Monday 9 February 2009

Rewind?


Since Last Update P/L: £132.77
Monthly P/L: £763.74
.
A question I've been asking myself recently is, "If I rewound the clock and only had £250 available to me, would I start this trading journey all over again?"
.
At this point I could just give you a quick answer, but let me pause for a moment to consider where I was then, and if I can, recall what my aims were at the time.
.
Gaining a steady income from gambling had long been a dream and I was getting fed up of winning, losing and then repeating the cycle for a small profit. It seemed as though I'd explored every system and I was a whisker away from declaring that it wasn't possible to make money (at least a reasonable amount) from this game. Then the 'Eureka' moment came when I realised that I didn't have to predict who would win a contest but just what would happen next. Whether this was during the next 30 minutes or 30 seconds didn't matter, as long as I called it right more often than not.
.
This saw a huge shift in my outlook and after spending some brief time putting together some strategies everything started to fall into place. I remember thinking at the time, "Why haven't I thought of this before?"
.
Over the next few months my initial feelings were proved correct and my extremely modest bankroll began to grow....quickly. Suddenly, everything felt possible and I could see a huge opportunity in front of me. How could I let it pass me by? Even though my gains were quite small at the time I always had a plan for where I was heading. By re-investing my winnings I'd be able to place bigger trades and make bigger profits - right?
.
To a degree this is how it's worked out, but it hasn't been easy. Sacrifices have been made as Nic will testify, but I feel it's been worth it as I'm continuing to make progress. However, I'm by no means at the destination yet. The carrot is still dangling in my front of my face and the window of opportunity is yet to close, but to answer my initial question, "Would I do it all again?"
.
Probably not. The Betfair Premium Charge has ended dreams before they've begun and with only a small amount of cash in my back pocket, I probably wouldn't have bothered putting in all the hard work. Unfortunately, I'm guessing that those of you reading this who are where I was then, will feel the same.
.
My recent results:
.
Cricket : £114.29
Horse Racing : £18.48
.

19 comments:

Slipperytoad said...

Would I do it again? Hell yeah! Its been one hell of a ride for me Mark as you well know and I've been run over by the train that I thought was the light at the end of the tunnel so many times i'm battered, down but not out.

Why? Because I enjoy the journey. Like a loyal supporter of a lower league football team my hope is one day i'll have my cup final!

Anonymous said...

Would I do it again? Hell yeah! I turned £98.50 into four figures in a few months and back to £21.40 in a few days. I looked at what worked, and what didn't. I developed a method that works, and now that seed has grown to a six figure sum in a little over three years, something I could only dream of before the exchanges came along, in particular Betfair. Sure, the Premium Tax will slow me down, but is it better to make £100 and net £80, or to make nothing at all?

Anonymous said...

Mark,

Chin up lad. Even having to pay the PC you would/will still be well up. And Wales look likely to smash us on Saturday!

JamesA

Anonymous said...

I guess it all boils down to what you really value in life: time or money...?

Our time is limited and life is short. Enjoyment of what time you have can be enhanced if you have a good amount of money, but in making that money you may be losing time. You can always earn more money in life, either by working or trading ;-) but you cannot earn more time.

I am still investigating whether to start "trading" on the nags or whether just to carry on having my little fancy flutters with Willie Hill. I get a lot of enjoyment from just picking a few horses now and then and probably losing about 20% of my small stakes over time. It takes up very little of my time, whereas I imagain "trading" would take up far more time - for small gains.

Decisions, decisions....

Anonymous said...

I think it depends on who you are. I was sure for years that money could be made somehow from gambling and had been mucking about for ages with systems on horses and football. When I was introduced to trading I realised this was the way. I'm still rubbish but over 3 years I've paid off all my debts (and my girlfriend's) and I have some money in the bank. I'm still unhappy about my ability and profit because I still can't give up my job but I'd do it again. I think it depends on who you are. And I'm a supporter of a lower league footbal team ;-)

Mark Iverson said...

Hi guys,

Well that post got a reaction eh?!?

