UEFA Euro 2024- Qualifier

[Jackson Harrison]

Off topic

[conscription]

It's possible to beat them, but they'll beat most people so it doesn't matter. Plus, if you keep beating them, they're not obligated to keep letting you do it, and can refuse to do business with you.

yes, you are absolutely right.
It's possible to beat them, but very very difficult. I would not be able.
And, as you say, if they realize that you can do it, they can refuse to go forward.
It was easiest gaining money in Totocalcio and similar games, by far, under certain condition.

Something I remembered, I used to read the Betfair forums. Not because of betting, though I took some interest out of curiosity in that side of things, things like 1.01 bets getting busted and betting patterns and some of the discussions about it, but primarily I read because they had good discussions about sports. There was a guy who came on every year to share his recommended bets for the early rounds of the Estonian Cup. Everybody made a killing every year. I really contemplated getting in on that action myself but held back every time. Mainly because I do have a healthy fear of the power of addiction. I've never been unhealthily addicted to anything, but so many have been, intelligent, capable people, that I'm not going to blithely assume it couldn't happen to me. So I guess that's the kind of area you can beat them, with superior local knowledge of an obscure market. That's the surest thing I've ever seen in betting. I read that forum for a good few years and they made a ton of money off the Estonian Cup every year.

Were the games rigged or he just scouted the teams well?

[Lorric]

yes, you are absolutely right.
It's possible to beat them, but very very difficult. I would not be able.
And, as you say, if they realize that you can do it, they can refuse to go forward.
It was easiest gaining money in Totocalcio and similar games, by far, under certain condition.

Something I remembered, I used to read the Betfair forums. Not because of betting, though I took some interest out of curiosity in that side of things, things like 1.01 bets getting busted and betting patterns and some of the discussions about it, but primarily I read because they had good discussions about sports. There was a guy who came on every year to share his recommended bets for the early rounds of the Estonian Cup. Everybody made a killing every year. I really contemplated getting in on that action myself but held back every time. Mainly because I do have a healthy fear of the power of addiction. I've never been unhealthily addicted to anything, but so many have been, intelligent, capable people, that I'm not going to blithely assume it couldn't happen to me. So I guess that's the kind of area you can beat them, with superior local knowledge of an obscure market. That's the surest thing I've ever seen in betting. I read that forum for a good few years and they made a ton of money off the Estonian Cup every year.

Were the games rigged or he just scouted the teams well?

Not rigged. Mainly iirc he was targeting teams that should have been heavier favourites than they were priced at.

[matt]

I never use slot machines and things beyond football bets. Football bets themselves consists only of rarely more than a dozen euros per bet, and i bet like twice a month on average, it depend from the period.

Once i won in a couple of bets something like 250 euros, which i lost completely a couple of weeks after. From that moment, when i have more than 100/150 euros in my account, i retire like 90% of it, which usually end up in my budget reserved for the "extras", may it be a weekend in a new city, a ticket for a football game or something i wish to buy.

I completely agree that making serious money out of football bets is much more difficult than losing money from it.

[Greyn]

@matt

So, you are in a period in which you have everything under control. You just play for for fun, not to earn money. I also had such a period for long time before this monster started eating me.

I guess there are many forum readers who are betting. If they read my story they might think "Wow. This Greyn is a complete idiot. How could he lose so much money in 3 days. I am not in such a danger because I am not that stupid to think that I can earn money from betting. I will always play for fun only".

I had same way of thinking for years when I heard that some people lost literally everything due to gambling addiction and I am not in such a danger. I was wrong. Luckily for me I withdrew from this crap before it was too late.

My recommendation is well known - stay away from gambling, or if you already started - withdraw from this crap as soon as possible.

That was my last post on this topic here. I already shared enough personal information, but as I wrote, I did on purpose, as I hope that at least one person here will listen my advice and will avoid harmful consequences of betting/gambling.

If anyone will have any question to me in this regard, I will be always glad to help, but only by PM since now.

[matt]

@Greyn

I absolutely don't think that you are stupid, everyone can fall into a type of addiction in life (there are many ones: gambling, drugs, alcolism, meeting prostitutes and so on).

I remember that a few years ago a girl which i was in contact with got very upset with me when i told her the same things that i wrote in my previous post. She denied, but i still wonder today if she had a bad experience previously with a guy or a family member with this addiction.

From now on i'll refrain to speak about bets, like I did sometimes with @Bulgarian for instance, because i understand it can be unpleasant to read for you and other forum members.

Thank you for the advice/warning and for sharing your story.

[Michael S Collins]

I guess there are many forum readers who are betting. If they read my story they might think "Wow. This Greyn is a complete idiot. How could he lose so much money in 3 days. I am not in such a danger because I am not that stupid to think that I can earn money from betting. I will always play for fun only".

Speaking as one of the old fogeys of the forum, I don't think you are a complete idiot at all. I think its quite brave to be so open about a problem, and it may help other people in a similar position. You seem to be in a better place now, but I wish you all the best.

[Greyn]

I guess there are many forum readers who are betting. If they read my story they might think "Wow. This Greyn is a complete idiot. How could he lose so much money in 3 days. I am not in such a danger because I am not that stupid to think that I can earn money from betting. I will always play for fun only".

