Whether gamblers can have more success in online poker or online sports betting is an age old question that players have been asking themselves since the games existed. While both are certainly beatable for players who understand each for, there are some essential differences and factors to consider when players contemplate their profit potential in both forms of “gambling”.
Mind, Body and Sport: Gambling among student-athletes An excerpt from the Sport Science Institute’s guide to understanding and supporting student-athlete mental wellness Gambling remains one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, with multinational corporations investing billions of dollars to attract customers. Play online poker with the leading poker room in the market. Play in poker tournaments, heads up, cash games and many more.
Although theoretically not considered ‘gambling’ when the chance is not 50/50, ever. Look at any earnings tracker and the same guys will be up there at Pokerstars. Every year the same poker players will make about $300-500 grand a year based solely on math.
Bankroll Management and Profit Potential
More important than being able to define your edges, find market inefficiencies, or having the skill to beat inferior players is keeping strict bankroll requirements. Too many great or potentially talented poker players and sports bettors have gone broke due to lack of bankroll discipline.
For poker players, bankroll requirements vary depending on the stakes and games you play. Requirements depend on whether your chosen game is cash, multi-table tournaments or sit n’ go tournaments.
For example, for cash game players, it is recommended that they have at least 40 buy-ins based on their stake level. For a $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em game, this means players should have an $8,000 bankroll.
Even at low stakes, a player could do extremely well for themselves. They could make $60,000 a year, or more depending on their win rate and amount of tables they play.
Bankroll requirements for sports betting are around one or two percent of your total bankroll on each bet. The amount bettors utilize varies, but players have a serious risk of ruin when wagering more than five percent of their bankroll on a single wager.
The goal for sports bettors is to at least break even. The breakeven percentage for winning at sports is 52.4 percent, but if bettors can win 55 percent of their wagers, they can make themselves an excellent living betting sports.
However, since sports betting bankroll requirements are so stringent, the old adage of “you need money, to make money” rings true in a significant way. If I flat bet my wagers at 1% of bankroll of $10,000, my standard bet size would be $110 to win $100.
Over 1,000 bets, a 55 percent winning percentage works out to 550 wins and 450 losses. On our wins, we’ll profit $55,000, but on our losses, we’ll lose $49,500. That’s a net profit of $5,500.
This is nothing to scoff at, as beating sports betting for any amount of money is an accomplishment, but let’s look at how much time and effort this took on our part. A thousand wagers can be accomplished in less than a year’s time, but it will force players to be able to handicap a number of sports besides the favorite of most bettors, the NFL.
Let’s also factor in that sports betting is not easy, and it takes time handicap games each and every day, usually hours of work. We’ve made $5,500 but how much time did we put into doing so?
A considerable amount of time compared to the amount of time it would take to make $5,500 from playing poker, even at low limits. $5,500 could be eclipsed in one month of profitable poker at $1/$2. Our $10,000 bankroll would serve us just fine in poker as well, and as long as we are productive poker players, it allows us to earn a much larger amount annually.
This isn’t to say that sports betting isn’t hugely profitable for some, but those with smaller bankrolls who are looking to make more money faster may want to focus their attention on poker.
Making six figures per year from sports betting likely requires a bankroll of around $200,000 using our above bankroll requirements. Doing so via online poker can be done with a fraction of this number.
I’m not trying to scare anyone away from sports betting nor enticing them to focus on poker instead. Instead, I’m giving an estimate on earning potential that correlates to available bankroll. The potential to earn more with less certainly is an advantage that is won by poker.
With that said, it would be crazy to take hundreds of thousands of dollars and begin to learn sports betting by betting $1,000 a game or more. That’s why there’s a need to learn sports betting by wagering smaller amounts and moving your way up.
Although $100 a game bettors won’t make much early on, they are also learning handicapping techniques. Think of it as on the job training. The goal of a sports bettor is to find inefficiencies in markets while improving your handicapping prowess and increasing your bet size. Building up your bankroll from the start will give you plenty of time to improve on your methods and give you a firm idea of your ability as a sports bettor.
Bonuses
This is another area where poker has a noticeable edge, especially for those who are looking to build a bankroll early in their careers. Deposit bonuses and reload bonuses are usually much larger and more frequent at online poker sites, rather than online sportsbooks. Sportsbooks offer “free bet” or “freeplay” bonuses, but these are rarely as lucrative.
It’s common for first-deposit poker bonuses to be $500-$1000 or more, and while these take a long time to clear, they are hugely beneficial to players. The site may also offer regular reload bonuses and some sort of VIP program or rakeback. Depending on the site, these programs can potentially be worth hundreds or thousands of extra dollars per month.
This usually isn’t the case with online sportsbooks. It is quite rare to have a freeplay deposit offer for more than $500, and the attached rollover rates take down their value a bit. Some books will offer VIP programs, but usually aren’t worth much.
For sports bettors, the best rewards usually come from reduced juice markets or competitive pricing. Reduced juice trumps a freeplay or deposit bonus by a large margin. Bettors can save thousands or hundreds of thousands of betting fees over the life of their account by betting with pricing better than -110.
