Any Professional Betfair Bettors/Traders Here?

[Iron]

I've been hunting around to see if I can find some other easier form of gambling, get some relief from losing at trading. I'm looking at trying to become a pro poker player.

I'm not sure if you're joking, but unless you can devote the hundreds if not thousands of hours needed to get really good at it, I wouldn't bother.

Have you considered setting up an online business - maybe an EBay shop?

Personally, I've just been made redundant, which, in a funny sort of way, can be a good thing if it makes you take stock. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life working for the man, making him rich until he makes me redundant...

Few people will escape wage slavery, but, from my own experiences and conversations I've had with colleagues, few people will make a determined and sustained effort to create an alternative source of income in their spare time, and grow it into something bigger.

Jeff

[PeterLe]

Have you considered setting up an online business - maybe an EBay shop?

Hi Jeff,
I often wonder if I had dedicated as much time to my own business as have to trading would I have been better off overall?

I do enjoy trading and the challenge, but if i'm honest, a big part is the financial rewards towards retirement in 10 years or so and might I have done better going down that route? The ideal would be to do both !

What ideas do you have for a business?

regards
Peter

[Iron]

Hi Peter

My main focus at present is to get back into work. If I had a bit more money to fall back on, I might try to make a living as a professional gambler again. However, I have to assume that there will be periods where I lose 100 points and where I go two months without making a profit, so I'd be risking the rent money if I were to go down that route.

Longer term though, I'm hoping to make trading pay. My track record so far hasn't been great, but that's largely due to indiscipline on my part. I think I know what I need to do to make a good profit from Betfair. As with any endeavour where discipline is involved, the hard part is sticking to what you know you should do. However, I won't give up, but I will try to learn from my mistakes to avoid repeating them.

Apart from that, I wouldn't mind giving financials trading another go, and I might set up an Ebay shop at some point.

I currently work as a copywriter, and I'd considered doing freelance copywriting work. If I could be confident of getting regular work from a source that I could rely on not to mess me about, that would be a good option. However, I get the impression that many online freelance copywriting 'opportunities' are scams, and to make a living from it I would need to slowly build up a client base over a long period of time.

Jeff

What ideas do you have for a business?

[oliver123]

Nice comments, guys. I watched this BATV video on YouTube at the weekend and was thinking about trying it out this weekend. Any comments would be greatly appreciated . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugHICl674EA

[andyfuller]

I might set up an Ebay shop at some point.

I understand this is a very tough market to crack these days - I think the good relatively easy money days are long gone now. But good luck with it if you try - I would suggest you really try to find a niche, competing on price will be tough.

Also don't think of it as a tax free income - the tax man has recently clamped down on these kind of eBay businesses.

[to75ne]

Hi Peter

Longer term though, I'm hoping to make trading pay. My track record so far hasn't been great, but that's largely due to indiscipline on my part. I think I know what I need to do to make a good profit from Betfair. As with any endeavour where discipline is involved, the hard part is sticking to what you know you should do. However, I won't give up, but I will try to learn from my mistakes to avoid repeating them.

Jeff

What ideas do you have for a business?

jeff im am being serious here - by now i reckon you know enough about trading to make it pay.

i know you are open to new things you state that your discipline would seem to be where you really need to work.

have a go at one of the martial arts, judo, karate etc or even boxing.

a big part of these arts/sports is self discipline, not becoming a great fighter but to develope your inner self. not too far away from meditation which i know you have an interest in.

tony

[Iron]

Thanks for the tips Andy.

The ideal thing for me would be to sell an digital product that could be emailed, such as an e-book, as it would mean that I didn't have to mess about with keeping items in stock or with postage.

If I weren't so honest, I might sell one of those rubbish backfitted horse racing or football systems that are so popular on Ebay. I could make a convincing case without lying, and nine times out of ten the customer would leave positive feedback before they'd realised they'd been sold a pony! However, that kind of behaviour would be totally unethical, so I won't go there.

Jeff

But good luck with it if you try - I would suggest you really try to find a niche, competing on price will be tough.

Also don't think of it as a tax free income - the tax man has recently clamped down on these kind of eBay businesses.

[Iron]

jeff im am being serious here - by now i reckon you know enough about trading to make it pay.

Thanks Tony.

TBH, I've probably known how to make it pay for literally years. I don't say that to be boastful - it's what I honestly think.

It's curious that I generally seem to make a profit on my first race, before things go to pot (mainly because of boredom or because a frustrating loss causes my idiot brain to come out to play!).

i know you are open to new things you state that your discipline would seem to be where you really need to work.

have a go at one of the martial arts, judo, karate etc or even boxing.

Funnily enough, I've being doing wing chun kung fu over the past year.

BTW, if anyone is looking for an effective and easy to learn martial art, I'd recommend it.

a big part of these arts/sports is self discipline, not becoming a great fighter but to develope your inner self. not too far away from meditation which i know you have an interest in.

Curiously, in some respects, I am very disciplined. I approach what I do at work with great attention to detail, for example. And when it comes to analysing stuff, I'm very rigorous; I try (as far as I can) to see the truth rather than what I want to see.

However, in other respects, I am extremely indisciplined. I overeat massively, for example, and I let negative thoughts run wild in my mind. The reason I lose money trading is the same reason as I don't lose weight dieting - indiscipline. That is my biggest challenge in life, and one I am determined to overcome.

Thank you for your feedback.

Jeff

[Zenyatta]

I'm not sure if you're joking, but unless you can devote the hundreds if not thousands of hours needed to get really good at it, I wouldn't bother.

