Number One account in Betfair history?

[to75ne]

Must admit I could never understand why he started to limit his number of days trading when he'd managed to hit his peak. But I guess like a lot of us that found an edge in those days we never foresaw the PC charges and rested on our laurels enjoying the rewards.

Don't think I fully understand why he jacked it in when the PC charges came about. Surely, he could have just opened new accounts in different names using family members etc and used the same manual or automated strategy on those accounts. Hit £1 million and then jack it in or ?

he made enough money to fund what he really wanted to do, so he did it. PROPER.

[ShaunWhite]

Must admit I could never understand why he started to limit his number of days trading when he'd managed to hit his peak. But I guess like a lot of us that found an edge in those days we never foresaw the PC charges and rested on our laurels enjoying the rewards.

Don't think I fully understand why he jacked it in when the PC charges came about. Surely, he could have just opened new accounts in different names using family members etc and used the same manual or automated strategy on those accounts. Hit £1 million and then jack it in or ?

he made enough money to fund what he really wanted to do, so he did it. PROPER.

How is PC any worse than a regular self-employed person having to pay Income Tax, Business rates, CGT and wages? It's a pain in the neck but isn't it just the cost of doing business?

btw sb, money is a means to and end for a lot of people, not an end itself. Quitting when you make a million to go and challenge yourself elsewhere, or do something more worthwhile seems perfectly reasonable, especially for a young man. I'm sure his life plan didn't involve sitting in front of a screen for 40 yrs.

Buy a house, put 1/2mil in the bank and you can afford to work a min-wage job for a charity, or if money is your thing, use it to start a business that will create jobs and make your BF earnings look like petty cash.

[spreadbetting]

Guess it was only a matter of time before Captain Obvious popped along with some more sanctimonius preaching.

[LeTiss]

Actually Shaun is dead right on this, and that's how I see it too.

If you were Peter Webb, and he earned what he earns now in a normal job, he'd pay 40% income tax. So, what's the difference paying 40% PC?

[Euler]

he made enough money to fund what he really wanted to do, so he did it. PROPER.

Nail on the head.

I've known loads of traders who have traded to get to where they wanted and quit. I've become good friends with a lot of them and some had gone on to do some amazing things.

[Frogmella]

If you were Peter Webb, and he earned what he earns now in a normal job, he'd pay 40% income tax. So, what's the difference paying 40% PC?
[/quote

The difference is that tax is paid into the public purse for the public good. No-one likes paying tax until we need a doctor, a school, a policeman or a pension, but what Betfair do is entirely to line their own pockets and is an abuse of their near monopoly position. I bet the exchequer doesn't see the benefit.

[ShaunWhite]

Guess it was only a matter of time before Captain Obvious popped along with some more sanctimonius preaching.

Not preaching sb, no more than you preach at the church of Mammom. I'm just saying that some people have bigger plans or want a more varied life. Others are happy doing one thing. Both is fine and it's no suprise there's both types of people, in fact it would be odd if there weren't.

The one person I feel sorry for paying PC is Euler actually....he's paying for an office and wages and sending loads of business BF's way. I hope he gets a bit of discount for being such a flag bearer.

[Euler]

I hope he gets a bit of discount for being such a flag bearer.

Aside from here, all I seem to get is abuse from all corners

[xitian]

Must admit I could never understand why he started to limit his number of days trading when he'd managed to hit his peak. But I guess like a lot of us that found an edge in those days we never foresaw the PC charges and rested on our laurels enjoying the rewards.

I think everyone has a different optimal work/life balance. And once you get to serious amounts of money, I think you would start to question what the difference is between making £300k a year and £400k a year if the latter means you have to work 360 days a year rather than 260. I know I'm definitely not working as hard as I could right now, but actually, I'm the sort of person who likes to take it easy and not stress about it too much (aka. I'm lazy). I'm sure there will be people on the other end of the scale though.

Don't think I fully understand why he jacked it in when the PC charges came about. Surely, he could have just opened new accounts in different names using family members etc and used the same manual or automated strategy on those accounts. Hit £1 million and then jack it in or ?

