Ian Goes Topless

Some generous words from Ian Erskine over at the FTS Income blog (no affiliation) today - Ian likes his rants, they have health benefits for him, but his posts usually contain some solid advice on expectations and execution when it comes to gambling.

About yours truly, he has this to say:

Online (I know he will thank me for the plug/link), I have mentioned before that I read the Greenalloverblog and respect the man behind it. I don’t know Cassini and he does not know me, we know of each other. He is successful in the field of American sports and has won a good few quid. I don’t trade American Sports, but if I wanted to, I would want to win and my first move into that field would be to contact Cassini and ask him if he would teach me to do what he does (By the way Cassini I won’t). He may well say no and that would be his prerogative as he wants to protect his own positions and value. If he was acceptable then I would expect a reasonable fee to be charged as potentially that would enable me to make a lot of money.

High praise indeed, and the plug / link is, as always, appreciated. I am a little concerned that Ian is trying to take over my position as 'most arrogant**' blogger, but while I am nowhere near Ian's numbers in terms of gambling winnings, (this is a part-time hobby for me, and the hours available for betting part of the reason why I focus on US sports), we do share much in common when it comes to our thoughts on mindset and the effort you need to put in to be profitable.

Betting requires skills and a certain mindset just like any other well paying job. Just like a surgeon learns to operate, I believe most people can learn to gamble correctly. The problem is they don’t want to, they want it to arrive on a fairy down the chimney and bless them with the ability to make money.

Read Ian's post, and you'll see what I mean. He gives examples of the amount of money and time it takes to train for a skilled and high paying job, and contrasts this with the idea that so many people have that you can hand over £37 and suddenly be making a six figure salary.

To be making a six figure income from gambling, you are going to need to make a significant investment of time and / or money, and there are no short cuts. As Ian says, it is not easy, but with the right mindset, the beauty of gambling is that you can build up slowly from a small bank. It is one reason why I am not a proponent of full-time gambling, at least not until you have proven to be successful for a decent length of time. There is no reason why you can't supplement an income part-time and remove any pressure from 'having't to make money gambling. Pressure leads to poor decisions. As with any skill, you start small and if you have what it takes, you progress to the next level. You don't fly for the Red Arrows as your first job as a pilot.  

Ian doesn't mention this in his latest post, but it is revealing what he is written before on the subject of how you can teach several people the same thing, but while some make a profit from the information, others contrive to take a loss. 

There's a very old joke about the Archbishop of Westminster who receives a call from the Vatican telling him that the latest Pope has died unexpectedly, and to attend the Papal Conclave immediately and keep the news of the Pope's death quiet. As he is headed to the airport, he notices a young man, (this is a Catholic priest after all) looking a little down on his luck, and takes pity of him. He gives the man a tenner and tells him to get down to the bookies and place a bet on the Pope's death being announced in the next few days.

Upon his return from Rome, the Archbishop again runs into the young man, still looking a little down on his luck. 

"What happened?" asked Archie - didn't you hear what I told you? 

To which the young man replied "Yeah I did, but I put him in a double with the Archbishop of Canterbury". 

** In truth, neither of us are really arrogant - just confident that we are doing something right.