- Kerry Packer was a media mogul from Australia and a legendary gambler. He died in 2005, aged 68, and will be remembered for many reasons. He was a successful and wealthy businessman and also founded World Series Cricket. For many, though, it his gambling exploits that will live long in the memory.
- Many a man has gambled in his day, whether with real money or cookies. But Christatos Aristad was able to parlay his talents in gambling into a real profession, a lucrative one at that. While some may see professional gamblers as a bit shady, Mr. Aristad is of an older school of gambler, and is the consummate gentleman.
Matched betting is probably the easiest way to become a professional gambler but does have an earnings cap. Once you have made £15,000-£20,000 you will need to move on to another way to make money gambling. Then once you have exhausted matched betting you can move on to making money from casino bonuses. Even more profitable but quite a bit harder.
| Born | July 15, 1946 (age 74) |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Net worth | US$100 million (2014)[1] |
William T. Walters (born July 15, 1946)[2] is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and retired professional gambler widely regarded as among the most successful sports bettors in Las Vegas, having a winning streak which extended for over 30 years.
In 1987, Walters stopped all gambling other than sports betting and returned to his roots in business. As of 2016, his holding company owned interests in eight car dealerships with one under construction, one golf course on the Las Vegas Strip, a rental-car franchise, and a number of commercial properties.[3] In 2014, his net worth was estimated at more than $100 million.[4]
Early life[edit]
Walters grew up poor in the rural town of Munfordville, Kentucky. His father, an auto mechanic, died when Walters was 18 months old. His mother, who was an alcoholic, walked out on her son and two daughters shortly after his father's death. He was raised by his grandmother in a home with no running water or indoor plumbing.[5]
Walters credits his grandmother, a devout Baptist, with instilling a strong work ethic. She worked two jobs cleaning houses and washing dishes while raising seven children. At the age of seven, Walters secured a $40 bank loan for a power lawnmower to start a grass-cutting business. At age nine, he secured a second loan for $90 to start a paper route. His grandmother arranged both loans for Walters.[5]
His grandmother died when Walters was 13, forcing him to move to Louisville, KY, to be with his mother. There he worked two jobs, one in the morning at a bakery and the second at a gas station in the evenings. He rented a room in the basement from his mother. He married and had a child before graduating high school. The marriage was short-lived.
Business success[edit]
In 1965, Walters went to work as a salesman at McMackin Auto Sales, a used-car lot in Louisville. Each time he sold a car, he mailed a self-promotion letter to 10 people living on each side of that customer's home. He would peruse the daily newspaper for car ads, inviting the ads' sellers to do trades with him. He went through the phone book and cold-called people. Walters sold an average of 32 cars a month and earned $56,000 a year in 1966, equal to about $400,000 today.
Walters worked 80 hours a week selling cars and setting dealership records. In 1967, he was hired as sales manager at Steven's Brothers Auto Sales, a competing dealership. He worked at Stevens Brothers until 1972, when he started his own business, Taylor Boulevard Auto Sales, wholesaling cars to other dealers throughout the southeastern United States.
During that time, Walters also remained involved in sports betting. In 1981, he left the automobile industry to become a full-time sports bettor. He was running his own betting service on the side and, in 1982, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possession of gambling records in Kentucky. The charge later was expunged from his record.
It was then that he decided to move with his wife, Susan, to Las Vegas, where opportunity beckoned and betting on sports was legal.
Gambling career[edit]
Walters started gambling when he was 9 years old, when he bet the money he earned from his paper route on the New York Yankees to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1955 World Series. The Dodgers won and Walters lost the bet, but it did not deter him from gambling. Walters was a losing gambler as late as 1982. He had lost $50,000 by the time he was 22. Walters once lost his house during a game of pitching nickels. The winner did not take possession; Walters agreed to pay off the debt over the next 18 months.