Moving Up in Stakes/Levels
Poker and sports betting differ considerably when it comes to moving up in levels or increasing your bet size and stakes.
As a sports bettor, you’re already going to be line shopping for the best possible price. Once you increase your bet amount, getting more money on a market is going to be a matter of finding ways to get the most money down on the best line. While this certainly gets harder as your bet amount increases, the skill or handicapping ability needed to beat the sportsbooks does not.
This is not the case with poker. When players move up in stakes, they face a large selection of new opponents and tougher opposition. Even though the rules of the game don’t change, the skill of the players at higher limits can be substantially different.
While scaling up for sports betting is just a matter of getting larger amounts on the best odds, poker players may have to make changes to their style of play or revamp it altogether. The jump can be especially hard when moving from the middle limits up to higher stakes. There are some fast poker tips out there to support your poker education.
However, one aspect that poker players rarely have to deal with is being limited or banned. Some online poker rooms have taken measures in recent years to segregate their most successful players from their fish or limit the amount of tables they can play.
These instances used to be rather rare, but are becoming more common for big winners. Still, it’s relatively minor compared what winning sports bettors face once an online sportsbook has decided that they have taken too much from them.
Many online sportsbooks, especially US-facing outfits, are solely recreational outfits, meaning that they will limit or outright ban players who show even the slightest ability to handicap sports profitability.
Of course, there’s plenty of sites that give players a longer leash and a few that will almost never ban or limit a player. However, once you have become a successful sports bettor who is wagering in four or five figures on contests, it may become a challenge to get large amounts of money down on the best line.
Contrast to this to poker, where in most cases, players can win as much as possible and suffer no interference from management. Whereas, sportsbooks are forced to act because they can go under if they’re hit heavily by sharp action and are getting beat for big money.
While the poker ecosystem is affected by players who win a lot and knock the fish out of action, the damage is marginal compared to a sports bettor who is recognizing inefficiencies in betting markets. Most online bookmakers have a short leash for continuing to take sharp action that is costing them money.
In Conclusion
This article may seem like it’s slightly slanted in favor of poker, especially for newer gamblers who are starting off small. While it’s true that a skilled poker player can make more money with a smaller bankroll than a sports bettor, that shouldn’t scare gamblers away from sports betting.
Bettors will just need a lot more bankroll, to make, say, $50,000 a year from betting sports. This can be done via poker with a lot less in reserve. With that said, my best advice to players who are interested in beating both sports and poker is to learn both simultaneously.
Most serious players use several gambling sites, and in today’s market, nearly every online poker room has a sportsbook, and nearly every online sportsbook has a poker room. Line shopping will be essential, but players should be able to get some excellent betting odds and will be able to game select brilliantly across several sites for poker.
Most importantly, treat both poker and sports seriously. Neither of these avenues are get rich quick schemes, they take hard work and dedication. There’s a reason the online gambling industry is worth tens of billions – most people lose.
Author: Joseph Falchetti
When five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jason Mercierappeared on the the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on ESPN last month, he was introduced as a 'poker junkie' and asked point blank if he had gambling problem.
By the time the interview wrapped up, two things about the mainstream sports media were clear: Most knew very little about poker, and for hosts Dan Le Batard and Jon 'Stugotz' Weiner at least, the perception is that poker players are more akin to problem gamblers than professionals.
Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, says the problem may lie in the fact that the difference between the two isn't exactly clear.
'It's a fascinating question,' Whyte told PokerNews. 'On a standard psychological diagnostic test, I think most professionals would meet every criteria to be considered a problem gambler. It's just really hard to separate a heavy recreational gambler, or a pro, from someone who has a problem.
'I've given some standard tests to a few professional players, well-known pros, WSOP bracelet winners. I can't give you their names for privacy reasons, but I can say they all graded out as serious problem gamblers. My one take away, after talking with a lot of poker pros and poker companies over the years, is that the one difference, the thing that separates a professional from a problem gambler, is control.'
Whyte admits that diagnosing a gambling problem is not an exact science, but basically, a pro can set limits, stick to them and practice good bankroll management tactics, while a problem gambler can't seem to stop and has difficulty managing their time and money.
'Someone with a problem gets so caught up playing, they miss their daughter's field hockey game, or if they do show up, they're on the phone playing or thinking and talking about playing,' Whyte said. 'It's hard to quantify and distinguish between pro and a problem, but I think the pro who does not have a problem has outside interests and takes part in activities outside of the game. It may be their job, but they have some control over the amount of time they spend doing it; and they are able to maintain relationships outside of it, go to other activities and see the sun once in a while.
'Some pro players could be playing 18 hours a day, and for them, it may not be a problem. On the psychological diagnostic test they'll meet most of the criteria for problem gambling, or honestly, all of it, but I still think someone can be a pro and not be a problem gambler. It really is an individual thing.'