Opening new accounts just isn't sustainable. You'd need a new account every £250k which I'm sure some people are making in a matter of months/weeks. It'd be obvious if one account stops trading, and another spontaneously opens and is profitable from the go, trading the same markets, using the same strategies. Then they'd just seize your funds. You're better off paying your "tax" and taking advantage of the benefits - e.g. it's highly unlikely they'll suspend your account based on any of your criteria from that other thread since they're earning so much from you, and you get unlimited transactions per hour.

he made enough money to fund what he really wanted to do, so he did it. PROPER.

I think the thing is that everyone has a different life plan, whether that's monetary related or not. Adam's plan obviously wasn't trading Betfair forever even though he was earning good money. I always got the impression he was quite "hippy", in no bad way I might say. But he seemed to look at his Betfair trading as a personal challenge and skill learning point of view, rather than "I want to make loads of dosh". From the type of business he's set up afterwards, it looks as though materialism isn't his primary goal, but instead he's got quite an open mind about how to achieve a "good life".

Of course personally, I'd stick with Betfair and earn whatever I can as fast as I can (within the realms of my laziness, of course), then retire whenever I can! Hopefully that still happens when I have decades left in my life to pursue whatever else I want but without having to worry about the materialistic side anymore. I've told other people before, but maybe not on this forum, but laziness is my inspiration (and life plan). It's worked for me so far in terms of building a significant passive income from automation. But for people who want to go start their own businesses, good luck!

The difference is that tax is paid into the public purse for the public good. No-one likes paying tax until we need a doctor, a school, a policeman or a pension, but what Betfair do is entirely to line their own pockets and is an abuse of their near monopoly position. I bet the exchequer doesn't see the benefit.

Ultimately the money just spins round though. Traders win money for their living, spend that money on living which goes to someone else, pay 40% to Betfair who pay tax on profits, or else pay their employees who pay tax and spend money. It's really whether what we're paid is representative of the benefit we're giving back to society. That part is debatable. I say I'm providing entertainment value (liquidity to the gambling industry). Whether I'm being overpaid or underpaid for that is another question. But in the end, that's capitalism isn't it? I wouldn't be paid what I am if the free market wasn't offering it to me.

[Euler]

I didn't think I'd still be trading by now, but if you can still earn good money doing it, it seems silly to put down. But my plan is to hand over the day to day stuff to the kids and turn up for the big markets. I want to tick everything off my bucket list before I die and use my remaining time on the planet wisely. Whatever that may bring.

[ruthlessimon]

I've told other people before, but maybe not on this forum, but laziness is my inspiration (and life plan).

Rather than trading, invest in this sign - much easier Imo

[ShaunWhite]

my plan is to hand over the day to day stuff to the kids ...
..........and use my remaining time on the planet wisely. Whatever that may bring.

Who'd have thought this thread would end up with a little Taoist philosophy

It's like Master Po passing his wisdom on to his own little grasshoppers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbNCBVzPYak

Not many men over 40 can resist doing the "ah Grasshopper" impression if they've got two ping pong balls.

[Berts Certs]

I think it would depend on whether you are talking about an individual or a syndicate.

If you look at an individual who has earned 'just' £2k a week for the life of Betfair they would have earned £1.7m by now.

If you traded 1000 markets a week with a +ve expectancy then £2k is only £2 per market, quite small.

So would imagine £20m is probably too low for the biggest ever.

Do they use bots to trade that many markets ?

[Berts Certs]

You've got the wrong Adam. Adam Todd was around in the early years and throught 20k a year was good. Adam Heathcote was doing that in a month. Adam Todd didn't last beyond 2006 I think?

Adam Todd made 100k in a year and quit I believe from what I have read about him since, can't remember where but if you google him it is all there, interesting guy, started out as a commodities trader in the city, who'd have thunk it, a city trader being good at sports trading, I guess it was just in his blood.
I remember from watching his first video's back in the day he did seem very unattached emotionally from it, they were just another set of numbers to him.

[3virgul14]

There is a very well known football trader . called Psychoff , he used to and still making much more than Adam Heatcote at his best times.

We are talking about triple * quadruple of Adam`s numbers per month and year..

But since he is using another product to trade, I think he is not mentioned here at all...