Do you make a living out of gambling and are ashamed of it? Do you lie to people about where your money come from? Do you avoid conversations because of it and try to talk as little as possible about your profession?

If you answer affirmatively these questions then you would find a thread in Betfair's forum quite interesting. Here are some posts and worth mentioning points made by posters.

The thread was started by "Michael Knight" (that may ring a bell being a familiar name from the popular TV series back in 80's) who is wondering "Betfair is my only form of income (I'm at university and don't work) so why do I find myself saying "oh I mess around with shares and got lucky" or "oh I've discovered spread betting" etc when it comes to explaining to friends/family where the money comes from? Anyone else find themselves telling such porkies or am I the only sado who does?".

That reminds me of myself when still being in university, I was making some good money playing blackjack in casinos. It was rather peculiar to say that I can't join my friends going out because I had to go to make some money in the casino. Imagine the faces of newly acquainted people when I told them that I work in the casino, but as a player not as a dealer!

"Deeper in debt" humorously commented that "gambling is like a porn stash, you instinctively feel you always have to hide it away. Non gamblers just view even casual gambling as dangerous and the start of a slippery slop downwards, which in fairness it is for a lot of people who get involved". That is quite true unfortunately.

"Dirk Diggler" goes on and introduces a deeper perspective to the problem saying "the people who I meet for the first time, have me down as a addict who has a problem with gambling and needs to steered well clear of, especially by the women!! As an experiment for a time I said I was a day trader on the markets trading from home and the reaction could not have been more different, I was a clever git with balls of steel!!!". The issue is quite bigger when dealing with women. They definitely deal with this matter extremely cautiously. Also, the respect financial traders receive is huge although they don't differ a lot from a professional gambler.

"Snoozer" admits that "it's hard enough anyway without havin to justify it to anybody else!" and I couldn't agree more! He is also being funny suggesting "try taking a smart girl out & tellin them you are a pro gambler. They soon seem to lose interest. Then date some nobody that works in a garage etc. coz 'they're sensible'!!". Hilarious!

"Hoboexile" on the other hand thinks that "they are jealous, you have no boss over your shoulder, you can get up at 12 everyday and make more money in an hour than they make all week. Everyone wants to work from home and still have enough money to do what they want". While this is more than true, the risks behind it, both financially and healthy ones, are always relative to the rewards.

"Hoboexile" goes on with the relationship matter and advise: "Say you are like a wall street trader, working from home. As soon as you give her a £100 and say go buy yourself something nice she won't care. Girls like money, if you have then you will get girls. Have you ever seen a drug dealer without a fit missus? Not often. Because girls like money, they don't care where you get it, unless you are after marriage, then you may have to get a job haha". Quite amusing I'd say and certainly not far from the truth.

"The Betfairy" adds to the conversation an extremely thoughtful response. "Seriously, I get quite embarrassed about my earnings - not such much about what other people think, but about what I think. And the more I analyze it the more I know this is the truth.
The fact is, anyone who wins on here is taking money from less intelligent folk, from people who can't understand basic betting/investing principles, and from folk who really shouldn't be betting here in the first place.
Now you may well say "it's a big boys' game" and you'd be right. But ultimately anyone can steal money from the less intelligent. It's not particularly big and it's not particularly clever. That I find quite embarrassing.
But most of all, it's all quite unsatisfying. All I've done is generated wealth for myself. I haven't employed other people and given them a chance to earn a decent living. I've not created something which will last beyond my own existence on this planet. All I've achieved in some numbers in the bank and personal gratification.
For most people who constantly struggle to earn a living, the prospect of having no debt is very appealing. But when you have no debt suddenly the world can seem an empty place - unless you can find something with which to fill that void. For me, betting is not that thing. I don't know what "that thing" is yet, but I know I won't be betting for the rest of my days.
Now I just hope I don't have a losing run to completely disprove my point".

"Zeeny" comments on that post saying about wealth generation and society contribution: "Nor has a bank manager. Nor has an insurance agent etc. That's why it's called a "Services" part of the economy. In short, you're providing an entertainment service for common folk. The fact that you're currently a winner does not mean that you'll stay that way. It just means that for the moment, the services you provide are profitable".

"Barrel" makes the distinguish between gambling and investing. "The key here is the difference twixt "gambling" and what you (us) guys do which is "invest". Use the word "gambling" and the image you give is understandably of money risked with a lesser chance of a (greater) return than the stake. If you do make money here or elsewhere then you are not gambling but dealing in (short term) high risk investments".

"Susie" suggests the term "Internet Entrepreneur" while "The Sports Trader" explains his own nickname, commenting that "I have found the easiest way is to say I am a Sports Trader, most people will not even ask what that means but if they do I just say I do the same as a derivatives trader does only I use sports events prices to trade instead of a commodity or financial instrument.
I have no feeling of guilt about earning my living this way but am always grateful that I stumbled across this brilliant profession."

"PumpkinslayerII", a well known poster and betfair winner, admits that "I never feel guilty about winning. But I do feel ashamed. I have started telling people I do nothing. It isn't far from the truth. I spend 15mins a day setting up bots. But people don't realize what goes into that. It isn't easy coming up with ideas that make a lot of money each year. And I think it's a bit unreasonable for someone to expect you to come have more than one or two of those ideas a year. It sometimes takes ages to turn an idea into profit, and when it happens it might only take a day or two coding and look as though you aren't doing anything, even though you have spent hundreds of hours thinking about it. Women are the biggest problem. They assume you have a problem and shy away".

"Ontherail" describes his personal story: "When i started using Betfair i had up until the point i opened a account had wasted loads of money at the bookies so people in my family were used to me losing my cash [...] When I started using Betfair I had up until the point I opened a account had wasted loads of money at the bookies so people in my family were used to me losing my cash[...]My uncle who had been betting for years thought in his wisdom that I was a betting junkie and my wife and kids would be homeless in less than 6 months[...] When I left my job i must admit I was bricking it as there was no net to catch me but we made it and still am making it fell out with my Uncle and Brother as at a family wedding told them that my BMW was worth 10 times both their cars together". He concludes telling "making money on Betfair has its highs and lows and people can't get their head round people being outside the loop and making money from betting but it does happen and good luck to all who sail in this ship of self belief and dreams". Well, we are all after that dream, aren't we?

"Beat the OverRound" takes a stab and expresses his own opinion furiously, "if you're ashamed of what you do, you shouldn't do it. Nobody can make me ashamed, others should be ashamed that they don't understand it or can't do it. It's their problem, not mine". Now, that is entirely true and if only we all had that mentality.

Finally, "u25k", a big winner in the gambling world, warns that "Going fulltime is difficult decision. I did this only after I have made consistent profit for 6 months. Now almost 3 years completed as full time trader and I am a happy bunny. No hassle from manager or anyone. Only problem is handling emotions with family. On a losing day my mood will be off and my wife don't like it". This is the worst effect this profession has in my opinion. That is, our behavior to our friends and close ones. We seem to get influenced a lot from the wins or losses (well, it's tough not to, admittedly) and that can have a big impact in our relations.

You can read the whole thread here.