Walters' success changed in his mid to late 30s. In June 1986, Walters requested a freeze-out with Caesars Atlantic City for $2 million at the roulette tables. Walters was known to have lost $1 million at least twice at the Las Vegas blackjack tables. Caesars, however, declined his request. Walters then took his proposition to the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, then known as the Golden Nugget, which was accepted.[6]
Walters and his gambling partner delivered $2 million to the cage at the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel. The pair noticed a wheel bias and bet on the 7-10-20-27-36. After 38 hours of play they won $3,800,000, beating the prior record of $1,280,000 held by Richard W. Jarecki at the San Remo Casino in Monte Carlo in 1971. Three years later his 'Syndicate' had won $400,000 at a casino in Las Vegas and an additional $610,000 from Claridge Casino in Atlantic City.[6] Walters also captured the 1986 Super Bowl of Poker, (also known as Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker or SBOP) in Lake Tahoe earning $175,000.[7]
Sports betting[edit]
In the 1980s, Walters joined the Computer Group, which used computer analysis to analyze sports outcomes. Over a period of 39 years, Walters had only one losing year, with a 30-year winning streak. Though he has finished in the red for a few months, he was always in the black by the end of the year. Walters bet on basketball, NFL, and college football. Walters won $3.5 million on Super Bowl XLIV after betting on the New Orleans Saints.[8] Due to his reputation, Walters often placed bets through 'runners' so bookmakers would remain unaware of the person behind the bet.[9]
In January 2007, Walters won a $2.2 million bet on University of Southern California defeating University of Michigan; USC won, 32-18. In 2011, Walters claimed he could make between $50 to $60 million on a good year.[2]
Insider trading[edit]
In April 2017, Walters was found guilty of insider trading after using non-public information from Thomas C. Davis, a board member of Dean Foods. Walters was sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined $10 million. Lawyer Daniel Goldman, then an assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was part of the trial team.[10][11][12]
Walters' source, company director Thomas C. Davis, using a prepaid cell phone and sometimes the code words 'Dallas Cowboys' for Dean Foods, helped Walters, between 2008 and 2014, realize profits and avoid losses in the stock, the Federal jury found. Walters gained $32 million in profits and avoided $11 million in losses. At the trial, investor Carl C. Icahn was mentioned in relation to Walters’ trading but was not charged with wrongdoing. Golfer Phil Mickelson 'was also mentioned during the trial as someone who had traded in Dean Foods shares and once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to' Walters. Mickelson 'made roughly $1 million trading Dean Foods shares; he agreed to forfeit those profits in a related civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission'.[13][14]
On December 4, 2018, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the insider trading conviction and 5 year sentence of Walters, even though it chastised an FBI agent for leaking grand jury information about the case.[15] On October 7, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Walters’ appeal.[16]
Walters was initially imprisoned at Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola, but was released to home confinement in Carlsbad, California, on May, 1, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. His sentence was scheduled to be completed on January 10, 2022,[4] and was commuted by Donald Trump on January 20, 2021.[17]
Personal life[edit]
Walters has three children, and was an avid golfer. He claims to have made over $400,000 on one hole and once as much as $1 million in one round, although he admitted to losing a million at blackjack later that night.[18]
In June 2014, Walters had a private jet worth $20 million and owned seven homes, with a net worth estimated at over $100 million.[1]
Walters is a noted philanthropist and has donated to Opportunity Village, a Las Vegas nonprofit for people with intellectual disabilities.[12] In September 2020, in response to Opportunity Village cancelling their two largest fundraising events because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walters family committed to a $1 million matching donation. He and his wife Susan have been staunch Opportunity Village advocates for decades and were honored at the organization’s 11th annual black-tie gala Camelot in 2012. [19]
The couple were also honored as Las Vegas Philanthropists of the Year in 1997 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Las Vegas Chapter[20][21]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abRowe, Peter (June 13, 2014). 'Billy Walters, gambler extraordinaire'. sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ abBerzon, Alexandra (June 3, 2014). 'Taste for Risk Fueled Career of Bettor Billy Walters, Now in Trading Probe'. WSJ. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^Lareau, Jamie (July 9, 2016). 'Billy Walters: Done gambling, still dealing'. Automotive News. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ^ abG, Thomas (May 1, 2020). 'Famed Vegas gambler released from prison in COVID-19 program'. AP. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ abFish, Mike (April 2, 2018). 'Billy walters on his conviction, gambling -- and ex-friend Lefty'. ESPN. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ^ abRussell T. Barnhart (1992). Beating the Wheel: The System That Has Won Over Six Million Dollars from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo. Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 101–. ISBN978-0-8184-0553-2.
