Is gambling a viable career in Las Vegas ?
Black Jack asked:
I move out to Las Vegas from Los Angeles at the end of July with $45000 in savings, no job, and my car. As soon as I came out here, I promised myself that I would look for a job in my field and starting working. Well, to make a long story short I started going to the casinos on the strip almost every day and in less than a month I have managed to win $5000 playing blackjack. A game that I am extremely good at . I am not a compulsive gambler by any means and can stop any time. But due to the convenience of casinos open 24-7, the flexibility of playing when I want to, being able to work for myself, set my own hours, and the upside potential of quick earnings and tax benefits ; I am beginning to feel like I could gamble for a living . I am literally going into the casino and making $200-$300 per day effortlessly and I have not had 1 day where i have lost. I feel excited about this and didnt know that gambling could actually be a career. Shoudl I continue or stop and look for a job ?
Rhonda
I move out to Las Vegas from Los Angeles at the end of July with $45000 in savings, no job, and my car. As soon as I came out here, I promised myself that I would look for a job in my field and starting working. Well, to make a long story short I started going to the casinos on the strip almost every day and in less than a month I have managed to win $5000 playing blackjack. A game that I am extremely good at . I am not a compulsive gambler by any means and can stop any time. But due to the convenience of casinos open 24-7, the flexibility of playing when I want to, being able to work for myself, set my own hours, and the upside potential of quick earnings and tax benefits ; I am beginning to feel like I could gamble for a living . I am literally going into the casino and making $200-$300 per day effortlessly and I have not had 1 day where i have lost. I feel excited about this and didnt know that gambling could actually be a career. Shoudl I continue or stop and look for a job ?
Rhonda
Tags: Gambling, Playing Blackjack, Viable Career
January 20th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Get a job and work off what you have made thus far. When and if that’s gone, find a career.
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Well the way you are going, why stop? The way you are going you will get $65, 000 a year ($250 a day, 5 days a week). Over time you will gain the confidence to enter competition where the money is massive and then you be rolling in the big bucks..
HOWEVER!!! If you start losing money consistently, then please stop and hav a break, make some money from a job maybe… I know that you will lose money here and there, i’m talking about big losses in a few weeks.
So my answer is sure, make some cash, enter the big comps and you’ll be rich. But, if you start losing out, stop until you think you got it right.
Good luck, hope i helped
January 26th, 2009 at 4:28 am
First off, if you’re gambling for a living, the money is NOT tax free. If you’re making $50,000+ a year gambling and are not filing it on your tax return, you will get audited and possibly sent to jail. Seek out an accountant that works with professional gamblers (there are a few around town and can easily be found on the internet).
Congratulations on how you’ve done so var, and I hope it continues for you. I will be the first to tell you that gambling CAN be a valid form of income, and not just at the poker tables. I am very cautious to tell people to go pro or continue on as you are going without asking them first how they’re doing it. Not because I want to steal their strategy or anything, but because there are right and wrong ways to do it, and sometimes a good luck streak can disguise itself as skill.
The most effective but most difficult way to go pro as a blackjack player is counting cards. It’s not difficult because it’s hard to learn, it’s difficult because it’s hard to not get caught. The next most successful way to win is with a solid strategy and strong money management skills. The least effective way to win, which is the style most gambling addicts fall into is playing by ‘feel’ and thinking they can intuitively ‘read’ the table and end up randomly increasing and decreasing their bets. If that is your strategy, I’d suggest you limit your bankroll to the money you’ve already won and look for a day job.
I specialize in craps, but am as knowledgeable (and often much more) on gambling strategies than any gambling ‘expert’ who has written books on it. If you’d like to discuss anything about strategy or playing for a living, feel free to email me through my profile (just click on my username and find the ‘email Vegas_Matt’ link).
Good luck and have fun.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Whether you can make a living playing Blackjack or not depends on how good you are at counting cards and how many decks the casino is using, how often they shuffle those cards, and avoiding the casino finding out that you count cards. If the casino figures out that you count cards they can make you leave, but they can’t press criminal charges against you because it’s not against the law.
If you’re just using basic strategy for Blackjack, then you will not be able to make a living at it because basic strategy over the long term has less than 100% payback for the player.