Grant85
Head Pro
I enjoy a wee bet now and then, but I wouldn't say I'm a big gambler with most bets being around the £5 or £10 mark. I tend to stay away from accumulators and do single bets, possibly trying to work my initial £5 up to something more substantial over the course of a day or two. However, more often than not, there is always one bet too many and I rarely withdraw anything substantial - and still see it as a bit of fun when I am watching sport.
As my career has moved on and has become more lucrative, I have actually found myself less interested in betting as winning £20 or £30 has less appeal for me and if I was to start putting bigger stakes on, losing would then become much more annoying.
I have used Betfair mostly, where you take (or provide) money from (to) other gamblers. This, in theory, should lead to a slightly more efficient market than a normal bookmakers, and certainly this is true for the cash out market.
In order to try and see if I could do it, and more so for the challenge, I am attempting to try and raise £1,000 for golf fees by next year. I started out with £20 on 22nd February and simply trying to make a small profit each day (target of £3) with a view by this time next year I should have over £1,000.
By setting myself such a small daily target, I can afford to put on bets that are near certainties... for example for there to be at least 1 goal in a game of football, for a team to win when they are already a goal up, or laying a horse that has odds of 12 or 15 to 1 (laying = betting against them).
Clearly there is still an opportunity to lose and I came close a few times in the early days of losing (Spurs late goal v Palace helping me on one occasion).
However, by setting myself a very modest daily target I can be very picky about the games or races that I chose to bet on and so far have generally been disciplined enough to stop betting each day when I've met my target. Each day, the amount I bet also becomes smaller relative to my starting fund.
On one occasion I lost £15 in the morning and had to 'lay' a number of horse races to recover this - but fortunately had no more losing bets.
Currently, my fund has increased to £60.62, which is an average of £3.62 per day. Now this is not terribly exciting but annualised is over £1,300 and by having my eyes on the prize of basically paying for a whole seasons golf - I have so far been able to stay disciplined.
Clearly I will have losses at some point, but by keeping my target at £3 per day, I now have a surplus, so I can recover in the event of a loss and build my funds back up. Obviously a day with 2 or 3 losses would probably finish me - but hopefully by keeping such a small target I am much less likely to take on riskier bets & 'chasing it' even after a loss.
Fortunately I am in a position where I can still afford golf fees, but obviously with a family (and family home) there is always projects to spend money on so this may allow me to pay my fees guilt free without depriving the family of a holiday / new carpet / new doors / garden deck etc etc.
As my career has moved on and has become more lucrative, I have actually found myself less interested in betting as winning £20 or £30 has less appeal for me and if I was to start putting bigger stakes on, losing would then become much more annoying.
I have used Betfair mostly, where you take (or provide) money from (to) other gamblers. This, in theory, should lead to a slightly more efficient market than a normal bookmakers, and certainly this is true for the cash out market.
In order to try and see if I could do it, and more so for the challenge, I am attempting to try and raise £1,000 for golf fees by next year. I started out with £20 on 22nd February and simply trying to make a small profit each day (target of £3) with a view by this time next year I should have over £1,000.
By setting myself such a small daily target, I can afford to put on bets that are near certainties... for example for there to be at least 1 goal in a game of football, for a team to win when they are already a goal up, or laying a horse that has odds of 12 or 15 to 1 (laying = betting against them).
Clearly there is still an opportunity to lose and I came close a few times in the early days of losing (Spurs late goal v Palace helping me on one occasion).
However, by setting myself a very modest daily target I can be very picky about the games or races that I chose to bet on and so far have generally been disciplined enough to stop betting each day when I've met my target. Each day, the amount I bet also becomes smaller relative to my starting fund.
On one occasion I lost £15 in the morning and had to 'lay' a number of horse races to recover this - but fortunately had no more losing bets.
Currently, my fund has increased to £60.62, which is an average of £3.62 per day. Now this is not terribly exciting but annualised is over £1,300 and by having my eyes on the prize of basically paying for a whole seasons golf - I have so far been able to stay disciplined.
Clearly I will have losses at some point, but by keeping my target at £3 per day, I now have a surplus, so I can recover in the event of a loss and build my funds back up. Obviously a day with 2 or 3 losses would probably finish me - but hopefully by keeping such a small target I am much less likely to take on riskier bets & 'chasing it' even after a loss.
Fortunately I am in a position where I can still afford golf fees, but obviously with a family (and family home) there is always projects to spend money on so this may allow me to pay my fees guilt free without depriving the family of a holiday / new carpet / new doors / garden deck etc etc.