- ^'Billy Walters and the Story of the Computer Group'. Pregame. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- ^Newman, Eric (February 17, 2012). 'The Greatest Sports Bets of All Time'. Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^Fish, Mike (February 6, 2015). 'Meet the world's most successful gambler'. ESPN.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^'Democrats' impeachment lawyer cut his teeth prosecuting mobsters, Wall Street cheats'. Washington Post. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
Cucinella said she requested Goldman to be on the trial team “because he has a bit of a swagger as a trial lawyer, and it’s a confidence that serves him well. In a courtroom, he’s incredibly effective.”
- ^Moynihan, Colin; Moyer, Liz (April 7, 2017). 'William T. Walters, Famed Sports Bettor, Is Guilty in Insider Trading Case'. nytimes.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ abErik Larson Bloomberg (July 27, 2017). 'Las Vegas gambler Walters gets 5 years in prison, $10M fine'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^Calia, Mike (September 6, 2017). 'Gambler Billy Walters sentenced to 5 years in 'amateurishly simple' insider-tradingscheme'. CNBC. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^Larson, Erik (July 27, 2017). 'Vegas Gambler Billy Walters Gets 5 Years for Insider Trading'. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^Jonathan Stempel Reuters (December 4, 2018). 'Las Vegas gambler Walters loses insider trading appeal'. Reuters. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
- ^Andrew Chung Reuters (October 7, 2019). 'U.S. Supreme Court rejects insider trading appeal by Las Vegas gambler'. Reuters. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^'Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency'. The White House. January 20, 2021.
- ^'Billy Walters - A Legend In Sports Betting History'. USA Sportsbook Sites. September 21, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^Rocky Nash KLAS-TV (2020). 'Opportunity Village receives $1M matching donation offer from notable philanthropists'. KLAS-TV. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
- ^AFP Las Vegas Chapter (1997). 'Association of Fundraising Professionals Las Vegas'. AFP. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^Admin (January 6, 2020). 'Las Vegas Philanthropists of the Year in 1997'. official. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
So, you’re looking for a career change? If you’re wondering what it takes or if you have what it takes to become a professional gambler, you’re in the right spot. Before I get started, though, I want to be clear on what you should NOT expect from this post. Do not expect me to give you a sugarcoated, rainbows-and-unicorns look at what it takes to become a professional gambler. Instead, I’m going to give you a gritty and in your face breakdown that does include some harsh realities.
Why am I opting for the more intense approach? I’m doing this because I assume a lot of you that are here are seriously considering what to do with your time or your future. I think it would be a gross disservice not to give you the raw information. If you only get the good side of something, you can’t ever be prepared for the realities that come along with it.
Why should you listen to me? Well, without going into too much detail, I was a professional poker player for 12+ years. It wasn’t just something that I did on the side of my real job; it was my job. Poker was my sole source of income. Because of that and the time I spent in casinos, I was able to meet a lot of people that made their money from the gambling industry (not just poker). Today, I want to share some of that insight with you, hopefully give you the information you need to decide if this is the road for you, and then tell you how to get there.
Skill Games versus Games of Chance
If you take nothing else from this article, please take the information I am about to give you. You CANNOT be a professional gambler at a game of chance (with one exception). This means, if the casino has a statistical advantage in a game, there is no way that you can ever beat that game in the long run. No matter what “system” you think you have, you are not Houdini, and you cannot defy math.
Many people have tried, and all of them have failed miserably. I’ve personally met people that claimed to play games like craps or roulette for a living thanks to their systems. Here’s a spoiler. They were all poor and broke. I asked them why they weren’t rolling in the dough (yes, I am forward), and they informed me that they were just on a bad run. Ummm, hello!!! That is what gambling is. You can potentially win in the short run, but in the long run, the house is always going to come out on top.
The only way you can beat the casino in a game of chance, in the long run, is by cheating, or by doing something that will get you kicked out and banned from the casino.
