I’m in a weird place right now, betting more than a casual gambler and less than a pro. Being at the crossroads, my mind is racing and emotions are flying high. Should I scale down my gambling and do it just for fun or should I go pro. Again.
I’ve been a pro. For two years my main (and only) source of income has been betting sports. It’s not a fun place to be. Most people envision the life of a professional gambler as some sort of a James Bond movie with no killings. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s rather boring and emotionally taxing. No fun, no joy… just an another job.
You obsess over the stats, you’re following all the news you can find on the match you’re analyzing. You’re looking which bookie has the best odds for the bet you want to place. You’re nagging your friends and family to open online accounts for you because the ones you’ve opened have a limit on how much money you can place on a single bet, or worse, your accounts have been terminated because you won too much for the bookies liking.
Professional betting is the game of intense focus, small numbers, and extreme self-discipline. Your main focus is not to win big bucks. Your main job is not to lose your bank. It’s all about your bankroll and strategy. Make a mistake with your bankroll management and you’re done. Deviate from your winning strategy and you’re done. If your emotions take over, you're done. You fear burnout all the time, because you need to perform on high level day-in, day-out. You can't afford half-assed effort.
If you’re doing it properly you’re placing the same amount of money on a single bet. You don’t play accumulators, systems,… just one bet with flat stake. You’re placing $xxx on a bet @1.80. You’re placing the same $xxx on a bet @3.20. You don’t experiment. You don’t play for the fun of it. You’re looking at the numbers and you’re worried whether you’re winning or losing. You’re afraid of your emotions, because you remember what happened the last time you made a call with your emotions.
You’ve split your betting money into hundred equal parts. That’s your stake. One unit being one percent of your betting budget. It’s like having hundred bullets in your mag and you’re going to war. Each bullet counts. You fire one shot hoping to kill the enemy and take one of his bullets. Or 0.8 of a bullet. Or 1.8,… You don’t shoot at the enemy holding 0.5 bullets. It just isn’t worth the risk of missing. The bullets are expensive!
So, here I am again. Battling with myself. Should I go for the fun or should I invest more money, time and energy in it? Should I do it properly? I don’t have the answer yet and will continue to be in this weird place for some time. There’s no rush to make the decision at this moment.
If I were the proper gambler, I would pour myself a glass of whiskey and light up a cigar. But since I don’t like whiskey, a cup of coffee and a cigarette will have to suffice. Oh, what an embarrassment to this honorable profession I am :-) I will leave you with a man much more skilled with words than yours truly.
It's important to be able to control or even shut down your emotions. Betting can be a true rollercoaster and the bad times ad up much more than the good ones. It's indeed not for everyone.
I've been betting for quite a while but I've always saw betting as a extra income. Although I earn the amount of an average income I don't think I would be able to give up this security I have with my daily job, even if I'm self employed
I've done my pro stint after I've got face to face with burnout as a software developer. I was single, financially stable,... Betting had the appeal to it at the time, but soon enough it became a job.
It had one advantage I like, I didn't have to work for the man, but the rest of it was same as any job. Stay up to date, analyze the games,... same old same old.
I was about to get married, so I quit it and went back to software development. Four years later, I have a stable marriage, a young son, a house (no mortgages, paid in cash), no debt,... I'm not rich, but I'm not hurting for money.
I'm kinda getting bored with programming and that's why I entertained the notion of going back to gambling full time. My wife is working, too, so we have a stable monthly income. But when I thought it through, the boredom would soon settle in and I'll find myself in a volatile position. I'll stick to programming for the foreseeable future and play just for the fun of it.
Congrats on your life, my friend. It's one to be proud of and one which a lot of people will envy.
How old is your son?
Do you work for the same company you did prior betting? Is there an option to become a self employed developer and work on a freelance base for other companies. Just thinking out loud of course, but that would give you some kind of freedom, and also the power of change so you won't get bored out too often. And perhaps you would be able to combine it with betting or other sources of incomes.
Betting isn't the most secured income and I wouldn't recommend it to only rely on that when you have a young nice familly. Just my two cents of course ;-)
Thanks mate!
My son is two years old. A little guy with an infinite amount of energy. I try to keep up with him, but it's hard :-)
I'm working as a freelancer since 2004, before that I did a stint at a startup that failed. I'm handicapped in a way that I don't like being employee. I tried it and it sucked the soul out of me. I'm having some regular clients I work with as they are launching new projects or updating the old ones. It keeps me busy.
My path in life is not typical. No go to school, get the job, mind your career, retire, and die for me :-)
After the high school I've joined the military, done my time there and went to the law school, drop out of it once I've started earning money with programming computers,... a total mess career-wise. Sometimes I'm regretting not getting my degree in law, but not often though.
If you add up all the bad calls I made in my life, I have nothing to complain about. I've been one lucky bastard :-)
Hmmm... I tried my hand at day trading for about a year. While I made insane money at times, the downswings were nauseating. I let go of to after a really nasty downturn that just wouldn't quit.
I couldn't see myself gambling professionally. The added weight of earning a living seems too much for my appetite. But there are folks with the skill and steel to do it. I wish you luck with your decision!
Yes, there are many ways to make a living that are much easier than gambling.
I'm leaning towards scaling down my gambling and playing purely for fun. In that scenario, placing single bets makes no sense. Currently, I'm not enjoying it anymore. A few days ago I've placed a few accas and I rediscovered the fun in gambling. I'll go that way.
The decision has been made :-)
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