[jfoutz]

Can't speak from personal experience, but OP laid it out pretty clearly. You wait till you have an edge, then you bet. There are various books that try to capture it. Doyle Brunson's super system is like way outdated, but there are some funny bits about being a Texas road gambler getting run out of town. Annie Duke has a book I believe. My window into that world is pretty narrowly focused on poker.

I'll always recommend _Positively Fifth Street_ by James McManus. He doesn't really lay out how to do it step by step, but takes you along for a ride as to what the world looks like from that perspective. kinda.

[ssharp]

Another big aspect of professional gambling is actually being able to place bets once you have an edge. This is obviously not an issue in poker but is in most other games:

The casino will ban you if you count cards in blackjack.

The sportsbooks will limit your action or ban you if the figure out you have an edge (or just see that you're winning or betting in certain patterns).