How Did I Ever Get Into This ?

[Grinderman]

I thought that I would post my Betfair journey as it may be of interest to anyone out there thinking of taking the plunge and going full-time. It may also strike a chord with some of you old hands.

In my previous life, I was a computer analyst programmer. Doing quite nicely, working away a lot, but based in the North of England. I'd always liked a punt on the horses and I opened my Betfair account soon after the launch.

After the birth of our second child, my wife gave up her job. Unfortunately, this coincided with a big downturn where I was working and things got very tight. Could Betfair be my savior? It occurred to me that if I could back a horse in the morning on Betfair, and lay it at shorter odds in the afternoon, I could make some spare cash. Blindingly obvious now, but a Eureka moment back then.

So that's what I did. After a while I was making £20 or £30 most days. All in the firm's time of course. I had also realized that there was money to be made from the volatility of the Pricewise horses. Plus, you could always arb back then when slow bookies got out of step with the exchange (prior to my accounts being closed down). £250 profit a week was not uncommon and no Premium Charge either. Ah, nostalgia's not what it used to be!

However, I was now on Betfair about 2 hours a day in company time. Not surprisingly, my work suffered and as a consequence I was taken off the better projects. The once golden boy now reduced to fixing other people's crap. I hated it but stuck it for 6 months.

What about going part time? If you are thinking of taking Betfair to the next level, this is something to bear in mind. I told my manager that I had problems at home (a complete fib) and would like to reduce my working week to Monday - Wednesday. (This way, I got Bank Holiday Mondays off, plus the better racing is usually Thursday and Friday). He agreed and I spent the next 2 years doing 3 days as a programmer in the office and 4 days on Betfair at home.

This arrangement suited. Financially, I wasn't much worse off and I was learning all the time. Of course, I was still doing a few hours on Betfair while I was in the office. This was really taking the p***.

Something had to give - and it did. I was made redundant. Just me a part-timer, and another slacker, from a staff of 40. They could have fired me. They should have fired me. I would have. I can only think that they did it this way on account of my many good years pre-Betfair.

I told my wife, who had since returned to work on a modest salary, that I intended to go full-time on Betfair. She told me that if I did, I would be doing it without her around. So, I told her I would look for another job, but of course I didn't. Most evenings when she got in from work, she would ask how the job hunting was going. "Nothing yet dear", I would tell her.

So that was it, a job and career I had previously loved, ruined by Betfair. No, not really. I had begun to realize a few years earlier that the job was seriously interfering with what I really enjoyed and wanted to do. Having to work, or go through the motions of pretending to work, had become a real inconvenience. A bit cliched, but I felt as though I had been living a lie. I was a now a full-time Betfairian with no other income.

Now something that should not be underestimated. A strange feeling of isolation and boding when the cord is finally cut. The security of having a salary (albeit 60% pro rata), private health care, paid sick leave and holidays. Knowing that the company would look after you if something went wrong - gone. And I got here in stages. In the first few weeks of being full-time, all I made were losses . Even though I was doing the same things that I had always done, it just wouldn't happen. It could only be that feeling in the back of my mind.

I was very fortunate. I had no debt, the house was paid for, a decent bank thanks to the redundancy. I doubt I would have been brave enough if it wasn't for these things. I knew that I didn't have to get up in the morning and show a profit so that the mortgage would get paid.

Eventually, I got my mojo back and the money started to come again. My wife could see I was happy and came round to my way of thinking. Five years on and I'm still here and still enjoying it. I've shown a profit every year on Betfair, each year better than the previous. From my initial experiments all those years ago, through my part-time years to full-time. And I know this because I keep detailed spread sheets updated daily. Very important. It's no use thinking that I must be doing OK, because I have money in my bank account. You need to know what you are making and how you did it.

Exit strategy. Do I really want to be doing this in 15 years time? Not really. What if there was no betting exchange? What if the Premium Charge finally killed it or if the Chancellor decided he wanted a piece? I couldn't face the job market again. So, I have bought 3 modest terraced houses on an interest only basis, which I rent out. In a couple of years, I can get at my pension pot which will pay the balance off. Not a massive pot, it's just that property is very cheap in my part of the world. This will give me a little bit of security once again and I can eventually scale down the Betfair side as and when.

Well there it is. How I got here and plans for the future. I am not making a fortune, but I now make more than I did in my computer programming days. Plus if I get up in the morning and don't fancy it, I don't have to do it.

[marksmeets302]

Well done. I think the best part is your wife is still with you. Also, that you have a plan for the future.

Good luck!

