Whenever discussions in the sports betting media move away from the games to who is actually wagering on the action, the conversation tends to focus on just two different groups: professional and recreational bettors.
This dual-classification system seems a little too rigid, though, especially in the new era of legalization.'
I wanted to analyze this bifurcation by gauging perceptions of those in the sports betting industry. I talked to a number of people regarding how they categorize the different types of sports bettors, their motivations, establishing a betting identity, and whether there are other subsets of bettors.'
Here is what they had to say.'
Who’s Who?
As on-air talent for VSiN, Matt Youmans thinks about sports betting more than just about anyone in the media. He believes there is a clear line of demarcation between pro and recreational bettors.
“I say the stereotypical recreational bettors are typically at the book for entertainment and they hope to win while drinking and watching games all day,” said Youmans, a former sportswriter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “You'll see them parlay several games and play mostly favorites.”'
If that description exemplifies a recreational bettor, then Matt Haney, who works in the financial services industry, gladly takes on that role. He lives in the metro Philadelphia area where he has plenty of legal sportsbooks to choose from. All that accessibility and games to consume via the media has changed his sports betting experiences.
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“I'd say I'm a recreational bettor because my betting philosophy is to do it for fun and the amount I bet,” Haney said. '
His strategy is to focus mostly on bonuses, boosts, and other promotions that books use to encourage more action. Haney then uses these on what he calls “thinly bet” sports like college baseball, where he feels he might have a slight edge.'
As a territory manager for an HVAC company in Virginia, Doug Tuttle considers that his profession, while sports betting, albeit something he spends a lot of time on, is absolutely a diversion to him.'
“I'm a recreational bettor,” said the Yorktown resident. “While the dictionary provides several definitions for 'professional', I tend to agree with the interpretation that it is someone engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation. So for me it means someone who's primary income comes from betting.”
Tuttle estimates he spends around 20 hours per week engaging in sports betting activities like handicapping and watching games. That amount only rises during NFL season, when fantasy football becomes a priority.'
Act Like a Pro
As the VP of Risk Management for the SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas, Jeff Sherman is constantly surrounded by sharp bettors, some of whom wager for a living.'
He says the Westgate has a very defined description of a professional bettor. That is someone who uses betting as their main source of income. Still, the Westgate has other categories for their clients, regardless of what they list as their main occupation.'
“Our classification system is more toward educated bettors and recreational bettors,” Sherman said. “An educated bettor is one that will either influence the market or play numbers, and not players or teams. Recreational bettors wager on teams or players, sometimes with disregard to the comparative numbers at different books. They just want to have interest on the game.”
I talked to a West Coast-based professional sports bettor who prefers to remain anonymous. This pro, who travels to legalized jurisdictions for the action, sees a boundary between those who do what he does for a living compared to recreational bettors. Interestingly, the amount of zeros or commas on the betting slip has nothing to do with it.'
“The No. 1 factor between a pro and non-pro isn't necessarily the amount wagered, but it's the ability to identify a coin-flip game after it has tipped off or kicked off, ” said the pro bettor. “Whether you have $6,000 on Florida or $60, it was obvious last night that [Game 7 of Stanley Cup Finals] was one of those coin flips. So instead of taking a loss or letting it ride, pros must have the ability to hedge or reduce exposure.”
Because he is so entrenched in the sports betting industry, both from an occupational and personal standpoint, Youmans agrees with those principles that make someone a pro bettor.'
“The pros play more [under]dogs and usually look for ways to make a profit on pregame positions by live betting and setting up hedges and middles,” Youmans said.
Unit size does help distinguish between pros and Joes, according to Youmans.'
“The wager amounts do matter,” he said. “Pros are not betting $50 or $100 on games. However, just because someone places a large wager that does not mean he’s sharp or a pro. Some of the dumbest bets you see are the biggest ones made at bad numbers.
“The number always matters to a pro. A public player will take bad numbers or get on games too late after the sharps took the best numbers.”
Being a professional bettor means there is a Malcom Gladwell time component to it. Or perhaps, just like any aspect of life, the more time you put in, the better bettor you can be.'
“You need to treat it like a business; you have to take profits when available,” said the West Coast professional. “These guys who don't watch the games can say, 'Well, you don't have the opportunity to make an additional wager that may compound the loss,' but I'm a big proponent of watching the game and adjusting accordingly – especially in the NBA.'
“I spend almost every day watching at least three to seven hours of games. And on a Saturday or Sunday, I can easily watch games from 9 or 10 a.m. until the last game is completed. Couple that with handicapping horse races throughout the day, not to mention how much golf I've been watching lately.”
Sports betting has also played a large role in Tommy Lorenzo's life.'
He started initially with parlay cards when he was in high school during the late 1980s. Then came the trips to Las Vegas sportsbooks in the early 1990s. All that time accrued betting still doesn't make him a professional, however.
Lorenzo feels that way because a pro “actually pays the rent and puts food on the table solely from their sports betting profits.” He says that even though someone may be a regular at a sportsbook, that doesn't make them a professional.'
Lorenzo admires those he comes across, either in sportsbooks or on social media, who bet on sports professionally.'
“I have no clue how many pro sports bettors are really out there,” said Lorenzo, the host of Cover The Weekend Sports Betting Podcast (@sportsbooktom). “But there are some who do it and I tip my cap to them.”
Living the Life?
Probably every bettor that ever went on a heater has at least contemplated becoming a pro. The fantasy of it sounds great: Watch sports all day, become your own boss, work on your own schedule. '
Canada-based sports bettor Matt Buchalter, who operates the popular X account @PlusEVAnalytics, has the quantitative and modeling skills to go all in on a professional betting career. He has thought about it in the past, but never went in full-time for a number of reasons.
