Anyone here successful at betting?

RandallFlagg

I have been betting for a few years (I hate the term gambling) and have ups and downs but have refined what I do to become more successful. I bet on horse racing placing lay bets on betfair and have learned much about discipline, emotion and confidence over the years. I have a refined but simple selection process and my strike rate is 90% this year.

Anyone else have any luck?

octatonic

That is how they get your money- because you think you can beat the system.

WezV

i know a guy who quit his job to do online gambling.   he makes more than I could ever hope to, consistently, for the last 10 years

Iamnobody

As my grandad used to say - you never see a bookie on a bike...

I've dabbled in the past and looked at 'systems' there's one in particular I would like to have a good go at but would need a starting bank of £1k that I'm obviously prepared to lose.

For now I'm happy doing matched betting. A few of us do it on here. I'm about £1.5k up from 6 months of leisurely paced matching. If I put more effort in I could have doubled that with ease.

Pretty sure the mods don't appreciate betting talk so I'll leave it there...

hugbot

WezV;1115284" said:

i know a guy who quit his job to do online gambling.   he makes more than I could ever hope to, consistently, for the last 10 years

Poker or similar is easier than horse racing because you just need to be a bit better than the other guy.

octatonic

WezV said:

i know a guy who quit his job to do online gambling.   he makes more than I could ever hope to, consistently, for the last 10 years

How do you know that he does?

Presentation and reality can be markedly different.

Take my uncle- was always in a new car, rolex etc- always bragging about how well he did from gambling.

Right up until the time the lost the house, then faked his wife's signature to get a second mortgage which he gambled away as well.

They live in a caravan now.

I'm not saying everyone is like this but I've known many, many gamblers over the years- they always lose eventually.

WezV

octatonic;1115289" said:

WezV said:

i know a guy who quit his job to do online gambling.   he makes more than I could ever hope to, consistently, for the last 10 years





How do you know that he does?Presentation and reality can be markedly different.

Take my uncle- was always in a new car, rolex etc- always bragging about how well he did from gambling.Right up until the time the lost the house, then faked his wife's signature to get a second mortgage which he gambled away as well.

They live in a caravan now.I'm not saying everyone is like this but I've known many, many gamblers over the years- they always lose eventually.

Its a good point.

He doesn't talk about it directly, but what I do know is he managed to quit his job and pay off a 300k+ mortgage within 2 years. She gave up work to do her masters a couple of years later, and they recently purchased a holiday home outright.

Deijavoo

I've done well for the last 18 months, I used to gamble like most people, £50 on the big games, £20 on random horse racing and a lot of online poker.

I'm very disciplined now though.

viz

I can be fairly sure I'd lose any bet, but haven't worked out a way of making money from this.

RandallFlagg

octatonic said:

That is how they get your money- because you think you can beat the system.

There is no 'they' with Betfair, I act as the 'bookie' and you take my bets

quarky

I don't think I have the self-discipline, and my Dad was compulsive gambler. The closest I get (apart from the Office sweepstake) is in selecting particular share funds. Even selecting individual shares sounds appealing, but as I have probably said before I am fairly risk averse (financially anyway!).

RandallFlagg

quarky said:

I don't think I have the self-discipline, and my Dad was compulsive gambler. The closest I get (apart from the Office sweepstake) is in selecting particular share funds. Even selecting individual shares sounds appealing, but as I have probably said before I am fairly risk averse (financially anyway!).

Disipline has taken some time for me to develop, The compulsion to chase losses within day are strong but I have a spreadsheet that shows me the bigger longer term picture by month and by year. Learning to lose and handle losing bets is one the key steps to success. I keep a close eye on my strike rate and average odds on my bets as well, if these are within tolerance then I know I am making money despite losing on any particular day. Mental strength is required for long term betting

RandallFlagg

Double post

RandallFlagg

Also my staking plan has taken some time to get right, that's another key factor.

quarky

Sounds like you have the right attitude which is a great start!

lloyd

There are people out there making money from it but 99% of people don't.

I enjoy a bet, but know I'm going to be down overall but I'm fine with it.

I've said it before but it's like anything you enjoy and have "nothing" to show for it, like drinking. It's the experience you pay for and that's it.

Enjoy the wins and don't sweat the losses-this is a lot easier if you're betting what you can afford to lose.

I'll put £5/£10 a week on footy accumulators most weeks, the odd £20 on first goal/try scorer or result and will blast a couple hundred on a full day out to the races once a year-but that includes drinks and sometimes you come home with more than you left the house with....

It's when you start trying to make money that you come unstuck.

Match betting can be successful I believe, and you can make money at poker, which I was doing last year, but at the level I was playing I was having to play 8 tables at the same time and put in a massive volume of hands for a profit of less than £50 a week....also having to research hands played and keep up with new tactics/games, which turned it into a time consuming hobby-so I stopped as it felt like a job.

quarky

I was looking at getting Totopoly, but concerned it could be a bad influence on the kids..

RandallFlagg

I don't enjoy betting, I am dispassionate about it. I place on average 1-2 bets a day, sometimes none, depending what I find with my selection criteria, 10-15 minutes to make selections and place bets over a cup of tea in the morning and check results at end of day. I don't watch or follow the races I bet on.

It's a steady volume of bets for small amounts that accumulate over time.

My ROI is far higher than any ISA or savings account

iseverynamegone

I worked in a bookies for some years and the only folks who won consistently were those with links to trainers who placed large bets very infrequently on horses at largeish odds who subsequently got backed down to favourite-Ism.

As an example I recall a gent having £200 on Alderbrook for the Champion hurdle at 50-1 before it had ever ran over hurdles. It eventually won that race at 5-1.

The largest bet I ever settled was £20k winnings on a £100 treble of John Dunlop Horses. The punter made me pay in cash , that was an interesting walk through Doncaster town centre with a Netto carrier bag with £20k in it.

There were plenty of folk who convince themselves they were "up" mind.


Right now I have £200 at 5/2 on Brexit so at least when I get up and the chumps have voted us out of the EU for no real reason, I'll have enough money to console myself with a little gassing.

RandallFlagg

My selection criteria is statistical based which is what drives my strike rate

lloyd

iseverynamegone said:

I worked in a bookies for some years and the only folks who won consistently were those with links to trainers who placed large bets very infrequently on horses at largeish odds who subsequently got backed down to favourite-Ism.

As an example I recall a gent having £200 on Alderbrook for the Champion hurdle at 50-1 before it had ever ran over hurdles. It eventually won that race at 5-1.

The largest bet I ever settled was £20k winnings on a £100 treble of John Dunlop Horses. The punter made me pay in cash , that was an interesting walk through Doncaster town centre with a Netto carrier bag with £20k in it.

There were plenty of folk who convince themselves they were "up" mind.


Right now I have £200 at 5/2 on Brexit so at least when I get up and the chumps have voted us out of the EU for no real reason, I'll have enough money to console myself with a little gassing.

I did a few years in bookies too, this is pretty much my experience too, there were two or three people that when they came in, I'd copy their bets at next doors bookies with as much cash as I could lay my hands on-including any rent money.....always paid off in fairness-this was down in Wantage many years ago, there's two big trainers within a couple miles.