G’day punters! We’ve got Trav back for Part Two of our Pro Punter interview series. This time we are focusing on the other side of betting and all of the things professionals have to juggle.
PS: Thanks for joining us again, Trav.
We got some great feedback from the first article with people sending in questions so we’ve decided to make the second Q&A more focused on the things that don’t get as much coverage out there.
The mental side of betting, work/life balance and handling the business of being a pro punter.
TC: No worries guys, happy to catch up again. Hopefully, someone out there took something positive away from the first one!
ICYMI: Interview with a Pro Punter – Part One
Ok mate, let’s get straight into it!
What did your partner say when you said you were quitting your 9 to 5 job and starting up full-time as a professional punter?
Well I had been punting pretty seriously for a few years while working full-time and had been thinking about taking it full-time for a while so it wasn’t exactly a total shock to her.
It (the official decision) was actually on our Honeymoon – so she’d just got married to me, I’ve got a solid Engineering job and then I decided that I want to take up punting full-time and leave the steady income!
Luckily for me, she knew that I did make money on a smaller scale from betting prior to this and was happy for me to give it a go full-time before any kids came along.
Following up from that, what about family, friends and even your mates? Are they jealous you get to watch sports and racing for a living?
Pretty much all my family and friends have actually been really supportive.
I think its important to have that support and know that those closest to you believe in what you are doing.
Some mates definitely think its all just fun and I have a cruisey life.
That I just punt and watch racing and sport and have plenty of free time… but my closest mates know that isnt the case – the reality is, its hard work, long hours and can be very stressful!
I actually find its the people who dont know me who are the the people that are quick to judge when you tell them what you do for a living.
Well generally speaking anyway – I’ve had random people flat out tell me that I’m lying about what I do and that its not possible to make money betting.
What’s the most challenging thing about what you do?
Good question.
It would probably have to be dealing with losing runs – they are never easy and it takes quite a lot of mental strength to stick to the process and get through those periods.
I sometimes will start second guessing bets and strategies a little bit and also I find it hard to switch off and stop thinking about betting.
However, losing runs are part of the game unfortunately and there isn’t much you can do about them other than to stay strong, focused, keep making value bets and wait for the tide to turn.
Are there any areas you don’t currently cover in the portfolio that you’re looking to add in the near future?
Not really to be honest.
When I started full-time betting I tried to bet on every sport there is, pretty much.
That was a mistake, but I’ve since cut a lot of these sports out.
Having said that, I have recently added in NBL and Golf betting but only because you guys are doing such a great job with those models!
How much (if any) of your time do you devote to the mental side of being a professional punter?
None at all.
I’m not sure if others do this kind of thing but I haven’t explored any mental training.
I’d guess it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea – for example, a week or so ago I was feeling pretty flat and was making some bad betting decisions – might have been handy then!
What about the work/life/social life balance? Being a punter often requires some tricky hours and no doubt checking scores and results when out in a social setting?
Yeah, to be honest, it is very tricky and my wife will say this is an area I’m not very good at!
It’s hard because as a punter most of the action is across the weekend so my working week has become sort of Wednesday through to Sunday.
Unfortunately, catching up on a Monday or Tuesday doesn’t really work for most of our friends or family!
So I guess I’ve definitely lost a bit of that social life balance over the last few years – but I am working on getting a better balance which means working fewer hours and enjoying social life a little more again.
In regards to checking scores when out socially – yeah I think all punters would be guilty of this.
Luckily these days everyone is on their phones all the time so checking a few scores isn’t too rude is it?
Do you ever just take a break and not follow a service or bet for a few days, week or even longer?
I’m not so good at taking breaks.
Again my wife will say this is an area I’m not very good at!
Even when we go on holidays, I can’t help myself and put a few bets on – apparently on our next holiday in a couple of months I’m not allowed to work at all so that will be interesting.
How do you manage your betting banks? Do you have separate banks for each service? or break it down by sport and racing?
I have separate bank sizing for each service/strategy.
I’ll then update these every couple of months if I need to.
My bank sizing is built around trying to maximize those strategies that have the higher ROI so I’m trying to outlay more where my biggest edges are.
What about drawing out from your ‘working capital’ to pay yourself? How do you handle that?
Yeah, I hopefully can pay myself at the end of every month!
I’d love this to be more consistent than it is but unfortunately, some months as punters we’re eating Caviar and other months its 2-minute noodles!
Kidding! In reality, I look at a longer term than the month to month but I do take profit if I can at the end of every month to live off.
What percentage of your betting bank do you keep liquid (in wagering accounts) compared to at the actual bank?
Probably around 40% of my bank I’d say is in wagering accounts at any one time.
However, I’m always depositing and withdrawing from accounts – if you use a few you’ll find that you go through periods where you’ll keep winning in some accounts and keep losing in others.
I’m sure some bookies think I’m a genius while others think I’m a mug!
Finally, mate, are there any podcasts, videos or article series out there that you follow to keep up to date with the world of wagering?
I usually just keep an eye on Twitter each day to keep on top of any industry news etc.
Other than that I usually watch the Punting Melbourne Style videos that Darren Potter does and will also listen to the Betting Podcasts by Jake Williams each week – I think there is some great stuff in both of these.
Thanks, Trav, appreciate your time again.
Look forward to bugging you about Part Three sometime soon!