[jimibt]

Grinderman - truthful, insightful and not sentimental. without a doubt, theses are the qualities that saw you thro. When reading your account, so many parallels struck a chord.

In a word, I really thank you for this as it removes the feeling of isolation and the nagging doubt that *am i the only one that gets this*. thankfully, my wife also (after my many years of being a *go to* developer), also gets it. There are of course down days, but experience tells you that these are literally blips in the otherwise known journey...

Anyway, in some ways I was talking back to myself, but that's the power of your narrative... thanks for that.

all the best
jim

[PeterLe]

Good post; Its great to hear these stories
There was a similar thread some time ago, check this out:-

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3538&hilit=previous+life#p23255

I wonder however; if half of those same posters are around now?

[LeTiss]

Good post; Its great to hear these stories
There was a similar thread some time ago, check this out:-

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3538&hilit=previous+life#p23255

I wonder however; if half of those same posters are around now?

Wow, my post on page 1 could have been written yesterday, except I'm now 46 and been self-employed for 8 years. Sometimes, I feel like I've done bugger all for those years apart from watch sport. Thinking about it though - I would never have done this full-time if I was married or had kids. I have been incredibly selfish, and taken risks just because I can, but when I see some of my mates going through miserable expensive divorces, and having to book appointments to see their kids, I suddenly realise how flipping great my life is!

[Dallas]

Great post Grinderman thanks for sharing I also enjoy reading these type of things just to get a understanding of the different paths people have taken depending on there individual circumstances and aspirations and what they have overcome or found easy in relation to others.

[Grinderman]

Thanks for the kind words. Just something I wanted to get of my chest for a while.

[megarain]

Great post .. (see, there are others out there, who also 'get-it'.

Was chatting to a Betfair account manager yesterday, who had been with the company 7 yrs .. Betfair has been going 16 !! .. why does it seem a lifetime .. becos, it can become one, if each day, rolls into the next.

Its great u have back-up plans .. one never knows, thou, i suspect, there will be more opportunities .. if anyone has the energy.

Best wishes.

[Euler]

Great post, it's good to share your stories.

When I left my very last job they were convinced I'd join a competitor. I told them I wasn't, but they 'made' me sign an anti-competitive agreement. So I bargained with them for terms which they gave me. Years later I saw the MD and he asked who I went to join, so I had great pleasure in telling him that I didn't and thanks for the settlement.

[LeTiss]

I'm more concerned about How Do I Ever Get Out!!

Last year I lost my focus, so decided to get a job again. It was hopeless - for a guy in his mid-40's who has worked for himself for 8 years, a job that involved betting all day (basically totally removed from the sales world I left) I found it tough to even get an interview, especially once they realised what money I was expecting

I'm now squirrelling money away, so I can retire or do voluntary work after this, because this job has totally fooked any hope of resuming a career at 46 years of age

[Euler]

I've invested pretty much all the money I made from trader with the intention of creating a long-term income source. I've just got to decide when I want to quit.

[Kev123in]

In your honest opinion if you wanted to would it be possible to trade BF in 10 or 15 years time?

[steven1976]

I'm more concerned about How Do I Ever Get Out!!

Last year I lost my focus, so decided to get a job again. It was hopeless - for a guy in his mid-40's who has worked for himself for 8 years, a job that involved betting all day (basically totally removed from the sales world I left) I found it tough to even get an interview, especially once they realised what money I was expecting

I'm now squirrelling money away, so I can retire or do voluntary work after this, because this job has totally fooked any hope of resuming a career at 46 years of age

Have you got your focus back yet or still struggling? I'm having a similar thing outside of BF and it's tough to get out of.

With me it's basically because I'm at a point where I don't see how to currently grow my business due to various things and I wonder if BF traders can suffer the same when they reach a point and don't see a point of growing further?

Ste

[spreadbetting]

I can relate to LeTiss's concerns, I've been doing this full time for quite a while too. Paid off the mortgage, got a small fortune squirreled away but there's always that irrational fear in the back of the mind it's all gonna go tits up overnight, all my edges disappear and then what do I do.

There's no rhyme or reason to it, this year has been very profitable so far, even with PC I earn more than I ever did working. I put it down to coming from a working class northern background and probably not having that sense of entitlement others may have.

[Euler]

In your honest opinion if you wanted to would it be possible to trade BF in 10 or 15 years time?

Exchanges are going to be around forever I'd imagine. Now the market has opened pandora's box they wont be able to put it back in.

I've spent a bit of time in the US stirring up interest. So even if the UK doesn't make the most of it, somebody else will for certain.