First, he didn't want to live the lifestyle of a professional bettor and get involved with “street bookies” to get enough down to sustain his yearly income. He has maintained his recreational status for the same reason as other skilled bettors who are still working as plumbers, teachers, or realtors.'
“Betting enough to replace my employment income would require a much higher risk tolerance than my family and I have,” he explained. “Also, it’s nice to have benefits, a retirement plan, et cetera. I have 20-plus working years left and I have questions about the long-term sustainability of betting as an income source.”
I did talk to another bettor north of the border who does bet professionally. He too prefers to not use his name, but is a Canadian pro sports bettor with the X handle @BettorDJS.'
His betting transactions are usually done with offshore accounts and some anonymous group work.'
“Betting is my primary source of income,” he said. “That is industry standard and what ultimately separates pros from recreational bettors.”
@BettorDJS decided to transition from a career in carpentry to full-time sports bettor because it was his passion and he felt he had the proper mindset and discipline to make it work. He says there is a reason there are so many sports bettors, yet so few who can be declared true professionals.'
“A lot of those who do this (be a professional) have said, 'If you have everything it takes to be a professional bettor or gambler, you would likely be more successful and make more money in another profession.'”
Middle It
While it's clear from those I talked to that being a professional bettor has just one meaning – someone who derives their main source of income from sports betting –' recreational bettors can attempt to share some of their characteristics.
Here is where there might be a new class of bettors emerging.'
Haney, the recreational bettor, said, “I half-jokingly kind of want to call myself a little semi-pro because I've found a way to be consistently profitable and make a little money on the side.”'
Tuttle provided a creative way to describe his current sports betting identity.
“I would say I am an amateur in training.”
He then added more context into his current betting lifestyle.'
“I consider [sports betting] a hobby,” Tuttle said. “For instance, golf takes a lot of my time, but I am no professional. I've read several books on poker math and strategy to try to better my craft. I follow several professional sports bettors via TV with VSiN and on X to try to help me understand what it takes to stay viable while I'm building my bankroll. I'm in the process of applying Billy Walters' power ranking strategy for the upcoming NFL season as a pilot.”
There are very few live betting experiences better than the Westgate on an NFL Sunday or during March Madness. And when Sherman steps out of his office from behind the counter and scans the crowd, he sees a lot of Haneys and Tuttles filling the seats.'
“The crowd is usually 90 percent recreational versus 10 percent educated,” Sherman said. “That estimate is based just on those watching games, not specifying ticket count or money wagered.”
Youmans also spends many a day, night, long afternoon, or early morning downtown at Circa, one of Las Vegas' premier books. '
“Circa does attract more pros, though the percentage is still low and what it is exactly is debatable,” said Youmans, who was on the UNLV hoops beat during some of the team's glory years. “You will find very few pros at books on the Strip these days.”
Although he talks about it and practices what he preaches, Youmans adamantly states he is not a professional.'
“I wouldn't classify myself as a pro, because I’m not betting for a living, but I do try to bet like a pro,” Youmans said. “I make my own numbers, do my own handicapping, and play mostly ‘dogs while always trying to get the best numbers. I hate laying points, but when I do play favorites, you can be pretty sure there are really good reasons for it.”
Lorenzo feels a number of those grinding out all that work to make educated wagers with profit in mind would best be described as handicappers rather than professionals.'
“I'm definitely not a pro, but if I can be considered as 'one of the stronger sports handicappers out there,' I’d take that label any day.”
Different Name, Same Game
Regardless of their status, those I talked to all shared the same motivations to make sports bets.'
“It's a combo of wanting to make a little extra money and making watching games more interesting,” Haney said.'
The West Coast pro has a similar drive to bet sports. He is a self-proclaimed action junkie who just spends more time and units doing it compared to the recreational bettors.'
“You obviously are trying to win but the thrill of looking at the games, doing your homework, beating the line, then having the opportunity to watch the game for two or three hours of enjoyment and be able to cash a ticket at the same time,” he said. “It's very satisfying.”
No matter how bettors identify themselves, they can relate to Lorenzo's motivations.'
“The baseline really is a love of sports,” he said. “I feel it's in my blood and I'm very passionate about it. Sports betting just expands on that and figuring out the puzzle is a lot of fun. Personally, I find that it keeps my mind sharp too.”
Blurred Lines'
Because of what social media can offer, @BettorDJS feels some can straddle the line between being a recreational and pro bettor.
“On Twitter and YouTube, we have a lot of what you might call 'content bettors,'” he said. “These are bettors who often have a nine-to-five type of job or the more successful ones can make a living from the betting content, even though they may be break-even or small-winning bettors.
“On one hand, you do have a very small percentage of very successful pro bettors that also happen to produce content, people like Spanky, Rufus [Peabody], and Rob Pizzola come to mind, among others. On the other hand, you have many who are really recreational, but since they get a lot of views from their betting content, they are often portrayed as pro, which can be potentially dangerous to some of those consuming the content.”
Youmans added another interesting layer to the identification of sports bettors. He estimates that only about 2% of all sports bettors are pure professionals. However, there is another related group that seemingly has more members.
Youmans rhetorically asked, “Is a pro who makes money from a tout service a true pro? There’s a gray area.”
A bettor's side hustle as a tout brings into question whether that income negates their true professional status.'
Buchalter summed up his thoughts in a way many people sitting in their work cubicles with a number of betting apps open on their phone can relate to.'
“What would I call myself? 'Skilled recreational bettor,' I guess? Just because you’re good at something doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make a living doing it.”