I have been making money investing online over the past decade by trading, playing online poker, betting on sports, blogging and playing blackjack at casinos! Investing in casino games was how I first got into gambling and it’s the only investment that was not carried out online. I then moved on to online trading for a living at Betfair that also led me to begin blogging and ended up playing high stakes poker. During those years sports betting systems also supplied a side-income and nowadays stock trading and online blogging are the main areas where I am investing for income.
Investing in Casino Games
I began experimenting with gambling by learning how to card count at the blackjack tables. I am talking about land-based casinos here that don’t feature automatic shuffle machines. For most, investing in casino games doesn’t sound like a promising investment, yet that is how I increased my initial bankroll ten times as I describe in my about page. Obviously I got quite lucky, although being a card counter and using shuffle tracking techniques did allow me to have an edge against the casino when playing blackjack.
How about investing in online casinos nowadays? Personally I don’t know of any casino game that players can make money online in the long run. The only investing idea that could provide some kind of an income for a short time is called bonus hunting. Pretty often online casinos make new offers that include new deposit bonus or welcome bonus, in order to attract new customers. These casino bonuses are usually quite generous, although bonus hunters need to spend quite some time playing at the casino online. As soon as the bonus is redeemed and money can be withdrawn, players move on to the next bonus, effectively trying to take advantage of every offer that different online casinos make from time to time.
Investing in online trading
That is one of my favorite investments and my best investing idea till now, since it provided for me a substantial income for 3 years! Trading any kind of security is pretty much the same, as long as one knows that they do have an edge. While Betfair trading was quite profitable for me 7 years ago, nowadays stock and forex trading are becoming a lot more popular that before. Online investing in trading can make a lot of money, unless traders are investing based on emotions. Cold trading and following a plan or a trading strategy along with money management are the necessary investing tools, in order to make money trading online.
Investing in online poker
Online trading may be becoming popular, but poker has given a new meaning to the word “popularity”! New poker sites are popping up every year and turnover worldwide continues to increase. New players are constantly being introduced to the poker games and money exchanges hands every second on the virtual felts! Long-time winners prove that not only one can invest in online poker, but also one can take up a professional career in poker, either as a cash game or a tournament player. If you are also looking to make it to the headlines by investing online, winning a couple of major poker tournaments is the easiest way to go!
Online investing in sports betting
Flipping a coin and betting at even odds won’t get you far. Betting on a football team at even odds when that team wins 55% of the time will make you money in the long run. Value betting is how to make money when investing in sports events. The edge can be as low as 1% and there are rumors that there are betting systems of 25% profit yield! My personal investing story of sports betting speaks of a very promising betting strategy on football games that forced me to question maths at one point, when the drawdown erased half of the profits! Sports betting is one of the online investments I rarely deal with nowadays, but you might want to read how to build your own betting system in a post I wrote 5 years ago!
Online investing in blogging
Almost everyone these days think they should start a blog and finally share their thoughts with like-minded people. In the process they could make money as well, according to several inspirational bloggers. In fact blogging could make you money and can be regarded as a form of online investing, although it’s not as easy as it looks. New bloggers need to be well prepared and consider spending a lot of time and effort building their blogs, if they want blogging to pay their bills. Most of the times, owning a blog doesn’t cost much, but like most investments one would need to invest money in their blogs, in order to stand out from the crowd.
Before investing in a hosting plan, a tip that won’t cost you anything is to pick carefully a keyword-rich domain for your blog. Deciding next on the blog software also comes free and it’s when you begin promoting your blog by link building that expenses begin piling up! Remember though that content is king when it comes to making money from your blog. You might find inspiration of the Mashable.com success story!
These are the five online investing ideas I have been dealing with over the past 10 years! I’m grateful that most of them have been profitable for me, and although mistakes cost dearly in these investments, rewards can be extraordinary! Have you been investing for income or do you know of other online investing ideas? Let me know at the comments below.