Placing bets at a sports book is a national interest enjoyed from the office to the barbecue and everywhere in between. Some, myself included, take this past time a step further. Seven years ago, I retired from being a director of a major sports book to become a professional sports gambler, and I haven't looked back.

During my more than twenty years in the sports book gaming industry, I watched thousands of individuals wagering daily with a bookie on sporting events. I paid more attention to how they wagered and less on the play they selected. The vast majority of all sports bettors had no money system and their individual wagers depended on a win or lose record more than on a set game plan.

Some ten years ago I developed a money management system, which contributes to my success as a professional player. I have taught this system to gaming classes and to professional sports book gamblers who are now members of my Internet site. And of course, I use it regularly myself.

I also use these general rules in my system:

• I do not or never will parlay. All my wagers are straight bets. Teasers are sucker bets so that is the best word to describe the person who plays them.
• I do not wager on futures.

A personal note, I never drink till my last wager is in and I do not place a sports book bet after it's Miller time. I live in Las Vegas and they are gracious enough here to offer free drinks to players. Drinks are bet inducers for many, don't be one of them.

This is my sports betting system:

I use it and I highly recommend it to my web site members. I do not believe you will ever win consistently at sports book betting without a solid money management system. There are other money management methods, but this is the original, developed by myself over 25 years ago.

• As a professional gambler, I treat sports book wagering just like any other business, which includes having a bank balance. This bank is not the car payment or mortgage money but a separate amount of money, a gambling bankroll.
• For purpose of explanation we will set the amount at $5,000.00 here, but it could be any sum of money your budget will allow. This bank is just my sports book wagering bank, it is not used for any other purpose.
• Now that offshore wagering has evolved into a safe venture it is much easier to work this system. You can deal quickly and easily with dozens of online sports books from the comfort of your home, any time of day or night.
• My betting is done in units. The greatest majority of my wagering is done at the one unit level. I do increase a single play as high as five units on rare occasions. I am not here to explain handicapping techniques on how unit values are determined, but it is important that you be careful about increasing unit value and I recommend that your sports book information be solid prior to going higher than one unit.
• The value of one unit is 5% of your total bank. In this example, that unit value would be $250.00. At no time should you have wagered more than 50% of your bank or in this case $2,500.00.
• I run my bank just like sports books run theirs, from a Monday till Monday or seven days. Lets say we had a good week and our bank has increased to $6,450. I want to increase my bank to $6,000.00 and take a little money for me, so I skim off $450.00.
• Since the bank is now $6,000, our unit value has increased to $300.
• Lets say next we hit an off week and our bank is down to $4,800.00. Then our unit value is down to $240.00. Stick with this sports book money system and never deviate. It has made me very successful over the years.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. My service is for professional sports book players, so we do not cater to the weekend player. I do my best to answer or have answered emails from those who are trying to make a serious effort at becoming successful at sports book wagering. In my opinion money management is as important, or even more important, than handicapping skills.

by Bubba Smith, Professional Sports Bettor
Bubba@sportsbookedge.net