Mike - you're right about the journey. Maybe it's that and not arriving at the destination that makes it worthwhile? If I was losing regularly though I'm not sure I'd think the same way.

Anonymous - I admit that the exchanges have given us an opportunity that we wouldn't have otherwised had. BUT....if you had to start with such a small bank again, would you be as motivated if you knew premium charges lay ahead?

James - Okay, I know I sound like a grumpy git! Having to pay an extra £3-4k still hurts though (another £73 charge this week). Wales winning on Saturday would ease the pain though :-)

Philip - I guess I value both in equal measures. At this stage of my progression the amount of time I invest in trading is worth it as I'm reaping a decent benefit. At the beginning of my journey though I could only expect to make £10-£15 per event and that was hard work. As for your situation have you asked yourself the question. "am I leisure bettor or do I want to win consistently?" If it's the 2nd answer then trading (nags or anything else) in my opinion is a much better way forward.

Anthony - Ditto with regards to trading. Maybe it's the underdog mentality eh? Against all the odds and all that!

All the best,

Mark

Anonymous said...

Mark - When I first found Betfair, I had no idea that I would be able to make serious money. For me, at first it was like playing an online game, pitting my wits against others. I enjoyed the challenge. The numbers in the corner were just points. It's fun. One reason I started with a small amount was so that if it didn't work out, no big deal. So even if I knew the Premium Charge was coming, it would have made no difference. The PC is just another challenge. There are ways to reduce its impact and I'm working on trying to do that. After that, there are other challenges. Remember what life was like before Betfair.

The Gambler. said...

Dear Nick you old tart.

See you have overtaken me in "Sports Betting blogs",

I feel a "war" coming on. :-(.

The Gambler. said...

Sorry Nick meant Mark.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mark, i've noticed this week i keep getting a script error when i load your site. Something to do with flash player. Wasnt sure if you are doing something different with your posts? Or if it was just something local to my pc that has changed.

Anonymous said...

A script in this movie is causing adobe flash player 9 to run slowly. If it continues to run, your computer may become unresponsive. Do you want to abort the script?

Mark Iverson said...

Hi John,

I don't think I'll be ahead for long ;-) !

all the best,

Mark

Mark Iverson said...

Hi Gary,

Many thanks for letting me know.

I added a link last week for skyscanner.com (it was positioned on the left hand side). They provide cheap flights and I thought their interactive map (you could select where you flew from and to easily) was quite funky.

I'm guessing that this is what's been causing you problems so I've now removed it.

Please let me know if your problems continue.

All the best mate,

Mark

Anonymous said...

Seems fine now Mark, thanks.

Anonymous said...

Did you trade the Aussie/Kiwi ODI come twenty/20 this morning? Gotta feel for the Kiwi's a bit, looked to have it in the bag!

Mark Iverson said...

Hi Gary,

Glad everything s okay now.

Yes, I did trade the game this morning but I'm always careful when there's the risk of rain interruptions.

The Kiwis can feel hard done by as I'm sure they would have got their noses over the line.

Hope you covered the completed match market if you got involved.

All the best,

Mark

Anonymous said...

Wasnt trading Mark, just watched the Kiwi innings. I have not done too much over the winter in the way of cricket, cant hack the hours (what a light weight! lol)Looking forward to the UK friendly (time) stuff.

Discipline and Win said...

I guess you could think of it as the income tax we thought we so cunningly wouldn't have to pay! When trading offers a way to generate a decent income - and avoid working in jobs we dislike (for some of us!) - I think Betfair still offers a great alternative for the lucky (or skilled) 2%.

Anonymous said...

Mark - I'm sorry to contact you via a comment but I couldn't find any contact details on your blog. I wanted to draw your attention to my company's new cricket weather service:

http://www.wunderground.com/sports/ICC/

It gives hour-by-hour forecasts for all ICC games including % chance of rain, humidity and current satellite imagery.

If you would like any more information on our service or company please email me at toby@wunderground.com.

We also have weather for all major European league & cup Football games - Horse Racing is next on the agenda as well as county cricket.......

Kind regards

Toby Skinner

www.stanjames.com