Speaking as one of the old fogeys of the forum, I don't think you are a complete idiot at all. I think its quite brave to be so open about a problem, and it may help other people in a similar position. You seem to be in a better place now, but I wish you all the best.

Thank you, Michael.

That was my only intention - to inform other people here on the forum how harmful consequences betting has and how the beginnings look like before it become an addiction.

Some people say that betting on sports is like drinking alcohol - you have to know the limits and if someone doesn't know the limit, then the majority who bet for fun can't suffer because of the minority who become addicted and lose literally everything (not only money) due to betting. I strongly disagree with such a claim and justification of betting. Drinking alcohol and betting are two completely different things with the later much more harmful because you can lose all the money in one night without any warning for your family and after losing all money you know what happens next with such a person...

When I see all these adds of betting companies on TV, club jerseys, banners on the stadiums, etc. I am simply mad that it is still legal. Not for the first time it is a proof that money are more important than people for politics. Currently it is such a huge financial machine profitable for both betting companies and governments that I don't expect this crap to be forbidden. Particularly because present generation of politics are eggheads who only make popular decisions in order to get more votes, while forbidding gambling would require a lot of courage to make an unpopular decision.

[Oldelpaso]

Coming late to this topic but interesting reading. @Greyn, thanks for sharing. Great news that you managed to regain control, even if there was a significant financial shock involved.

I find the mathematics and economic market theory of betting interesting, but that is a whole different story to actively participating. In the early days of exchanges there were lots of inefficiencies around, but bots, sophisticated modelling and algorithms have mostly eliminated them, and there has always been huge risk. Though strangely the odds on San Marino to lose to nil have always remained overly generous.

I have gambled from time to time. Small stakes. Long bus trips to away games usually means a bet or two, and alcohol generally making them ill-judged, and thus meaning I am sure to have been in defecit over time.

I have also done my share of matched betting, and have been gubbed by some bookies. While exploiting promotional offers can be profitable, it has its own risks. Promotional offers routinely nudge you towards the products that either have a higher profit margin for the bookie or are more addictive. In-play, "bet builders", slots, casino. They put up with some losses from the offers because they know there is a percentage they can turn into addicts. I kept spreadsheets and I knew I was up financially from these offers, but I stopped.

Why?

I had half a dozen betting apps on my phone.
I was putting on matched bets more and more often, including on things other than football.
I was being exposed to gambling products multiple times every day.
I was thinking about what bets to put on when I shouldn't e.g. while at work
If I missed putting on a free bet, like an in play on a certain match, it would make me irritable.

Sounds a lot like the symptoms of the start of an addiction doesn't it?

Even when you win, you still lose. So I stopped, and luckily my brain is wired in a way that allowed me to stop.

I do not think betting should be banned, but I do think it needs to be regulated way more than it is now.

@Lorric I frequented the Betfair forums maybe 15 years ago. My biggest ever win came from it. Some guy with local info said National League Weymouth's players hadn't been paid, they were refusing to play, and the youth team would play. After getting it confirmed by another source I lumped on. They lost 9-0, and Skybet gubbed me.

[Greyn]

Just my final message for this topic.

If some of you think that watching a football match with a bet placed on it makes watching this match much more exciting, then you are wrong. It works only in a short period of time. After some time you will notice that you don't feel any emotions with watching a football match without placing a bet on it. So again, in order to feel any emotions, you will feel a need to place a bet on that match.

In conclusion, I don't see a single advantage of betting. Only disadvantages, devastating disadvantages.

[conscription]

Something I remembered, I used to read the Betfair forums. Not because of betting, though I took some interest out of curiosity in that side of things, things like 1.01 bets getting busted and betting patterns and some of the discussions about it, but primarily I read because they had good discussions about sports. There was a guy who came on every year to share his recommended bets for the early rounds of the Estonian Cup. Everybody made a killing every year. I really contemplated getting in on that action myself but held back every time. Mainly because I do have a healthy fear of the power of addiction. I've never been unhealthily addicted to anything, but so many have been, intelligent, capable people, that I'm not going to blithely assume it couldn't happen to me. So I guess that's the kind of area you can beat them, with superior local knowledge of an obscure market. That's the surest thing I've ever seen in betting. I read that forum for a good few years and they made a ton of money off the Estonian Cup every year.

Were the games rigged or he just scouted the teams well?

Not rigged. Mainly iirc he was targeting teams that should have been heavier favourites than they were priced at.

Link? From the way you speak I suppose he doesn’t provide advice anymore.

[Lorric]

Were the games rigged or he just scouted the teams well?

Not rigged. Mainly iirc he was targeting teams that should have been heavier favourites than they were priced at.

Link? From the way you speak I suppose he doesn’t provide advice anymore.

I've no idea since I stopped reading the forums years ago. If he's still around, then the time to check the forum would be shortly before when the Estonian Cup is about to begin.

Also, there's no guarantee the bookmakers haven't wised up on that market in the years since...

[Jackson Harrison]

Not rigged. Mainly iirc he was targeting teams that should have been heavier favourites than they were priced at.

Link? From the way you speak I suppose he doesn’t provide advice anymore.

I've no idea since I stopped reading the forums years ago. If he's still around, then the time to check the forum would be shortly before when the Estonian Cup is about to begin.

Also, there's no guarantee the bookmakers haven't wised up on that market in the years since...

Is it this? https://community.betfair.com/