Gambling Money-Making Tactics in the US & States' Favorite Side Hustles

The pursuit of making more money is predominant in most people's lives, so much so that in 2023 side hustles reached an all-time high over the past 20 years, according to a recent study from Authority Hacker. The study found each state's most lucrative ways to make extra cash - three words that are likely to prick the ears of almost anyone. 

There are countless ways people earn money aside from their regular jobs, and for some folks, gambling is their preferred means. It would be irresponsible of us to tell you that gambling, whether that be at casino sites or sportsbooks, is a surefire way to earn some extra income; that's just not the case. 

How casinos work is through house edge (we talk about house edge in our guide to the casino games with the lowest), meaning the odds are slightly in their favor. While you can employ strategies that will give you the best chances of winning, such as a savvy blackjack strategy, while luck may be in your favor, the odds are not. 

One method of gambling, however, that presents the best chance of success is matched betting or arbitrage betting. Simply put, this involves wagering on all possible outcomes of an event where profit is guaranteed. Most of the time, this is done by using multiple different betting operators or through live betting, where the odds can change during the course of an event. However, the bookmakers don't want to see you doing this, so matched bettors often have to try to stay under the radar for as long as possible. 

Others take to casinos to try and boost their coffers, utilizing betting systems such as:

• The Paroli - a strategy where you increase the size of your stake each time you win at a casino game.
• The Fibonacci - a negative progression system, meaning you increase your stake each time you lose a wager, coined after Leonardo Bonacci, dubbed the most talented mathematician of the Middle Ages. 
• The Labouchere - a negative progression system designed for players with solid concentration and a large bankroll. 
• The Oscar's Grind - a cautious strategy where the general idea is to earn a single unit of profit in each cycle and then start again.

All of these strategies are not without merit but do not guarantee a profit, unlike more traditional side hustles like babysitting, Uber driving, and online tutoring. They would fall under the riskier side of side hustles, much like day trading or trading in general, where you must risk your own money to see any potential rewards. 

Side hustles are an important part of the economy. A 2023 study by Bankrate showed that 39% of U.S. adults have a side hustle, and 33% of those side hustlers say they rely on the extra income to cover regular living expenses.

With that in mind, the research and analytics team at Casinos.com wanted to learn a few things about side hustles. We first wanted to find out if any states in the U.S. prefer gambling or casino-related side hustles as their primary nixers, and this data also led us to find out the nation's favorite side hustle overall. We measured 24 different categories for money-making terms on Google Trends to determine this, including everything from making money at casinos to detailing cars. 

Which Side Hustle's Are The Most Popular in the US? 

There were a couple of high performers when conducting this study, most notably DoorDash deliveries, which emerged as 14 different states' favorite ways to earn extra income. 

All of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas had Doordash as their #1 side hustle in 2024. 

Other popular side hustles included pet sitting, which was the preference of six states, and day trading, which was also the top choice for six states. 

From a gambling perspective, data suggested that two states (Massachusetts and New Jersey) had arbitrage betting as their primary side hustle. Florida fans are also fans of Retail Arbitrage, which follows the same principles, but this time, finding items in stores or online that can be flipped for profit elsewhere. 

Unsurprisingly, people in Nevada were interested in making money at casinos (who would have guessed), although this was their #2 choice behind Uber Driving. Nevada also had 'making money gambling' in their #3 spot for side hustles, alongside Oklahoma. 

Data suggests that fewer people are using online surveys, blogging, and cleaning to boost their bank balances.  

What are Each US States' Three Favorite Side Hustles

Methodology:

We used Google Trends to measure the level of interest in 24 of the nation's favorite side hustles. 

• Data was collected over a 12-month period from September 13, 2023 - September 13, 2024

In the case where a state had equal levels of interest for multiple side hustles, search volumes for each item using semrush were measured in that area to determine a favorite.

Fair Use Policy

The data and graphics on this page are free to use as long as proper credit is given by linking to the original article.