It’s no wonder gambling has an image problem!
Here is my own personal take on the Elliot Short story and his subsequent jail sentence.
If there is one thing that frustrates me about what I am currently doing, its the image the betting industry has. This leads people to have deep seated issues with anybody who has anything to do with it. It’s almost as bad as the banking industry! Quite clearly it’s a gambling industry issue and one that’s driven by things like the Elliot Short case, dodgy cricketers, footballers etc. etc. Basically the overriding premise is that if you are a bookmaker, it’s seen as immoral and if you make money at gambling and are not a bookmaker, you must be up to something dodgy. It’s a problem.
I joined Betfair in the year 2000 because I saw an opportunity with betting exchanges and fancied the challenge of me against others. I also liked the fact that here was an exchange, a marketplace where people can swap opinions and live or die by them. Out went the bookmaker and all negative things associated therein.
From that inauspicious start back in June 2000, I have now gone on to devote the best part of my working life to understanding and participating in sports markets. It’s been a big commitment, but something I’ve relished. In fact this is the longest I’ve been in one job! Not only have I carefully analysed the markets in stupendous depth, I have carefully described them and pushed the boundaries of what is possible within them. I’ve also made that most important step of going out of my way to prove that my theory actually translates into reality.
It’s been a life changing experience for me and I have enjoyed it immensely and been well rewarded for my endeavour. Despite all this work though, it still seems to be difficult to be taken seriously, that’s frustrating. When I have done press work, it’s a great effort to overcome the initial hurdles and barriers to tell the real story and I am all sure we have friends or family who still just don’t get it! It doesn’t bother me so much now as it used to, as I have the satisfaction of actually making it happen. Its just that the sports betting industry hardly ever seems to get any positive press and that hinders my ability to evangelise about all the great things that have happened. Without that we could slip into the dark ages again. Let’s hear some more positive stories, can we?
Take Mr Short for example, the oft quoted sum is that he defrauded £400k from people. If he actually got his finger out he could have actually earned that from the underlying markets itself, no need to rip of some ‘friends’. But these sorts of stories never hit the headlines. I mean, ‘Boring person who works hard makes decent sum of money’ doesn’t appear to sell newspapers. But it seems the industry is always prone to this sort of thing. A fast buck is better than a well earned one, it seems. When I first started talking about what I was doing nobody accepted it or believed it. Now advanced techniques have gained acceptance there appear to be no shortage of characters looking to make a fast buck of out of it. Like the tipsters that followed before them in the old industry, the new industry suffers from people exploiting the fact that people have done well. Dig below the surface and few of these characters stand up to scrutiny. So the answer will always like in that old adage, caveat emptor.
Short cuts to instant riches never exist, but good old fashioned hard work often has good reward attached. Never forget that.
Elliot shorts new mode of transport
Category: Industry news
