Can gambling be profitable in long term ?

[MaxTax]

There must be people we are quite skilled in certain games.

Problem is, if they gamble they are addicted and in the end will bet a lot/ all their money on the wrong 'horse'

Well of course there are addicts around but some people have learned a certain skill and made it their profession to gamble.

Some addicts don't realise that they are addicted and yet keep losing money and keep holding onto that hopeful thought they will win more than they lose.

[Mr. Forum]

Gambling to me becomes profitable only when you are winning. And trust me that you will never win all the spins you make at that casino. There are however those experienced gamblers whom I have seen winning from one spin to the other. Such like persons cab brag and say that indeed gambling is profitable in the long run. You however need to be careful so that you do not spend everything you earned back into the gambling since you may end up loosing everything.

[GannickusX]

Gambling on a dicing site with a 1% house edge gives you a 49.5% chance to turn your bankroll to 200% of your original bankroll, while giving you a 50.5% chance to turn your bankroll into 0% of your original bankroll - assuming you only stop when you reach 200% or 0% of your original bankroll.

That's not true - your chance of doubling your bankroll depends a lot on your strategy.

For an example of a very bad strategy, suppose you go all-in at 98% over and over until you lose, or double your bankroll:

  each time you win, you multiply your bankroll by 99/98 = 1.0102040816
  so to double your bankroll, you need to win math.log(2, 99.0/98) = 68.27441 times
  the chance of winning 68 times in a row is (98.0/100) ** 68 = 0.25314 = 25.314% - much lower than 49.5%

For an example of a better strategy, try:

  bet 0.5 at 33%
  if you win, you get 99/33 = 3x, so you get 1.5 back, a profit of 1 - you've doubled your money

  if you lose, bet the other 0.5 at 24.75%
  if you win, you get 99/24.75 = 4x, so you get 2 back - you've doubled your money

  the only way it goes wrong is if you lose both the 33% and the 24.75% - the chance of that is (1-0.33) * (1-0.2475) = 0.504175
  so the chance of success is 1 - 0.504175 = 0.495825 = 49.5825% - a fraction higher than 49.5

So it's possible to find strategies that are better or worse than 49.5% chance of doubling up.

I also seen something about a single martingale sequence being better than going all in on a certain % How does this exactly happened, if your chances are 49.5% how are you actually able to improve them, slightly. Is the math on casinos not perfect when calculating odds and results?

[bajing]

Gambling can be very profitable in long term and you can earn lot of money on daily basis if you own casino, but if you are gambler, math cant be beaten at long enough period. (PvP gambling could be exception, but you also need lot of luck no matter how skilled you are).

as i know in my experience when im try to gamble long-term is always lose on my calculation. so i guess wrong if you have think long term way in gambling will give you some profit

[SvenBomvolen]

Gambling can never be profitable in the long term if you gamble and know when to stop then yeah

There are plenty of people that gamble professionally and are able to make a living at it, but there are way, way more that end up losing - losing it all or losing enough to know that professional gambling isn't for them.  Even the successful professionals are only on the winning side like 56% of the time, so even being a winning professional gambler you still lose about 40% of the time.

Both of you are right, exceptions are everywhere. We are not the same, everyone have unique style so this is not conversation where we can talk with facts. Its more like destiny smile for some people and for some not. End of disccusion, we all can try and to see how its going.

[raaajlucky]

Gambling shouldn't be played for making profits because it is not meant for that purpose instead just use it for fun or entertainment than it should be fine otherwise you will lose money more than making.

[darkangel11]

Gambling shouldn't be played for making profits because it is not meant for that purpose instead just use it for fun or entertainment than it should be fine otherwise you will lose money more than making.

That's right. I played cards with friends many times for a small prize pool like a couple beers and we had so much fun. Those who won were happy even though the prize was small and those that lost were happy for the exact same reason. Once you start gambling for fun you'll be much happier.

[GannickusX]

Gambling can be very profitable in long term and you can earn lot of money on daily basis if you own casino, but if you are gambler, math cant be beaten at long enough period. (PvP gambling could be exception, but you also need lot of luck no matter how skilled you are).

as i know in my experience when im try to gamble long-term is always lose on my calculation. so i guess wrong if you have think long term way in gambling will give you some profit

Have you guys not read the thread until now? ''Gamble'' does not only mean dice, roulette or house edge games. Poker is gambling too and sport betting is considered gambling aswell and we all know profesional poker players or profesional tipsters so obviously it's possible with those games.