I found I do seem to have some natural talent for poker, which isn't the case for trading. After losing for several months at PokerStars, I no longer lose anything. Like I said, I was very fortunate to come across the book 'Decide To Play Great Poker' by Annie Duke, which is an absolutely fantastic guide to the fundamentals of poker. It's very detailed. I doubt this book can be beat, you should read it, you can get it as an e-book.

Personally, I've just been made redundant, which, in a funny sort of way, can be a good thing if it makes you take stock. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life working for the man, making him rich until he makes me redundant...

I'm totally with you, my ideal situation is remote work I can do over the internet, enabling me to travel the world at the same time. In fact, I was fortunate enough to get a stable high-paying job as a free-lance writer for 3 years - from 2008-2010 I travelled the world working only a few hours per day over the internet for a Korean editing company, editing academic (computer science) papers for all the big Korean universities. That was a tough market though, eventually the editing business failed. As you might imagine, it was a fantastic lifestyle while it lasted. Have never managed to get another job as good since Most freelance work is unstable (only short-term) and low-paying.

Few people will escape wage slavery, but, from my own experiences and conversations I've had with colleagues, few people will make a determined and sustained effort to create an alternative source of income in their spare time, and grow it into something bigger.

As perhaps you saw on the forum, I thought I had finally escaped last year when I hit a big lottery win of 34K. I didn't use the opportunity wisely however. I should have kept a cool head , instead I tried to resume my former lifestyle as a freelancer travelling the world, spending and gambling wildly, and inevitably, I quickly blew the lot. Fun though

The dream of location-independent income streams attracts many, and inevitably, gambling comes up as an option. But poker and trading are highly risky ventures...

[steven1976]

Thanks for the tips Andy.

The ideal thing for me would be to sell an digital product that could be emailed, such as an e-book, as it would mean that I didn't have to mess about with keeping items in stock or with postage.

If I weren't so honest, I might sell one of those rubbish backfitted horse racing or football systems that are so popular on Ebay. I could make a convincing case without lying, and nine times out of ten the customer would leave positive feedback before they'd realised they'd been sold a pony! However, that kind of behaviour would be totally unethical, so I won't go there.

Jeff

But good luck with it if you try - I would suggest you really try to find a niche, competing on price will be tough.

Also don't think of it as a tax free income - the tax man has recently clamped down on these kind of eBay businesses.

Jeff,
Just get stuck in with your ebay idea and don't be scared of failing. With ebay, I imagine its either hit or miss. You would get feedback pretty quick.

I started my business with a 200$ website in one of the worst countries in the world for doing business. The reason I started was because it was as Andy said a niche product and I was able to do it with almost zero capital (customers paid a deposit and balance before i shipped). I have 4-5 competitors who are locals and not very good at what they do, and therefore that was enough of a niche for me to get stuck in.

Today the internet has made advertising very cheap and easy and quick sales can be generated not just for the quick dollar today but also to build up future customers. Another avenue for sales to give you room for thought is Deals websites. I know for a fact was making people a lot of money was through Deals websites.

To give you an idea a promotion similar to this http://www.kgbdeals.co.uk/national/deals/93239
This isn't the company I know, but I know of companies that were doing promotions on jewellery. Maybe this wouldn't be your cup of tea as it was a bit of a "grey" deal (not saying the above is, its just the first one I pulled off google)and i think the glory days are gone now for the big number sales. However to give you an idea, I knew someone that was running promos like this last year selling 2-3000 pieces in one sale over a 2 day period. They were probably doing 10,000 pieces a week at the time and making 3-4 quid on the shipping only. As I say the company I knew maybe wasn't working completely honest way but they did have the potential for the future from the customer base they had created.

I had another friend who is a golf pro and he ran some promos on the deals sites and at first he was reluctant as he was offering lessons for 5 quid which he would usually charge 30-35 quid for. He ended up taking on two additional pros because obviously a lot of the ones that took up the 5 quid lesson then booked for courses.

Obviously, the above are just examples and giving you additional room for thought but the main thing is, if you want to try something try it and don't be scared of failing. I have big fails all the time but if one out of 10 sticks it is worth while. The wonderful internet age has made it possible to reach out for next to nothing so give it a shot.

[Zenyatta]

Longer term though, I'm hoping to make trading pay. My track record so far hasn't been great, but that's largely due to indiscipline on my part. I think I know what I need to do to make a good profit from Betfair. As with any endeavour where discipline is involved, the hard part is sticking to what you know you should do. However, I won't give up, but I will try to learn from my mistakes to avoid repeating them.

I guess I'm in the same boat. I already know how to make trading pay, just can't apply the knowledge... which is the most frustrating situation to be in.

Part of the problem is that I was mainly interested in swing trading, which is probably a lot harder than scalping, so I was trying to tackle things which were just too hard for me.

I mean I can rake in huge sums on some swing trades, which would be great if I wasn't later throwing it all away again

[Iron]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Jeff

[LinusP]

If any newbies are reading, I strongly recommend 'match betting' as a good starting point for trading and a quick way to get a decent bank. I use it alongside trading and has given me a few holidays

[Iron]

Can you elaborate please?

I don't know what you mean by match betting.

Thanks.

Jeff

If any newbies are reading, I strongly recommend 'match betting' as a good starting point for trading and a quick way to get a decent bank. I use it alongside trading and has given me a few holidays

[LinusP]

Hi Jeff, it just takes advantage of bookmakers free bets and offers. Wiki explains it well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matched_betting

There is also a section in the moneysavingexpert forum thats handy for new offers.