I will attempt to answer this question by addressing first, the skills required followed by the strategies that are necessary to incorporate with the skills.

The number one skill to own when making a living at gambling, (regardless of the type of gambling), is understanding that you will win only slightly more than you lose. This fact is often overlooked as most people see gambling as a means to make the "big kill". Think like a casino thinks; Casino house edge "overall" is less than 1%, which means they lose 49% of the time.

The second most important skill to possess is shedding the the fear of losing and understand that you will not always be ahead of the game. There will be nights/days you come out behind and times when you will come out ahead. Think of it as; 2 small steps forward and 1 step backward.

The third skill necessary to be successful at gambling is to have a thorough understanding of the odds that you are faced with regardless of the game you are playing. All games of chance and for that matter, any game that produces an outcome that can be wagered against, has odds for and against. The sooner you have a full understanding of these odds, the stronger your overall skill set will become.

With regard to strategies, (without detailing individual games), the most important one is the famous STOP GAP. Setting limits is the key to not going broke quickly. Discipline is the key here.

The final strategy is being selective. Here we address this subject with a couple examples. Look at a horse racing card/program. There are 12 races on the card, 4 of the races are heavily favored to the favorites which means your wager returns little. 5 races are so up in the air because of competition that it is a crap shoot on who will win. Alas, 3 races hold potential for a bigger than normal win because of factors that you have studied in the program. Now most will bet all the races, but the smart gambler bets more on the 3 with the largest return potential. The game of poker provides another example; you are holding a low pair, but notice that 3 other players are in the pot and raising each other. The smart gambler folds and waits for a better opportunity. My final example is roulette; most players try to cover the board betting feverishly on a whim. The smarter strategy is to watch the output and then wager on the output that is overdue. This is because the laws of probability will ALWAYS win out in the end. If red hasn't showed up in 8 spins, the LAW says in the end that red will occupy about 49% of the outcomes, (darn 0 and 00).

Hope this helps.

There's a few strategies. In both online and offline gaming, you need to focus on games where you are playing only against other players. Games where you're playing against 'the house' are statistically stacked against you.

One of the most important skills is the ability to calculate odds and make decisions based off those odds. The endurance to play for extended periods of time and avoid the temptation of alcohol are also very useful in casino or tournament settings. Card counting is a useful skill, but has been effectively countered by casinos.

I've seen several strategies discussed for online poker. One involves making extremely rapid betting decisions on low cost tables, allowing the player to play as many as a couple hundred simultaneous games. By playing a large number of games, and making your bidding decisions solely on the quality of your hand, you're able to take advantage of statistical odds of winning. In addition, tables with small pots can lead to reckless behavior in other players, which is to your advantage.

Cheating is, quite frankly, very profitable as well in online poker. It can often be difficult to prove, and very difficult to prosecute cheaters depending on where they're located and where the poker sites are based.

It is very important to first decide whether you are really concerned about making a living from online gambling or not. Then you will have to make planning to make the best use of your funds while playing.

At 'tables' you'd have to learn how to 'count' cards, and not lead anyone on that you know how to 'count'. Learning it though is tricky.

Online, there are a couple of trusted sites I go to. Unfortunately I only remember the name to one of them. Worldwinner. I have withdrawn more money than deposited, but I don't play a lot, and didn't withdraw more than $200 in 6 months, so...not very viable.

But if you were with different sites and that's all you did all day, it's possible to live off of it.

The best game to play is poker. But in a casino rather than online. Cheating is rampant and not only by the players but by the insiders as well. The most important skill you have is money management. While this is not what you would expect, another way is to learn the financial market's and trade financial instruments for a living.

I am a casino manager, so I can answer most gambling questions. The first thing is, with the possible exception of poker, there is NO WAY to make a comfortable living from gambling. There is not one single casino game that a player can win, no matter what they say. In the long run "the casino always wins". Sports betting could be winnable if it weren't for the commission (or vig). Poker, well, how do you make a money from poker if everyone else is trying to do the same thing? Unless you have a large bankroll to begin with, you are going to lose it all eventually. Even the great poker players are known to lose hundreds of thousands (even more) of dollars in a month. Do you have so much money to "lose"? Stay away. And if anybody has gambling-related questions, please email me. No, you can't make a living by gambling. You can make a living by writing books about gambling perhaps.

You need a steady source of income that can fuel the losses. I'm sure in the beginning most people don't start out being full-time gamblers. Try and pick up an extra part time job and dedicate that money solely for gambling. When you lose that money, you're done. If you're any good, which to me doesn't really make sense in gambling, you could turn that part time income into a full-time income. Then, once you have generated a working method, you could quit the part time job and live solely off your winnings.