It is taken as read that anybody who has anything to do with odds, stakes and bets is either a bookmaker or a punter. There are varying degrees of gambler from the casual pound on the Grand National through the problem gambler putting their mortgage on a horse to the professional gambler who makes a steady living from betting.
Professional gamblers are a breed apart. They often specialise in one area of betting alone, tennis matches or football or horses. To make a living from betting full time takes dedication and determination. You must be prepared to spend hours of your time studying form and calculating value. You must have the discipline to withstand long losing runs without breaking from your strategy.
On the other hand consider the professional sports trader who uses the betting exchanges to scalp a few ticks from an event. They often have no knowledge of the underlying event. To them it is just a numbers game, the prices go up and down and they buy low and sell high to make a profit.
The big difference between a trader and a gambler is that a trader never lets a bet ride. They buy and sell then get out often spreading the potential profit over every outcome to guarantee a return for their efforts.
So why then is sports trading often confused with gambling? Why do people look down on sports traders and yet seem to have more respect for oil futures traders or forex traders? There seems to be an unconscious link in the minds of the public at large between sports and gambling. This is probably understandable seeing as it is not too many years ago that the only way to profit from sports long term was to take the professional gambler route and spend your life studying your chosen market.
The truth is that trading on sports is exactly the same as trading anything else. The prices move and traders profit from this. I believe that in the not too distant future more and more people are going to realise that there is a good living to be made from trading sports. As for me, well, I’m there already.
If I have sparked your interest in this subject and you would like to find out more just go to my website at the link below.
I am a full time sports, stocks and forex trader and have a website to communicate tips and information about trading and making money from sports online at http://www.wotworks.com/tradesports.
