Credibility

[alexmr2]

When I was 26 and dating a 55 year old woman she kept saying she would kick me out onto the street to get a proper job because no one makes money from betting/trading

You need to remember that when a mature person says ""no one makes money...." they don't mean nobody, it's just a kinder way of saying you won't. Anyone with kids has been there in some way at one time or another. And so far it looks like she was right?

Thing is you claim to have an understanding of probability but at such a young age you want to put all your eggs in a basket that has an extremely thin chance of success. If you fail you could end up virtually unemployable, condemmed to low paid jobs, and if you do suceeed but only make a good wage rather than a great wage you won't be able to get a mortgage, car loans etc. A 100/1 gamble at this stage in your life is bold, that's why so many of us wait until we're sorted and then take some life gambles.

I understand that people will disuade others from trading, partly because they don't understand it and partly because they care. If someone close to me started trading, I would 100% try and talk them out of it because I know 99% of people don't have the drive and the most likely scenario is as you described. That is not a scenario that overly bothers me because I'm done with the corporate life, I'm much happier living minimalist than working as a corporate slave just so I can afford a Range Rover, designer brands and holidays abroad which would probably add 5-10% happiness to my life. Even in the worst case I have found that some lower paid jobs are more enjoyable and that in the left-wing UK, higher paid jobs are often bad value with long working hours and higher taxes.

Only someone themselves can know if it's the right decision, without going into too much detail my personal circumstances are very aligned with becoming a trader and I'm fortunate to have a substantial safety net behind me. I know it takes a lot of work and managing risk, I'm determined to crack manual pre-off trading but if it doesn't work there are other markets, IP bots, affiliate marketing or some other kind of online business. The world has changed a lot since the internet and there are always ways to adapt.

I've struggled with trading for a while but definitely see improvements all the time so don't see why it won't eventually work out, or I learn something that can be applied elsewhere. Yesterday I made 10% of my bank, saw that the rest of the races were poor so went out a lovely walk in the sun on a whim. The alternative (my previous job as a design engineer) I would be stuck inside at a desk with no option except to stare out at the sun and wish.

Happiness is the only real currency I would much rather give it a good go, have some freedom and fail than spend my whole life working up the corporate ladder just so I can drive round in that Range Rover and that 'rarri, revving it up picking up ladies of the night and taking them to the club to throw £20 notes everywhere. When you think how much happiness it would actually add to your life, you will realise the happiness:effort ratio is poor value

[ShaunWhite]

PC validation would be a nightmare...

I've never been able to get to my PC page presumably because I didn't qualify, this week I can! The 40%+ tot charges explains why I'm not in the PC gang. 187,00 markets isn't in the top league but shows something I suppose.

You'll note the heavily redacted numbers, and I made them as long as possible so the numbers look bigger
.

Screenshot_3.png

[ShaunWhite]

the happiness:effort ratio is poor value

I think the phrase is 'work as little as possible for the lifestyle you want'.

Insecurity is something young people (and I'm talking <50) have the luxury of and it allows them to dream. When you can see the end ahead and you realise the state pension is about £150 a week, you might wonder if toeing the line for 20 years, building a pension, buying a house etc might have been worth doing. Gotta get your low level Maslow needs banked.

Graft till 50 and fun after that was always my goal. 32 adult years working, hopefully 32 adult years playing seemed like a doable thing.

[LinusP]

PC validation would be a nightmare...

I've never been able to get to my PC page presumably because I didn't qualify, this week I can! The 40%+ tot charges explains why I'm not in the PC gang. 187,00 markets isn't in the top league but shows something I suppose.

You'll note the heavily redacted numbers, and I made them as long as possible so the numbers look bigger
.
Screenshot_3.png

Well there is no negative sign so you get the PC tick

[Derek27]

PC validation would be a nightmare...

I've never been able to get to my PC page presumably because I didn't qualify, this week I can! The 40%+ tot charges explains why I'm not in the PC gang. 187,00 markets isn't in the top league but shows something I suppose.

You'll note the heavily redacted numbers, and I made them as long as possible so the numbers look bigger
.
Screenshot_3.png

You've made a good point. People keep banging on about PC, a badge and membership of a club but it's your lifetime gross that really counts.

So you might be paying 40% without ever paying 20%. That would be quite a bummer unless you generally pay a high rate of commission.

[goat68]

PC validation would be a nightmare...

I've never been able to get to my PC page presumably because I didn't qualify, this week I can! The 40%+ tot charges explains why I'm not in the PC gang. 187,00 markets isn't in the top league but shows something I suppose.

You'll note the heavily redacted numbers, and I made them as long as possible so the numbers look bigger
.
Screenshot_3.png

That would be a useful page to see for my account, but doesn't show for me either. I'm keeping track manually, I believe I have quite a bit of headroom too.

[rik]

You'll note the heavily redacted numbers, and I made them as long as possible so the numbers look bigger
.
Screenshot_3.png

that commission bar a bit short if thats 41% of the total that cant be more than 7 digits
I guess enjoy no pc as long as it lasts, you seem to be on a good track seeing your profit graph the other day

[dropss81]

Can Anyone remember this race back in 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnEBeH55s-4

Unbelievable made real

[ANGELS15]

Can Anyone remember this race back in 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnEBeH55s-4

Unbelievable made real

Yes and some people were matched at 1000 on McCoy's mount.

