self-employed business owner, it takes a lot more discipline than you could ever imagine...

The discipline to do the right thing when you are winning and losing...the discipline to follow your very own plan...and the discipline to be the CEO and CFO of your investment/business...That is how it was explained to me, and I was told that if I plan on doing this as my means to make a living, then I was going to have to be willing to work extremely long hours, for very little pay...but that my sacrifice will eventually be rewarded. That was very difficult at the start because I had a family to take care of an many other obligations and people who depended on me. But I also was able to see how these men were rewarded for this work, and I was willing to sacrifice to get there...

What I did in the begining is start with an original bankroll...that bankroll was my "Business"...and that business was not going to interfere with any other finances that I may have had...So I decided after speaking with a few of the sharper guys who I knew for fact had done extremely well and from their idea's, I formed a plan that best suited my needs....I decided that I would not increase my wagers at all until I lived through, I believe, 2 seasons of each sport...but at the conclusion of 3 months, I sat down and checked my accounts, and if there was profit...I decided based on my life at the time, exactly how much I was going to put back into the business, so that its net worth would increase, which meant mine would also....and then I also decided to take out a very small %, somewhere around 5-10%, for expenses...those expenses where anything from pens and ink, to web-sites and information. Because I had been in the game long enough, and have been in Vegas long enough to know that if I had money to invest in information..there were definately aquirable sources. I would also decide what I was going to pay myself for my work in those 3 months...because what is the point of working, if you aren't going to get paid ?? I mean I wasn't doing this for the fun of it, regardless of how much I enjoyed it...

Now what you need to realize is this...I had done nothing but this before in my life, and I went from bookmaking, to betting steam for sharps, to eventually betting for myself. And I know that for most of my clients, thats not the case and they have other jobs and responsibilities and therefore, this becomes more of an investment, than a job...like it was and is for me. But when you are doing this as your profession, then it is different. You need to recongnize what your initial investment in your business actually was...because if you open a business for $15k, you have to be realistic in the type of pay-check that working for that company is going to offer you. That is where I feel that most sports bettors make their biggest mistakes...

Let me show you an example of what a typical break-down of funds may look like after the 3 months, when building a business/bankroll...if you began with $15k and you had 3 great months and were able to make 10% each month on your money, meaning that your Profit for the quarter is $4,500...now I know that its not a typical 3 months, but just for an example, lets say you were on fire....now from that $4,500 I would probably take $500 out immediately and put into expenses...and at the start, you really need to keep your expenses down as much as possible so that you don't have to go into your BR....so you are left with $4,000...I would then probably put $2,500 back into my business and pay myself $1,500 for those 3 months...

Now I know what you are saying...how can you live on just $500 a month...well you can't but that is the reality of this business and why it truely is so rare to see people who are actually making a good living investing in it. But truth is, when you look at what you were able to pay yourself for starting a business for only $15,000, I would say that it don't seem as bad...and keep in mind that you have also just increased your business net worth by Over 15% in just 3 months and at that rate, it will grow quickly, which means your amount per wager will increase...which ultimately means your profit will also, if you actually are a winning sports bettor...

I hope this hasn't detered anyone by making it look difficult to make a living at this racket....instead I wanted to let you in on the reality of it and to give just a small example of how you truely need to approach this business if you plan on being successful. In the end, its just like anything else in life...for good results you need discipline, patience, hard work, and determination as well as the ability to perform the task your job entails...and it may seem like a lot of work and rules that need to be followed, but truth be told...time goes by so quickly and as you continue to do the right things, you will see the worth of your business increase, your paycheck increase, and your understanding of how to work this market increase...

I was wondering how you guys deal with your winnings and your bankroll in general...do you bet more for enjoyment and to have action on an activity you enjoy, or have you really hoped that you would one day be able to bet on sports as a profession...and what steps have you taken to make that happen...I really would like to hear how many of you manage your bankroll as well as what has worked or even what pitfalls have made it difficult to start your business and build it....I think this is very important because we can all learn to be better at money management and learn better ways to run our businesses....best of luck, Vegas-Runner.