[fullypak]

Gambling shouldn't be played for making profits because it is not meant for that purpose instead just use it for fun or entertainment than it should be fine otherwise you will lose money more than making.

That's right. I played cards with friends many times for a small prize pool like a couple beers and we had so much fun. Those who won were happy even though the prize was small and those that lost were happy for the exact same reason. Once you start gambling for fun you'll be much happier.

That is the correct way of using gambling. If any one use gambling to pass their fun time with friends or family members then you can enjoy it very much but if any one use it as a money making machine then they will end up in a big problem. I never go for winning any big amounts in gambling.

[Supercrypt]

Gambling shouldn't be played for making profits because it is not meant for that purpose instead just use it for fun or entertainment than it should be fine otherwise you will lose money more than making.

That's right. I played cards with friends many times for a small prize pool like a couple beers and we had so much fun. Those who won were happy even though the prize was small and those that lost were happy for the exact same reason. Once you start gambling for fun you'll be much happier.

That is the correct way of using gambling. If any one use gambling to pass their fun time with friends or family members then you can enjoy it very much but if any one use it as a money making machine then they will end up in a big problem. I never go for winning any big amounts in gambling.

But to enjoy gambling as a lifestyle we must be born with silver spoon. I have seen many millionaires who just gamble for fun and time pass. May be with bitcoin boom I may do this kind of gambling. I believe in bitcoin so One day I too will gamble like this.

[Pollak]

It can be if you keep up with how much you're losing, betting and winning.

If you keep up a nice note of that you'll be able to look back if you've made any profits of your winnings or if you've lost.

[jpouza]

It can be if you keep up with how much you're losing, betting and winning.

If you keep up a nice note of that you'll be able to look back if you've made any profits of your winnings or if you've lost.

Most gamblers are addicted and irrational, so this statement is not applicable 

[St.Jack]

it cant be profitable in long term eventually you lose every profit you get whitout even knowing it
scary isnt it

[Compa]

Nothing is impossible if you gamble in gambling. You can win or lose everytime.
And it all depends from you if do you have skill in gambling. Possible profitable in long term.

[fullypak]

Nothing is impossible if you gamble in gambling. You can win or lose everytime.
And it all depends from you if do you have skill in gambling. Possible profitable in long term.

So are you saying only skill is important to win money in gambling in the long run? If yes, then you're wrong because if only skill matters than by now there will be millions of expert gamblers will be available but together with skill one more important thing is LUCK is needed and this luck will not come every day so no one can make money from gambling every day.

[Betwrong]

Nothing is impossible if you gamble in gambling. You can win or lose everytime.
And it all depends from you if do you have skill in gambling. Possible profitable in long term.

So are you saying only skill is important to win money in gambling in the long run? If yes, then you're wrong because if only skill matters than by now there will be millions of expert gamblers will be available but together with skill one more important thing is LUCK is needed and this luck will not come every day so no one can make money from gambling every day.

And one more thing which I've noticed when gambling: when you are "lucky" you are winning much less than you are losing when you are "unlucky". I don't know why, but it happens everytime.

[bitlancr]

It can be profitable in the long term if you know how to play the gambling game, which depends on the game.

If you're gambling you could stop at a certain amount of money that you've won and the next day you'll leave your winnings at home and not play with it. That's how you can stack up your winnings.

[yurinov]

Discipline is not the problem it is the fact that house edge will knock your odds and most likely not allow you to win in the long term.

[HarryKPeters]

It can be profitable in the long term if you know how to play the gambling game, which depends on the game.

If you're gambling you could stop at a certain amount of money that you've won and the next day you'll leave your winnings at home and not play with it. That's how you can stack up your winnings.

Exactly mate.

Just make sure to stop when you can stop. If you can be disciplined and know when to stop, you can earn a living.

Self control, strategy and preservation are the key to succes, even in the gambling scene.

[yurinov]

It can be profitable in the long term if you know how to play the gambling game, which depends on the game.

If you're gambling you could stop at a certain amount of money that you've won and the next day you'll leave your winnings at home and not play with it. That's how you can stack up your winnings.

Exactly mate.

Just make sure to stop when you can stop. If you can be disciplined and know when to stop, you can earn a living.

Self control, strategy and preservation are the key to succes, even in the gambling scene.

yes but you can always get very unlucky and the way you are playing, even if discipline and controlled, can turn downward.