There is perhaps no name more infamous in the high stakes gambling world than that of Billy Walters. He is widely regarded by experts to be the most successful sports bettor of all time, suffering only one losing year over a period of 39 years.
How he got to this point is an amazing story of dealing with roadblocks on life’s journey, passion for the work you love, and outthinking the competition at every point and turn.
The principles Billy Walters used to build his sports betting fortune are a goldmine for those who want to build their own wealth through sports betting.
Let’s take a closer look at Billy Walters—the man, the mogul, the entrepreneur.
Billy’s Backstory
Walters grew up in the small rural town of Munfordville, Kentucky. His journey into the world of gambling first began when he was nine years old. He placed his first bet on the 1955 World Series for the New York Yankees to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers. He worked for many years as a successful car salesman in Kentucky, where he smashed all sorts of sales records.
It was not until the 1980s that Walters became involved in the sports betting world. During this time, he joined the Computer Group, a company that used computer systems to analyze sports outcomes. Walters’ role was to pinpoint the weakest betting lines that his colleagues had identified and place the biggest wagers.
From here, Walters continued to hone the skills of his trade. The game began to change as the internet rose to prominence and Walters had to keep up with the times to stay competitive.
“I probably had to reinvent myself 25 times in the last 20 years. If I had not re-invented myself, I would have been out of business. That goes for anyone in any business. There’s going to be constant change of any industry you’re in and if you don’t change with it and you don’t change ahead of it, you become like a dinosaur; you become extinct.”– Billy Walters
What Habits Can We Learn From Walters’ Success?
Billy will be the first to tell you that he was not always good at gambling. There was a point in time where he suffered $50,000 in losses. He struggled in the early days, but eventually developed a system over many years that would ensure him steady winnings. This is what ultimately led to his acclaimed success.
Here are some of the greatest pearls of wisdom we can take away from Billy Walters’ sports betting prowess.
As with most things in life, people get better with practice over time. Billy Walters was not always the confident, dynamic guru that he eventually became. In his early years, Walters was known to have made some bad bets and lost some money. In fact, he racked up nearly $50,000 in losses at one point!
“I know what every sucker thinks because I used to be one. I can assure you that every successful gambler I know has been through some monumental failures on his way to getting there.” -Billy Walters
The key to success in sports betting is to never let losses paralyze you from making aggressive moves in the future. The idea is to not get hung up on past mistakes or failures and learn to move forward using that knowledge to better your game. Losing is all part of the process.
You are never going to hit home runs 100% of the time!
In the days before the internet, Walters would dispatch a group of workers to join the Las Vegas airport cleaning crew to collect old newspapers from planes. His hope was to gather information from these interstate papers and get a more detailed picture of sports news across the country to best optimize his wagers.
Walters knew the key to success was in surrounding himself with smart people who knew how to analyze data. Over time, Billy Walters eventually compiled one of the most impressive arsenals of mathematicians, computer programmers, statisticians, and consultants in his quest to get the most up-to-date and detailed information. Walters knew and understood that profitability in the gambling world was ultimately acquired using a large sea of good, reliable intel.
For Billy Walters, sports betting was all about maintaining your competitive edge. While some people will bet on their favorite sports teams or favorite players, Walters would not let the betting odds take a backseat to fandom. For him, it was not about backing a favorite team or being emotionally attached to a certain player. He valued taking the time to seriously analyze all available odds, data, and information.
“If you value something at 10, then you’re a buyer at 8 and a seller at 12.”-Billy Walters
Billy Walters team would only bet when the lines they created differed from those in the market. They would bet more when they would see bigger differences between their own lines and the market odds.
Another principal Walters employed was to spread out his bets across many games where there was expectation for a win.
It was important to never place one big bet on one game as there would be too much money riding on one thing, carrying with it a ton of risk. The idea was to spread the bankroll across numerous games and steadily win over time.
Walters learned over time to avoid large margins. For a sports bettor to break even, they need to win 52.38% of the time at standard odds of -110. To be profitable, sports bettors must be winning at a success rate of 52.4%.
The key to his success was to spread out a large volume of wagers and look for the best way to exploit his advantage when the edge was the biggest.
Billy Walters’ success and acumen in the high-stakes gambling world has shown that it is possible to win at sports betting and be profitable. However, Walters only won 57% of the time, which means there was also a ton of money that he lost. Losing is a part of the process, and it happens all the time to even the most seasoned professionals!
Losing is a big part of the sports betting world, and professionals like Walters are okay with fluctuations in numbers over the course of the year. As mentioned earlier, many months end in the red for Billy Walters, but his end goal was always to have a winning year by December.
“A lot of people have a difficult time stepping back and doing a re-valuation and deciding ‘I was wrong.’ A lot of people want to continue on in denial until they’re completely broke.” – Billy Walters
It Is Possible to Win and Succeed at Sports Betting!
A used car salesman from rural Kentucky was able to figure it out, and we have faith that you can do the same! Just don’t forget that losing is also a part of the experience.
If you follow Billy Walters’ principles, we feel confident that your winnings will grow bigger as you apply these steps to your sports betting habits.
Great tips! The cat watches the mouse and strikes just once.