Hooligans Sportsbook

MrX

  • Start date •
  • Replies
    69 Replies •
  • Views 4,555 Views
Follow
Good question. In theory, I play it to the last game of the World Series. In practice, in recent years, I quit early, at whatever time I feel like it. The point that I quit is almost entirely governed by psychological factors.

I really enjoy long, long stretches of not gambling. So, I often find myself at a number late-ish in the season where, if I quit, I know I'll be happy and satisfied even if I do nothing for six months, but where a bad month would leave me feeling the need to work other opportunities during the off-season. Lately, when I find myself in that situation, I stop.

I've already stopped for this season. I did that around the time of my Dad's heart procedure. I didn't need the extra stress of gambling, and I was happy with the season. I'm still feeding data into the model, and I'll probably work on some props for the playoffs.
 
Yeah I stopped a little while back too. Same deal - psychological reasons. The details of my reasons are slightly different than yours but there is probably a similar underlying let's-give-it-a-rest mentality.

Although I have continued to track how my plays would have done. (Most of them anyway - I have not been completely meticulous about it). I'd be down about a half a unit on the MLB totals I have skipped - so nothing much to be learned from that.

Always an interesting mentality to that. Do I cheer for those plays to win or lose? If they lose should I be happy and give myself a pat on the back for making the decision to retire at the right time? If they win am I mad because of the money I could have had? Or do I still want those plays to kick ass on principle - just because it means my ideas are good - and also it is a positive indication if I am less lazy next year and want to play deeper into the season.

The answer of course is I want those plays to win even though I'm not playing them - but it can be source of internal conflict.



Playoffs are a different deal for me. I never seriously straight bet post-season in any sport.
 
I always root for them to lose. I can always make a better model, but I can't get that missed opportunity back!

It was interesting looking at how I would have done the year that I took off to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I didn't want to know, really, but I had to look for back-testing purposes. It would have been my best season ever, over 10% roi. Interestingly, though, April of that year would have been a brutal month, returning worse than -14%, so I have to wonder if I would have gotten cold feet, made changes, etc. I doubt it, but would probably have had some cash-flow annoyances.
 
Is gambling the primary means of income for you guys?

Do you have a set amount per year that you attempt to reach in order to not have to adjust your standard of living?

If not, then do you treat it as a long term investment and set an intermediate goal you try to reach annually to reach some ultimate goal in order to one day retire and still maintain a certain standard of living?

Course asking about retiring hardly seems descriptive enough of a term since it's kind of like you guys already live a retired lifestyle.
 
wal66
Is gambling the primary means of income for you guys?

Do you have a set amount per year that you attempt to reach in order to not have to adjust your standard of living?

If not, then do you treat it as a long term investment and set an intermediate goal you try to reach annually to reach some ultimate goal in order to one day retire and still maintain a certain standard of living?

Course asking about retiring hardly seems descriptive enough of a term since it's kind of like you guys already live a retired lifestyle.
Click to expand...



Betting has been my only source of income since 2002. An increasing amount of that has been straight gambling. I'm not sure how important the distinction between straight gambling and other betting strategies was in your question.

I just make as much money as I can. No particular yearly goal or plan. My best financial years are in my past. I only made about half as much money last year as my best year (2005, I think??) The drop-off was largely because of UIGEA. But I'm adjusting my strategies and pushing hard to get back where I was, hopefully sooner rather than later.

I don't live anything like a retired lifestyle right now. I love what I do. I worked for 20 years in conventional warehouse/office jobs and I'm about a million times happier now. But it's nothing like being retired. I have definite ideas about what I want my retirement to look like and it is nothing like my current day-to-day existence.
 
wal66
Is gambling the primary means of income for you guys?
Click to expand...

Yep, since 1994, with the exception of being a poker prop for little while in the mid-90s (the hourly-rate isn't gambling income) and a little bit of consulting work for table-games inventors.

wal66
Do you have a set amount per year that you attempt to reach in order to not have to adjust your standard of living?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. If I find myself really sick of or stressed out by whatever I'm currently doing (usually baseball), I'll make an assessment of where I'm at. If I'm at a place where I'd feel content money-wise calling it a season I will. This is usually a number that allows me to screw around until next season and still be starting off in a better position than the previous one.

At this point in my life, I don't feel any pressing need to push for rapid bankroll growth. I'm a lot happier since I stopped doing that. But, you do need to build up to a pretty good-sized bankroll before you have that luxury.

wal66
If not, then do you treat it as a long term investment and set an intermediate goal you try to reach annually to reach some ultimate goal in order to one day retire and still maintain a certain standard of living?

Course asking about retiring hardly seems descriptive enough of a term since it's kind of like you guys already live a retired lifestyle.
Click to expand...

Another yes and no. It was originally my plan to be aggressive and build up to an early retirement. I actually figured I'd be retired by right about now.

Then, I started doing things like taking entire years off to go hiking. I felt a little uneasy about that at first, but it became obvious to me pretty quickly that I did the right thing. I'm healthy and happy right now and I have the opportunity to do what I want. Who knows if I'll even be here in 10 years? Even if my futzing around leads to a greatly depleted bankroll and I have to scramble or (gasp) get some kind of job in the future, I think I'll still be glad I did it this way.
 
kato
how is your dad doing, mr x?
Click to expand...

Thanks for asking, kato.

Well, his heart is fine. He feels much better physically since the operation.

In every other way, he's a mess. The situation there is pretty awful. I've been tempted to vent on here a number of times, but in the end I usually just don't want to talk about it. Getting old sucks for almost everyone. For people with major control issues, untreated anxiety disorders and depression, it's a living hell.

Is it the Autumn of Despair yet?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.