What is the one exception I mentioned? Blackjack. Blackjack will have tournaments that you can enter that allow you to do those things that would get you kicked out of the casino on a normal day. They let you count cards, and that allows you to gain a statistical edge over the house and your opponents. The only reason they allow this is that you aren’t playing against the casino. You have paid an entry fee to compete in the tournament, and all you can win is the entry fees from other players. This scene was pretty big and growing for a while but in recent years has leveled off in popularity and prize pool sizes.
Skill games, on the other hand, are games where the better players will win in the long run. How can you spot a skill game? If you are not competing against the house but against other players and patrons, you are most likely playing a game of skill. If you are competing against the house, with the exception of sports betting, you are playing a game of chance. If you truly understand sports betting, you’ll see that you’re actually competing against other patrons as well even though your bet is with the house. That’s a discussion we can save for another day, though.
So, what does this mean? This means that step one in the process of becoming a professional gambler is to choose a game of skill. Make sure you are playing a game where it is possible for you to make a long-term and sustained living. To help you out, I’m going to list off a few of the popular games you could choose from that people do make a living at.
The Gambling Games You Should Choose From
As a quick note, while most of the world will refer to these games as gambling, they really aren’t gambling at all. Gambling is when you make a wager on a game of chance. Since you are in control of the outcome of these games, they are no longer games of chance. Therefore, they aren’t gambling. Yes, some of these games will have a luck factor involved, but in the long run, skill is going to prevail over the variance caused by that luck factor.
Blackjack
I figured I would lead off with the exception to “get it out of the way.” If you’re looking to make a living at Blackjack, the only way that you’re going to pull that off is by getting involved in the tournament scene. The problem, though, is that the scene is shrinking and the people that are currently in it are very good at what they do.
Warning:If you’re considering becoming a professional blackjack player by counting cards, good luck. I am definitely advising you against it.
The casinos know every trick in the book, and you’re just going to end up getting caught and banned from every property on the planet. My best advice is to pick a different game on this list if you are looking to play for a living.
Poker
One of the best options on this list of games to play professionally is poker. Am I a little biased because it’s what I did? Probably. However, if you take an objective look at all of the facts, it is the clear winner. It’s a game where there is a lot of money to win, several different formats you can try, and a constant influx of new and bad players to win money from.
Out of everything on this list, I would say that it’s the easiest to get to a professional level. No, I am not saying that it is easy, but I am saying it is feasible for you to do. There are a lot of varying levels of success that you can hit as well so it’s not a make it or break it kind of game. If you’re serious about getting into a “gambling” profession, this may be a great place for you to look if you want something that has some longevity to it.
Chess, Backgammon, Tonk, and Spades
Believe it or not, a lot of the games that you may have played as a kid or teenager are games that you can play professionally for a living. Now, at first you might not have thought to include these in the same category as games like poker and Blackjack, but in reality, they fit. Again, these are games of skill with lots of options for playing for a living.
Years ago, your only option for these games was to find a major tournament at a brick-and-mortar location and play against the best in the world. Today, though, you can find these games offered online at casinos. You have the option of playing against thousands of players of all skill levels from around the world for real money. The best part is that the stakes start low so you can work your way up the game ladder, and you don’t have to pony up a ton of money to get started.
Sports Betting
I mentioned earlier that when you’re betting against the house, you can’t sustain a long-term profit. The only exception to that is sports betting because even though you are betting against the house, you are really betting against other patrons. The house does their best to get even bets on both sides of a game so that no matter who wins or loses they make a profit. This means that the line shifts will happen because of what the rest of the betting public does.
Note:You’re ideally looking for value opportunities of bad lines thanks to the ignorance of the betting public.
I could go deeper into that, but we’d end up in a full-on discussion of how sports betting works, and I’d like to try my best to stay on topic today. Sports betting is a form of “gambling” that is certainly beatable. It’s probably one of the more challenging forms of gambling to do for a living and requires a strong heart that can take a lot of pressure and anxiety.
I do know some friends that do it for a living and have done quite nicely at it, but it comes at the expense of their sanity. That being said, it is beatable in the long term which means that it is a form of “gambling” that you could do for a living.