[wearthefoxhat]

Can Anyone remember this race back in 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnEBeH55s-4

Unbelievable made real

Yes and some people were matched at 1000 on McCoy's mount.

FB1.png

FB.png

[arbitrage16]

the happiness:effort ratio is poor value

When you can see the end ahead and you realise the state pension is about £150 a week, you might wonder if toeing the line for 20 years, building a pension, buying a house etc might have been worth doing. Gotta get your low level Maslow needs banked.

Graft till 50 and fun after that was always my goal. 32 adult years working, hopefully 32 adult years playing seemed like a doable thing.

The counter to that would be that you've spent the 'best' - physical fitness, opportunities for fun, appetite for risk and adventure - years of your life slogging to make someone else rich.

In my opinion the gamble is whether or not people get out of the rat race unscathed - mental health, body in working order - to enjoy some good years, probably with a spouse who is also (hopefully) still in good nick.

Perhaps the last wishes of the dying are instructive here, and it's rare that you hear people on their death bed say "I wish I'd worked more, I wish I'd put more by for my pension"

[ShaunWhite]

You've made a good point. People keep banging on about PC, a badge and membership of a club but it's your lifetime gross that really counts.

Using the tax you pay as a measure is so 2010, take a look at Google, Amazon & Starbucks

I don't know if it's a lack of ambition but I rarely see new people start by planning ahead and getting some tax avoidance in place. Or maybe it's over ambition and thinking they'll be so rich that fees won't be problem..

[Morbius]

LeTiss brought up the knotty issue of assessing the creditability of advice again but it got lost in that thread. PC is one way but even a lucky newbie can pay that until the wheels fall off, and I don't pay PC even though this pays my bills, so....

What's missing that other trades have ? an Association/Federation/Institute of Master Sports Traders.
£20 quid a year, you sent in your PL, you get a certificate and a sticker for your van The big guys can apply for a gold certificate ...but that's £40.

I might do it, I reckon I could get 10 members and that's enough for a christmas dinner & drinks.

As you say a lucky newbie could pay PC and anyone with a martingale and a little nous could easily end up in that category. Also "PC" is too restrictive and rigid. Without naming names because I don't want to start a war lol I have read many things from PC payers on this forum that were flat out wrong but proving it would have required a long dialogue and for them to accept it which many won't. There are more ways to extract value from sports/risk markets than betting exchanges and I have spoken to several PC payers over the past two years who were no longer making it pay or weren't making enough to make it viable and moved onto other stuff. You can't go asking people for P&Ls if you're already asking them for help as it is.

I've asked numerous people for help/advice since I joined the forum, Kai/Derek/Dallas to name but a few but I would never ask them for their P&L and there is no need to for one simple reason, as a result of my own experience and knowledge level I know that they know what they are talking about. There is no short cut IMO to know someone else's level of expertise but when you have it yourself then it stands out a mile and even if someone is a PC payer, doesn't mean that they will open up and tell you anything of value does it.

IMO, some of the best people to listen to are the ones that aren't making money because they are showing you potential pitfalls and as a result you can learn a lot of what not to do and move closer to your goal that way.

EDIT: Also PC is a "problem" that IMO a trader/bettor should try very hard to solve. Why would anyone if they could avoid it do all that work only to then hand back a large chunk of their profit if they could avoid it?? Its obvious why it exists and I was one of the first people to defend it because the exchange eco system was at risk but that doesn't alter the fact that its a problem that anybody should attempt to circumvent anyway

[Kai]

You've made a good point. People keep banging on about PC, a badge and membership of a club but it's your lifetime gross that really counts.

Using the tax you pay as a measure is so 2010, take a look at Google, Amazon & Starbucks

I don't know if it's a lack of ambition but I rarely see new people start by planning ahead and getting some tax avoidance in place. Or maybe it's over ambition and thinking they'll be so rich that fees won't be problem..

You give younger people far too much credit Shaun, they'll get to planning soon as they're done scrolling their social media timelines By the time they're done scrolling it's already getting dark outside and they can't do it then because that time is obviously reserved for "Netflix and chill". Yep, there's nothing that young people love more than planning for their future. They couldn't plan a picnic if you gave them a basket and a blanket.

Even I didn't bother to fully read the higher PC charges stuff in the T&C for the first few years, until somebody on here explained it in one simple sentence, genuinely thought I'd have to get a math degree to understand it but it was actually extremely self-explanatory, lmao. In my defense Business English sometimes sounds like gibberish to a filthy foreigner like myself, but it's still a decent if somewhat embarrassing example.

I don't think an exclusive club membership would reap any particular benefits at all, besides real collabs (which are rarer than unicorns) people never want to discuss the finer details of trading anyway and one can indeed get tired of endlessly generalizing everything and oversimplifying it for easier consumption of newbies. A club like that may give a select few that warm & fuzzy feeling inside, but those on the outside would surely feel very much the opposite No, I'm afraid it would just create one big unproductive, for lack of a less vulgar term, circlejerk.

[Trader Pat]

No, I'm afraid it would just create one big unproductive, for lack of a less vulgar term, circlejerk.

Ah so its going to be one of those kinds of meetups?!

Count me out then, my orgy days are behind me!