5 ms·

This january I am turning 40 and it will be exactly 10 years since I quit my last job. I am a pro sports bettor so I have a fair degree of flexibility and time

by snyena 8y ago

This january I am turning 40 and it will be exactly 10 years since I quit my last job. I am a pro sports bettor so I have a fair degree of flexibility and time freedom. However, I am strongly considering applying for work again, in fact I've already sent my resume to two advertised jobs.

potta_coffee 8y ago
Why are you thinking about applying for work again? Are you bored? Lacking social interaction?
- snyena 8y ago
  There are several reasons: 1) I am finding sports betting difficult to scale, financially it is ok but not great. 2) Bookmakers are getting better and better every year. So am I, but I can imagine a scenario where they reach a stock-market like efficiency and it will be impossible to beat them (also, there is no growth like in stocks). I feel like I need to get some work experience under my belt and become more employable so that I have something to fall back on. 3) Bookmakers limit or ban winning players so there is the hassle of obtaining new identities (typically friends or family members who let you bet in their name) all the time. 4) I no longer like the industry and I am not proud of what I do. I live in central Europe where sports betting is legal but that is not the case everywhere else in the world. I have the dream of living in an English speaking country one day and that doesn't go well with my current "career". 5) I miss social interaction.
  - potta_coffee 8y ago
    Interesting, thanks for sharing.
vipa123 8y ago
I'm really interested in how that will work out for you. What line of work are planning to go into, return to? How will you represent the decade of pro sports betting on your resume?
- snyena 8y ago
  With a 10 year gap in my resume I'll probably have to take whatever comes. Ideally it would something analytical, with numbers, where I can learn a lot (I went to a high school with focus on Math and I have a Master's in Management). I don't really care about the salary. I know a bit of PHP and I am currently starting to learn Python. I worked as a technical documentarist in the past and also in a managerial (non-technical) role for an online bookmaker. During the first three years of my pro betting career I also launched my own online sportsbook but that project failed miserably. Maybe I can use that to partially explain the huge gap but I am still undecided.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - vipa123 8y ago
    Well you have a good start. I would think that ten years of successful (i.e. making a living) sports betting would make for a unique anecdote and discussion during an interview. A strong desire for maths with an ability to tolerate programming, maybe look for a path into data science or machine learning. I see on this site or reddit or lobste.rs for free online courses for both all the time. Regardless, I wish you luck and hope things go well.
    - snyena 8y ago
      Thank you, much appreciated. I started looking into both recently, mostly under the influence of posts on here but also upon seeing them in many job ads.

by snyena 8y ago

potta_coffee 8y ago

Why are you thinking about applying for work again? Are you bored? Lacking social interaction?

snyena 8y ago
There are several reasons: 1) I am finding sports betting difficult to scale, financially it is ok but not great. 2) Bookmakers are getting better and better every year. So am I, but I can imagine a scenario where they reach a stock-market like efficiency and it will be impossible to beat them (also, there is no growth like in stocks). I feel like I need to get some work experience under my belt and become more employable so that I have something to fall back on. 3) Bookmakers limit or ban winning players so there is the hassle of obtaining new identities (typically friends or family members who let you bet in their name) all the time. 4) I no longer like the industry and I am not proud of what I do. I live in central Europe where sports betting is legal but that is not the case everywhere else in the world. I have the dream of living in an English speaking country one day and that doesn't go well with my current "career". 5) I miss social interaction.
- potta_coffee 8y ago
  Interesting, thanks for sharing.

vipa123 8y ago

I'm really interested in how that will work out for you. What line of work are planning to go into, return to? How will you represent the decade of pro sports betting on your resume?

snyena 8y ago
With a 10 year gap in my resume I'll probably have to take whatever comes. Ideally it would something analytical, with numbers, where I can learn a lot (I went to a high school with focus on Math and I have a Master's in Management). I don't really care about the salary. I know a bit of PHP and I am currently starting to learn Python. I worked as a technical documentarist in the past and also in a managerial (non-technical) role for an online bookmaker. During the first three years of my pro betting career I also launched my own online sportsbook but that project failed miserably. Maybe I can use that to partially explain the huge gap but I am still undecided.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- vipa123 8y ago
  Well you have a good start. I would think that ten years of successful (i.e. making a living) sports betting would make for a unique anecdote and discussion during an interview. A strong desire for maths with an ability to tolerate programming, maybe look for a path into data science or machine learning. I see on this site or reddit or lobste.rs for free online courses for both all the time. Regardless, I wish you luck and hope things go well.
  - snyena 8y ago
    Thank you, much appreciated. I started looking into both recently, mostly under the influence of posts on here but also upon seeing them in many job ads.