Esports
Wait, you can play video games professionally? Welcome to 2018! If you’re a rock star at a video game, chances are that you can play that game professionally. Tournaments are exploding all over the world with millions of dollars in prize money available for those individuals and teams that win. On top of that, there are millions of dollars in sponsorships available for these teams from the game creators and other companies interested in having an influence in the industry.
Your Next Steps to Become a Professional Gambler
Alright, so you’ve picked out which form of “gambling” you want to go professional at. Now what? To help you on your quest, I’ve outlined some actionable steps for you to take to get started. Remember this, though. None of this is going to be easy and most people that try end up failing. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and the ability to deal with some failures to make it as a professional gambler. Even after all of that, some people just don’t have the skill set to make it happen.
Pro Gambler Irs
I don’t say any of that to deter you from trying, though. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do anything. If you work hard enough and smart enough, you can achieve anything you want to. I will climb off my motivational speaker soapbox now and get to those steps.
1. Research Like a Crazy Person
The first thing that you need to do is learn absolutely everything you can about playing your game for a living. Look up other professionals, how they make money, and any other information you can on the topic. Try and identify if there is a smooth road to the top or if it’s something that requires a leap of faith (avoid these situations).
What you’re really trying to do here is a get an idea of what it’s going to take for your game specifically to make it to the top. You’re also trying to identify whether or not there is enough opportunity for you to make a living playing that game feasibly.
2. Formulate a Plan of Attack
The next step is to take all of your research and come up with a plan for you to go from schmo to pro. Make sure that your plan is detailed and gives you actionable steps that you can take to achieve your goal. This should mainly be based around how you’re going to learn the game, how you’re going to master it, how you’re going to test your skills without risking an arm and a leg, and ultimately how you’re going to turn it from a hobby into a career.
Your plan also needs to have some contingencies built in for the times that things don’t go according to plan. If you think that everything is going to go according to plan, you have another thing coming. Be realistic and make a plan that you can stick to.
3. Understand the Risks
You HAVE to understand that what you are attempting to do here is not easy. If it were easy, everyone and their brother would be a professional gambler. The risks are real, and when you lose money, you don’t just get it back with a do-over. There is no reset button on a lot of this.
The good news is that the nature of the industry now allows you to start these games for very low stakes and minimal risk. Take advantage of this. Online casinos don’t have to pay additional dealers or setup costs to facilitate more games which means they can offer things at super low stakes.
Note:Make Sure That You Have an Exit Strategy or a Stop Loss in Place.
Don’t let yourself get out of hand chasing your dream. Yes, you shouldn’t let anything stand in your way, but losing all your money trying to achieve this dream is not noble. It’s stupid and the sign of someone who would never survive gambling professionally.
4. Start Learning
The only way that you’re going to make it to the pro level with any of these games is by immersing yourself completely in the learning process. You have to soak up every bit of information out there and ultimately know more than your opponents.
Become A Professional Gambler
Here’s the most important part, though. Make sure that the information you are learning is good information. I feel like my track record affords me the right to speak as a voice of reason on poker and I can confidently tell you that most poker knowledge out there that people pass off as pro knowledge is garbage. Make sure that you’re learning from a reputable source and that the information is current and quality. This might mean you have to pay for some of it. Do your research (Step 1).
5. Start Small and Continually Adapt
Take. Your. Time. This is not something that is going to happen overnight. This is not something that is going to happen in a few weeks. It very well could take years for you to be able to reach the skill level necessary even to take a shot at playing professionally for a living. Even if you’re good enough, you still might not make it. You might not have access to the right opportunities, or you may have issues getting your mental game or bankroll management in line.
Warning:Again, none of this is to deter you from giving it a shot. It’s just a warning to take your time.
The learning process is going to be long and challenging and probably frustrating at times.
Pro Gamblers Women
The Wrap Up
If you’ve made it this far in the post, you’ve got hope! Look, I seriously am not trying to deter any of you from giving this a shot. I loved my years playing as a professional and wouldn’t trade them for anything. That being said, I wish I would have known how challenging things would be before I jumped in. Would it have deterred me? Probably not, but a heads up would have been pleasant.
Professional Gambling For A Living
If you’re serious about doing this, I wish you the best of luck and hope you follow some of the advice that I gave you. Good luck!