With more than $13 million in online cashes and counting, Chris Moorman is online tournament poker's all-time leading money winner. In an interview with PokerNews last month discussing the origins of his career, he stopped short of calling his interest in the game an addiction because it's his job, but he did say he felt like he was hooked on the game immediately and it became an obsession for him.
With this kind of obsession often considered a precursor for success in so many aspects of life today, including poker, Whyte agreed it's another hard line to draw.
'It's like the kind of thing that makes a professional athlete the best at what they do,' he said. 'That focus and ability to forget losses or play through pain. A lot of people have a tough time understanding how a professional poker player can play through losing $10,000 or $50,000. That's the pain they are playing through. They push, and push, and push, and it's that work ethic that helps people succeed in all areas of life. In poker, the vast majority of successful players have that work ethic and some call it an obsession. Certainly the folks that fall into gambling addiction have it as well. The thing is, it's hard to tell a healthy obsession from an unhealthy obsession.
'I've talked to Daniel Negreanu about this before, and I know he often talks about the intersection between professional gambling and problem gambling, and the big thing here, and I hate to bastardize the lyrics of Kenny Rogers and The Gambler, but the that's the big thing: Knowing when to walk away.'
But walking away from the poker table on a downswing, setting time and money limits and sticking to them or exercising proper bankroll management, are only half the battle for a poker professional, with casino games, sports betting, prop bets and other forms of gambling surrounding the lifestyle.
Best Poker Gambling Sites
'There are players that are stone cold at poker and they stick to their limits and practice the best bankroll management they can while playing poker,' Whyte explained. 'Then when it comes to craps, sports betting, side bets and prop bets, they have no bankroll management strategy at all. It all goes out the window and there are no limits. It's a fascinating phenomenon. They are great poker players, who are ice cold when it comes to poker, but with other games they don't have the same discipline and that's where they have a problem. Then there are people that are just the opposite. They may be stone cold sports bettors and they suddenly go crazy on poker.'
When he looks around poker's tournament and cash game circuit, Whyte says the classic signs of problem gambling are everywhere.
'There are a lot of problem gamblers that will tell you how great they are at the game with a straight face, even though they are living out of their car on the circuit in California going from card club to card club,' he said. 'They are a great pro; they just have a temporary cash flow problem because they're not willing to admit what the real problem is. They just took a bad beat and they'll beg, borrow or steal to get back in the game because they know they're just one win away from everything turning around. In poker, overestimation of one's skill can lead them down the path to addiction. Sure, they're one bet away from winning everything back. 'Yeah, I had to sell my house, but that just means I'm more liquid.' If someone starts talking like that, that's probably someone with a problem.'
In a game that's amoral at best, where taking advantage of the weak is a road to profitability, Whyte is under no illusion that most poker players are going to suddenly point out problem gamblers in their midst, and offer a helping hand, rather than use the edge they have against them to fleece them out of their funds. However, he still suggests players who see a friend showing the classic signs of a gambling problem do what a real friend should.
'You do the same thing you would do if you thought that friend had a bad disease like cancer,' he said. 'You let them know you care and that help is available. If they're still talking to you after that, you can refer them to an organization like ours.'
The National Council on Problem Gambling actually offers a 24-hour confidential and toll-free helpline, with voice, text and chat options. It can be accessed through the website at ncpgambling.org or by phone at 1-800-522-4700.
Whyte said help can be found on their website. Once there, players can take a self-test to see if they qualify for having a problem. It's not a perfect screen for heavy recreational gamblers or professional players, but it's a start.
'If you have a friend or know someone who might have a problem, you have to let them know you care and that help is available,' he said. 'It's important to understand you can lead them in the right direction, but you can't force them to seek help. Ultimately, seeking help, or treatment, for something like gambling addiction, has to be a decision they make themselves. You can't force somebody to help themselves.'
Even though you can't force people to seek help, Whyte said the good news is that those who do, substantially reduce the amount they gamble.
'Something like 70 to 75 percent of people seeking help for a severe gambling problem significantly reduce the amount they gamble, getting back to a more recreational level or abstaining altogether,' Whyte said. 'The thing is, it's not all black and white. It's not about either going 100 miles an hour or never playing poker again. There's a decent amount of people who can live comfortably in the middle somewhere.'
There are biological and genetic dispositions to gambling, but it's not like alcohol or drug addictions, Whyte said.
'With gambling, treatment should be truly individualized and not completely abstaining is not always problematic,' he said. 'It's not like you can never gamble again. Gamblers Anonymous might say that for an addict completely abstaining is the only road to take, but we think, for some people, that just isn't true.'
Be sure to complete your PokerNews experience by checking out an overview of our mobile and tablet apps here. Stay on top of the poker world from your phone with our mobile iOS and Android app, or fire up our iPad app on your tablet. You can also update your own chip counts from poker tournaments around the world with MyStack on both Android and iOS.
Online Poker Gambling
Tags
Chris MoormanDaniel NegreanuJason MercierPoker PlayersESPNRelated Players
Daniel NegreanuChris MoormanJason Mercier