Post
Topic
Board Gambling discussion
Re: [AMA] The Life of a Professional Gambler
by
tyKiwanuka
on 02/04/2020, 11:07:56 UTC
Sorry if you have answered it before. What are the basic things that a new gambler should know?

There is a little (bad formatted) glossary in the first post. Your question is mainly answered in this and this post.

@tyKiwanuka. If you were a sportsbook, what would be your odds on the withdrawal of the coronavirus quarantines in Italy after 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year?

I guess you are refering to when sport events will start to take place again (?). It's really hard for me to give odds for that in Italy, because I am not digging deep into the happenings there. I am closely following everything in Germany though and I think, that Bundesliga will start again in May without spectators (see here).

For the bigger football leagues it is easier to resume play behind closed doors, because the teams there are not too dependant on ticket sales. Basketball teams for example, especially in Germany, are heavily dependant on ticket sales; it's a big percentage of their budget. Lots of teams have already laid off some players to save money. So these smaller sports will resume way later.

To precisely answer your question, here are my odds (no juice^^) for Bundesliga starting again:

In May
Yes: 2.00
No: 2.00

In June
Yes: 1.25
No: 5.00

In July
Yes: 1.10
No: 11.00

In October

Yes: 1.02
No: 50.00

In April (2021)
Yes: N/A
No: 500.00

I am not taking any bets though Grin If at least Bundesliga doesn't start by April 2021 again, then the apocalypse has happened and we have other issues to think about than sports Wink

Is it worth living the life as a gambler? I mean there must be a lot of setbacks, but what are the difference of livng a life of not gambling?

What is a life worth living in first place ? This is a very individual matter.

Most important thing is to do what makes you happy. Now this is not always easy, because you somehow have to earn money. Without money, it is very hard to be happy. I am not talking about millions here, but having enough money, to have a home, to eat, to pay your bills. To achieve this, the majority of people just does a job, that will guarantee this financial foundation. If people could achieve this by NOT working (maybe they are able to print money f.e.), like 80% would not be working. Or not work in that particular job or just do part-time or do charity work or whatever.

The life as a gambler is not always easy and it certainly isn't the right thing to do for most of the people. But I think I am more happy with what I am doing than 99% of the population. There are lot of setbacks - it's a rollercoaster nearly every single day, but I like it. I don't necessarily like the rollercoaster thing, but I like the advantages that come with me sitting in that rollercoaster on a daily basis. And there are setbacks with a "normal" job too. They are a bit different, because you will always get your pay no matter the setbacks, but a 9-5 job would bore the hell out of me. Having to deal with co-workers and bosses, being forced to be at certain places at certain times, spending 40+ years with something I wouldn't do in my spare time etc. For lots of people it's a compromise they take to have that financial foundation I talked about above, but for me this is no option unless I have to in the future. Then I would be one of "them" (and I am not judging "them", it's just not what I personally want to do in and with my life).

I have to deal with setbacks, that nearly all self-employed people have to deal with too. There is not that much difference imo and I like this quote regarding that:

Quote
If you don’t take risks, you’ll always work for someone who does.
Source: unknown

For more on why the advantages weigh out the disadvantages, see these two posts: 1 2